Governor Jerry Brown VETOED a bill yesterday that would have required all public universities in the state to provide free chemical abortions to their students.
SB 320 was passed by the state assembly and senate in late August along party lines.
The author of SB 320, Connie Levya, said her aim was to “improve the academic success of students.” An analysis of the bill prepared by several pro-abortion groups touted the alleged safety of chemical abortions. Planned Parenthood calls abortion drugs “safe and simple.” However, studies have shown that chemical abortions can often have serious, even life-threatening, complications. One peer-reviewed study published in Obstetrics & Gynecology reported that 20% of women who took abortion-inducing drugs had adverse effects. Nearly 16% of women who took the drugs experienced abnormal hemorrhage. Since the FDA approved Mifeprex (the trade name for the chemical abortion drug RU-486), 22 U.S. women have died and over a thousand women have been hospitalized because of severe complications.
The FDA has made multiple changes to its abortion drug regimen over the past 18 years, essentially using women as human guinea pigs. The drug is now approved for use up to 10 weeks gestation. At 10 weeks, babies have a regular heartbeat, functioning organs, as well as recognizable facial features. Their brains are developing neural pathways. And their mothers may even be starting to develop a “baby bump” around this time.
Women who have taken RU-486 report that the procedure is far more painful than they were led to believe, with some describing it as “unimaginable” and “traumatizing.” The daughter of a friend of mine was given RU-486 recently—not to terminate her pregnancy, but because she had an incomplete miscarriage. My friend was with her daughter as she screamed in agony for two days. No one warned her about the excruciating pain or the extensive bleeding. These were considered “normal” effects of the drugs.
SB 320 included funding for telehealth services, meaning the bill would have been used to push chemical abortion through telemedicine. FDA rules require the drugs to be taken under the supervision of a certified health care provider. Most states require the provider to be a licensed physician and many require the physician to be present with the woman taking the drug. Planned Parenthood has been working to expand chemical abortions through video conferencing. The abortion giant is participating in “TelAbortion,” a pilot study in five states (Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, New York, and Maine) that provides chemical abortion drugs to women over the internet. The drugs are sent through the mail, meaning women never see the dispensing provider, let alone a physician, for a procedure that has a 20% risk of adverse complications, including uncontrolled bleeding.
The bill’s initial $9.6 million tab would have been paid for by private organizations, including The Women’s Foundation of California and the Tara Foundation, with later funding likely coming from taxpayers. The Tara Foundation funds Planned Parenthood, NARAL, the Center for Reproductive Rights and other radical pro-abortion groups. NARAL drafted the California law aimed at putting pregnancy centers out of business by forcing them to refer women for state-funded abortions. That law—the so-called “Reproductive FACT Act”—was enjoined by the Supreme Court as likely violative of First Amendment speech protections and sent back to the Ninth Circuit for further review.
Levya and the groups she works with have promised to reintroduce the chemical abortion on campus bill next session.
No one expected Gov. Brown to veto SB 320. Planned Parenthood paraded hundreds of young women before legislators to testify in favor of chemical abortion on demand. I can only attribute this victory to pro-lifers who have prayed faithfully for the defeat of this dangerous bill. Please continue to pray for the defeat of laws expanding abortion—the prayers of the righteous are effective!
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