The number of women taking the abortion pill in Alaska is increasing. Right now, there are many actual women, in our communities right here in Alaska, suffering real harm – abandoned by an industry that euphemistically calls abortion “healthcare.”

And now, we have undeniable data to back up what we at the Alaska Family Council have been saying for many years.

Just this week, a groundbreaking new study was released by the Ethics & Public Policy Center – the largest real-world analysis of abortion pill complications ever conducted in the U.S. It looked at nearly 865,000 cases of mifepristone abortions over a six-year period and found something truly alarming: One in 11 women – 10.93% – experienced a serious or life-threatening complication.  This includes hemorrhaging, infection, sepsis, and emergency hospital visits – many within just 45 days of taking the pill.

To put that into perspective, the FDA-approved drug label, based on small, outdated clinical trials, claimed serious complications were “less than 0.5%.” That’s not a small miscalculation – it’s a 22-fold underestimation. And women are paying the price.

It’s reckless, it’s dangerous, and it’s being marketed to our daughters as “safe and easy.”

You may have read the story out of Pennsylvania about a teenage girl from East Donegal Township. After being turned away by a clinic for being too far along in her pregnancy, she simply went online and ordered abortion pills. Alone and terrified, she delivered a fully formed baby in her home. Her texts to a friend capture the trauma and horror no woman should face: “It just came out now and it’s like a full baby … and it’s still moving.” 

She eventually buried her baby in a box in the backyard.

Let me say it plainly: This is not empowerment. This is abandonment. And it’s the direct result of a system that has removed all safeguards in the name of political convenience and profit. Under the Biden administration, essential medical protocols – like in-person visits or physician oversight – were stripped away.

Chemical abortion now makes up two-thirds of all abortions in America, and it’s being promoted with next-day shipping, no physical exam, and no assurance of gestational age or ectopic pregnancy checks. According to the latest numbers, chemical abortions in Alaska increased by 14% and accounted for 56% of all abortions in our state.

It’s reckless, it’s dangerous, and it’s being marketed to our daughters as “safe and easy.”

The end of Roe v. Wade rightly returned abortion policy to the states. That means it’s now Alaska’s responsibility to act. We cannot afford to be passive. We must pass laws that protect women from the trauma and danger we are seeing – and that one in 11 women are experiencing nationwide.

Do we have a recalcitrant Legislature now and an activist State Supreme Court in the Great Land? Yes, we do but we must keep fighting in every way we can. The State Board of Medicine, the Board of Pharmacy and the Controlled Substance Advisory Committee are three agencies who should be taking this latest study very seriously. We also have an ally in our governor and with the attorney general. Let’s get creative and let’s get to work. 

We owe it to every young woman in Alaska – every scared teen, every college student, every mother – to demand better than what Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry are peddling. Women deserve real care, not harm. They deserve truth, not ideological, profit driven disinformation. And they certainly deserve policies that put their health above Planned Parenthood’s profits.

There is more to come. In the days and weeks ahead, we’ll be sharing additional insights from EPPC into this issue – more data, stories, and ways you can take action. Please keep an eye on your inbox and invite other pro-life advocates in your community to sign up for our email alerts.

This is a moment for steadfast courage and for true compassion. Let’s meet it together.

The views expressed here are those of the author.

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