Hearings Begin on Abortion-Inducing Drug Safety Act
Legislation to Stop Abortionists from Using Drugs Off-Label
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Katherine Franklin
DATE: Tuesday, June 23, 2015 PHONE: (614) 547-0099 ext. 304
COLUMBUS, Ohio–Today, Representative Christina Hagan (R-Alliance) gave sponsor testimony on the Abortion-Inducing Drug Safety Act (H.B. 255) in the Ohio House Committee on Community and Family Advancement. The legislation would limit use of abortion-inducing drugs to those labeled expressly for such purpose by the FDA.
“Women deserve better than abortion, and they most certainly deserve more than to be made the test subjects for the abortion industry’s lethal experimentation,” said Stephanie Ranade Krider, executive director of Ohio Right to Life. “While abortion advocates tell us that they simply want abortion to be ‘safe, legal and rare,’ the practice of using cancer drugs against an unborn baby speaks volumes on how far they will push the limits on ‘safe’ and ‘legal’ to make the practice anything but ‘rare.'”
Currently, Mifeprex (mifepristone) is the only drug labeled for the purpose of inducing abortion in the United States. Although the combination of mifepristone and misoprostol is still the most common drug regimen used in chemical abortions, Ohio has seen a significant increase in the number of chemical abortions using other drugs like methotrexate, a drug labeled for use as a chemotherapy agent. It is contraindicated for use during pregnancy. Following an unheard of 79 percent drop in non-surgical abortions in 2011, between 2012 and 2013, methotrexate abortions increased significantly and mifepristone abortions increased slightly.
“Contrary to what the abortion industry’s practice implies, pregnancy–a human baby with her own DNA–is not a disease, and an unborn baby is not a cancer to be ‘cured,'” said Representative Christina Hagan. “If you disagree with the position of protecting all human life, surely you will still agree that the health of these mothers ought to be protected, and we should not be allowing the abortion industry to experiment as they please, for profit.”
Ohio Right to Life thanks Representatives Christina Hagan and Tom Brinkman for sponsoring this legislation. To learn more about the Abortion-Inducing Drug Safety Act, click here.
Founded in 1967, Ohio Right to Life, with more than 45 chapters and local affiliates, is Ohio’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement in Ohio, ORTL works through legislation and education to promote and defend innocent human life from conception to natural death.
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