The following press release is from our friends at Americans United for Life.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (04-7-15) — Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson’s signing of HB 1578, “The Women’s Right to Know Regarding Abortion” Act, made his state the second to expand Informed Consent requirements to include information that chemical abortion may be reversed, if a woman acts in time. Based on model legislation from Americans United for Life, Arkansas joins 31 other states in trusting women with more complete medical information about abortion and becomes the second state to include information on the impact of life-ending drugs on a woman’s body.
“Already more than 80 babies have been born, following the chemical abortion reversal process,” said AUL President and CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest. “No medical reason exists to deny mothers the opportunity to choose life by sharing with them all their options.”
“A ‘choice’ is not truly a ‘choice’ unless informed,” continued Dr. Yoest. “The political leadership of Arkansas and Arizona are trail blazers, trusting women to decide if they want to choose life for their baby. Our thanks go out to Arkansas Rep. Robin Lundstrum, the Arkansas Family Council, and other pro-family leaders who fought to give women a true choice. As life-ending drugs now end the lives of 1 in 4 unborn children, it’s clear that Big Abortion is fighting informed consent laws to protect their profit margin.”
Without a doubt, informed consent laws are constitutional, and the Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld this vital health and safety standard. In Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the Court upheld a Pennsylvania informed consent law that required providers to give women information on the nature of the procedure; the health risks of the abortion and childbirth; the probable gestational age of the unborn child; and that printed materials are available describing the unborn child and providing information about medical assistance for childbirth, child support from the father, and agencies which provide adoption or other services.
Regarding the science of the chemical abortion reversal process, the possibility was first detailed by Dr. George Delgado in a peer-reviewed study, based upon a well-established medical procedure that is used in other areas of healthcare—specifically, methotrexate and “leucovorin rescue.”
In a chemical abortion, the drug mifepristone is used to starve the unborn child of progesterone, which is vital for development. To “reverse” the effects of the mifepristone, a pregnant woman’s body is flooded with progesterone. For more on the science of abortion reversal, click here.
To learn more about other health risks of abortion for women, click here. To learn more about AUL’s cutting edge, model legislation, click here.
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