While some states have implemented legislation since the ruling of Dobbs v. Jackson to protect the preborn, other states have doubled down to expand pro-abortion policies in every way possible. But a recent victory for life in Colorado serves as a beacon of hope and an opportunity to inform others of one pro-life service.
Over the weekend, a federal court in Colorado ruled in favor of a Catholic health care clinic, Bella Health and Wellness, to allow to them to continue offering abortion pill reversal services. This ruling in Bella Health and Wellness v. Weiser comes after Colorado passed legislation “making it unprofessional conduct to offer women progesterone when seeking to reverse the effects of the first abortion pill.”
According to a report from Becket Law, Bella asked for this law that prevented this treatment for women and their preborn children to be blocked, and the law was put on hold from going into effect “until three state boards weighed in on the safety of abortion pill reversal.”
“While this hold took place, Bella successfully helped multiple women continue their pregnancies, including one who recently gave birth to a healthy baby,” the report reads, testifying to the importance of this option for pregnant women. Despite the lives saved, lawmakers pressed to move forward with the ban until it was temporarily lifted last weekend.
Now clinics like Bella Health and Wellness can continue providing potentially life-saving services, and the pro-life movement can capitalize on this win by drawing attention to the dangers of the abortion pill and the successes of abortion pill reversal.
The Trauma of Chemical Abortions
Unlike surgical abortion, the abortion pill is taken orally and can happen in the woman’s own home. In this two-step abortion regimen, the woman first ingests mifepristone, which works to cut the baby off of nutrients — essentially starving the preborn child. Then, the woman takes misoprostol to expel her baby.
Not only is chemical abortion a painful and horrific death for preborn children, but it can also be a traumatizing experience for the woman, as highlighted by the human rights organization Live Action’s “I Saw My Baby” campaign.
Live Action highlights the story of one woman who had a chemical abortion, who shared, “It was not just a blob of tissue. I had given birth to what looked like a fully formed, intact 14-week-old fetus covered in blood. I scooped my baby out of the toilet. I sat on the floor, held him, and cried.’”
It’s clear that abortion pills do not leave women feeling empowered, but instead leave them with this trauma and emotional scar.
The abortion pill can also pose physical dangers to the woman ingesting the two-pill regimen. In 2019, a study was conducted to observe the effectiveness of abortion pill reversal, where pregnant women enrolled in the study ingested mifepristone and then 24 hours later a placebo or the abortion pill reversal drug progesterone.
The study was halted because of the physical safety threats it posed: “Two out of five, or 40 percent, of women who took Mifeprex alone, and did not take progesterone, required emergency surgery, and one required a transfusion.”
How Abortion Pill Reversal Works
For women who take the first regimen of the abortion pill and change their minds, abortion pill reversal gives them a chance to save their child’s life. The reversal drug given to the mother is progesterone, a natural hormone needed to nurture and sustain a pregnancy.
As AbortionPillReversal.com explains, “By giving extra progesterone, we hope to outnumber and outcompete the first abortion pill in order to reverse the effects and provide an opportunity to save the pregnancy.”
Through this, many women have been able to reverse the effects of the abortion pill, carrying to term and giving life to their child. One woman describes her success story with the abortion pill reversal: “After receiving progesterone for a week, I came back for an ultrasound to see if the baby survived. He did. He was alive and well. He was saved. … Without the option of the abortion pill reversal, he would not be here today.”
Keeping the Momentum
As long as chemical abortion exists, abortion pill reversal must be available for women. It’s clear this very service Bella Health and Wellness seeks to provide to women is lifesaving. With the recent court win, this should serve as momentum for the pro-lifers both in Colorado and throughout the nation to educate their communities that abortion pill reversal exists, is effective, and can save a life.
Continuing to expose the dangers of chemical abortion, the dignity of their child in the womb, and the options women have to reverse the effects of the abortion pill will bring us closer to the day when we live in a culture of life.
Sophia is a graduate of Le Moyne College, where she received her B.A. in English.
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