Why Ohio Abortion Pill Complications Doubled Last Year

By Cheryl Sullenger
Columbus, Ohio – The State of Ohio is among the best in the U.S. when it comes to abortion reporting requirements, seeking as much information as possible from abortion providers about abortion methods, gestational ages, and maternal demographics. Now, one statistic reported to the Medical Board of Ohio has shed new light on the danger of abortions using the drug Mifeprex, also known as Mifepristone or RU486.
Ohio requires abortionists who dispense the drug, often referred to as the Abortion Pill, to fill out a form reporting all complications experienced by women who have taken Mifeprex to cause abortions.
Operation Rescue has reviewed 127 “Report of RU486 Event” forms for five abortion facilities located in three counties in Ohio for abortions that took place during a five-year time-span, 2012-2016. The facilities reporting complications include:

• Planned Parenthood in Bedford Heights, located in Cuyahoga County.
• Preterm in Cleveland, located in Cuyahoga County.
• Northeast Ohio Women’s Center in Cuyahoga Falls, located in Cuyahoga County.
• Planned Parenthood in Columbus, located in Franklin County.
• Planned Parenthood in Cincinnati, located in Hamilton County.

RU486 abortion numbers for 2012-2015 (the latest year available) were obtained from the Ohio Department of Health, and an average of the four years was used to extrapolate an estimated number for 2016. Those numbers were then compared to the 127 complications for which there were RU486 Event forms received by the Ohio Medical Board for 2012-2016.

When the number of RU486 complications were compared to the number of abortions done using the abortion drug, an interesting discovery was made. Between 2012-2015, 3.18 percent of women obtaining RU486 abortions in the three reporting counties suffered serious complications.
However, in 2016 alone, 6.74% of women obtaining RU486 abortions in the same three counties suffered complications.
What could account for complication percentages to more than double in only one year?

Ohio law mandates that abortionists follow FDA protocols when dispensing the RU486 abortion drug. Those protocols for years limited the use of RU486 to the first seven weeks of pregnancy due to an increased risk of failure if used later in pregnancy.
In March 2016, the FDA relaxed protocols on the RU486 abortion drug and extended the gestational age limit for use. New protocols issued under the Obama Administration a year ago allow for drug’s usage up to 10 weeks pregnancy.
The use of RU486 beyond seven weeks very likely decreased the efficiency of the drug and subjected women to an increased occurrence of complications.
The majority of complications reported on the forms listed as “Incomplete Abortions,” which required patients to undergo surgical procedures to complete the abortions days or even weeks later.
Among the five abortion facilities that reported complications, the three Planned Parenthood abortion facilities had the highest number of complications, with the Bedford Heights Planned Parenthood facility reporting 56 complications — the most reported in that five-year time frame.

On many of the Event forms submitted by abortionist Catherine Romanos of Planned Parenthood’s Columbus abortion facility, notations were made to indicate it was her opinion that the incomplete abortions were caused by the use of FDA protocols in place at the time.
However, the actual reported abortion complication figures completely debunk Romanos’ faulty assumption. The more stringent protocols actually prevented complications women are now experiencing by using the abortion drug up to ten weeks in their pregnancies.

Abortion lobbyists have long sought to remove restrictions on the use of the abortion pill. The LA Times, recently published a slanted and partially inaccurate article accusing politics of preventing women greater access to the abortion pill. It reported that there is a push among abortionists to further liberalize Mifeprex protocols to allow RU487 abortion drug prescriptions to be filled by pharmacies so women will no longer have to make office visits to abort their babies.
The information gleaned from Ohio abortion and complication reports show that far too many women are suffering from complications due to the Abortion Pill, and that relaxing the standards has only made the occurrence of complications skyrocket.
“The Abortion Pill must be taken off the market. Not only is it lethal to babies, it causes far too many women to suffer serious complications that can land them in the emergency room or worse,” said Newman. “This is the untold truth about the Abortion Pill that the fake pro-abortion news media, Planned Parenthood, and the rest of the Abortion Cartel want to keep hidden at all costs.”
[Correction: A previous version of this story contained a table that incorrectly transposed Franklin County numbers with Hamilton County numbers. We regret the error. That chart is now correct.]