Board’s decision runs counter to Iowa law and FDA safety protocols; Operation Rescue demands resignation of Executive Director
Des Moines, IA – Operation Rescue has received notice from the Iowa Board of Medicine Executive Director Mark Bowden that a complaint filed by an OR staff member against Planned Parenthood abortionist Susan Haskell has been closed without discipline. Operation Rescue filed the complaint after learning that Haskell was involved in the questionable telemed webcam abortion pill distribution scheme used by Iowa’s Planned Parenthood organization.
“This decision has done nothing to alleviate our concerns about the legality of this push-button abortion pill scheme that denies women access to physical examinations by licensed physicians and leaves them to deal with the painful multi-day abortion process at home without access to a licensed physician in the event of emergencies,” said Operation Rescue Senior Policy Advisor Cheryl Sullenger, who was the complainant on the case.
“The politics of abortion are trumping the law and health and safety concerns for vulnerable women in Iowa. Operation Rescue is calling for the resignation of Mark Bowden over this scandalous disregard for the law and women’s lives.”
Planned Parenthood of the Heartland admits that over 2,000 women have been subject to their experimental remote-controlled abortion pill distribution scheme wherein an abortionist sits at a computer screen and pushes a button that releases a drawer containing the abortion pills. The patient then takes some of the pills in the office, and is sent home to take the rest of the pills on her own. She never has contact with the abortionist again. This violates FDA protocols, which require multiple office visits to insure there are no complications. Planned Parenthood of the Heartland further violates FDA protocols by using the abortion pill, also known as RU 486 or mifepristone, by prescribing it through the ninth week of pregnancy, two weeks beyond what the FDA as determined should be the upper limits of use. It also violates Iowa law that abortions must be done by a licensed physician.
“That doesn’t mean an image on a computer screen,” said Sullenger. “This totally strips away the doctor-patient relationship and is a perversion of the very concept of telemedicine, which was never meant to replace hands-on examinations by physicians.”
A Planned Parenthood operative told reporters last year that the group plans to expand the use to telemed abortions to all Planned Parenthood clinics within the next five years. A letter from the head of the Iowa Planned Parenthood organization indicates that expansion will begin with clinics in Cedar Rapids and Dubuque.
“Women deserve better protections than what they are currently afforded. If the people at the Medical Board can’t or won’t do their jobs and provide those protections, then they should resign immediately, and make way for people who can,” said Sullenger.”
Read the Letter from the Iowa Board of Medicine
Contact Mark Bowden and respectfully ask for his resignation: Mark.Bowden@iowa.gov
