Dem
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GOP
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There is a new front in the never-ending abortion war: pills that are alleged to reverse an abortion. Some people are claiming that after a woman takes mifepristone, she can still change her mind and save the baby by taking progesterone within 24-72 hours. This idea is hugely popular in anti-abortion circles. Medical organizations have said the idea has been inadequately studied and is potentially dangerous. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has called the idea of taking progesterone to cancel an abortion "unproven and unethical."
Some anti-abortion websites are pushing the idea that a woman can change her mind after taking mifepristone. They are urging them to have second thoughts and reverse the abortion. The attorneys general in New York and California have other ideas about this. They have sued proponents of abortion reversal for false advertising. New York AG Letitia James said: "Abortions cannot be reversed. Any treatments that claim to do so are made without scientific evidence and could be unsafe." Colorado went even further and has banned the anti-abortion pills.
But Newton's Third Law of Politics states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. So some states are working on legislation that would require abortion clinics to tell patients that abortions can be reversed if you move fast enough. Fifteen states have passed legislation of this general nature. Of course, most of those states don't have any abortion clinics, so these laws are more for show than anything else. The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists plans to roll out a course explaining how to reverse an abortion to train doctors on how to do it. The Heritage Foundation has given them $100,000 to produce the course.
A key bit of information that is missing is whether the anti-abortion pills actually work. Dr. George Delgado, who runs a clinic called "Culture of Life Family Services," claims he has used the technique with success. Critics say that he never ran double-blind, randomized, experiments with control groups getting placebos and never published the results in peer-reviewed journals. Consequently, all we have is his word, and he is not exactly a neutral observer interested in the truth.
Back on planet reality, most women who get an abortion want the abortion. It is not like someone going up to an ice cream stand and ordering a strawberry cone and then 30 seconds later deciding that chocolate would be yummier. The number of women who would change their minds voluntarily within a day or two of starting the abortion process is undoubtedly extremely small. What might be greater is the number of teenage girls who get pregnant, take mifepristone, and then tell their parents. The parents could then force-feed the girls anti-abortion pills that might or might not work and might actually be dangerous and could inflict harm on the girls. Even if the pills didn't do anything to affect the course of the abortion, the relation between the girls and their parents would be irreparably damaged by the parents trying. Many girls would likely think or say: "You think a clump of cells is more important than me. Good to know." (V)