Telemed (Webcam) abortions
March 14, 2011 in Legislative updates, Take Action
Dear Pro-Life friends,
LB521 was introduced by Senator Tony Fulton in the Nebraska Legislature to make it illegal for Planned Parenthood or any abortionist to perform Webcam or Telemed abortions. In Iowa Planned Parenthood is already doing telemed abortions.
Please contact the Judiciary Committee members and ask them to please vote LB521 out of committee so it can be voted in the NE state legislature to ban Webcam Abortions.
Please click on the following for The committee members and their e-mails.
http://news.legislature.ne.gov/jud/
Committee Members
Sen. Brad Ashford, Chairperson
Sen. Colby Coash
Sen. Brenda Council
Sen. Burke Harr
Sen. Tyson Larson
Sen. Steve Lathrop
Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh
Sen. Amanda McGill
A telemed abortion is abortion via a teleconferencing service similar to “Skype.” Patients are put in a room where an off-site abortionist appears on a computer monitor and explains the medical abortion procedure to them over an Internet hook-up. After the brief teleconference, the dangerous abortion drug RU486, also known as Mifepristone and Mifeprex, and its counterpart, Misoprostol, are prescribed. The drugs are then administered to the patient by a nurse or “clinician” who may or may not be licensed. The patient presses a button an on computer screen that opens a box containing the abortion drugs. The patient is never physically examined by the medical doctor prescribing the drugs – or any other, for that matter – and never sees the abortionist again.
Increased Risks To Women
This development should trouble those who are concerned about the health and safety of women and their pre-born babies.
Mifepristone (Mifeprex or RU 486), the main component of medical abortions, has been responsible for at least eight abortion deaths and over 1,100 serious complications in the United States alone. It is recommended only for early abortions under nine weeks gestation. In addition, medical abortions carry a 7-20 percent failure rate, depending on how the pills are administered. Women who suffer failed or incomplete abortions would require them to be completed surgically or face life-threatening complications. With no doctor in sight, that presents a new danger to women.
Described by one Planned Parenthood receptionist as a “self-induced miscarriage,” the medical abortion process takes days, can be very painful, and involves heavy bleeding and cramping until the pre-born baby is expelled. Yet, the only follow-up offered by Planned Parenthood is a recommended appointment in “two or three weeks” after the abortion where a second ultrasound is offered to make sure the “pregnancy no longer exists.”
This follow-up care is completely inadequate. If tissue from the pregnancy is retained, that presents a risk of infection to the woman that could kill her, especially if care is delayed 2-3 weeks.
In a recently published study conducted on 120 women who underwent medical abortions at 9 weeks, 34 of the women (28%) retained tissue. Fetal heartbeats were detected in fourteen of those pregnancies (11.6%), but abdominal ultrasound only detected the heartbeats in ten of those cases for a 29% failure rate. The study concluded that abdominal ultrasound examination alone is not entirely reliable after medical abortion and also concluded that the higher the woman’s body mass index, the higher the risk of not detecting retained tissue or even a complete pregnancy.
“I cannot imagine a woman going through the process of miscarriage, either natural or forced, and not having access to a physician, especially for follow-up care,” said Newman. “Any number of things could go wrong, and to never actually be seen by a licensed doctor during the entire process seems risky at best, grossly negligent, and perhaps criminal.”
Following is wording of LB 521 Ban on Webcam Abortions:
http://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/Current/PDF/Intro/LB521.pdf
Thank you.
You can copy and paste the letter below and email it to them or send it by mail!
=============> Letter Sample
Dear Senator NAME OF SENATOR HERE,
I am writing to ask you to please vote for LB521 out of the judiciary committee, which was introduced by Senator Tony Fulton to Ban Webcam Abortions in Nebraska.
Telemed abortions are being done in Iowa, by the Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, where medical abortions are offered in 16 clinics throughout Iowa, but only four of the clinics actually have doctors. At the other twelve, smaller clinics, telemed abortions have become routine.
After the brief teleconference, the dangerous abortion drug RU486, also known as Mifepristone and Mifeprex, and its counterpart, Misoprostol, are prescribed. The drugs are then administered to the patient by a nurse or “clinician” who may or may not be licensed. The patient presses a button on a computer screen that opens a box containing the abortion drugs. The patient is never physically examined by the medical doctor prescribing the drugs – or any other, for that matter – and never sees the abortionist again.
This development should trouble those who are concerned about the health and safety of women and their pre-born babies.
Mifepristone (Mifeprex or RU 486), the main component of medical abortions, has been responsible for at least eight abortion deaths and over 1,100 serious complications in the United States alone. It is recommended only for early abortions under nine weeks gestation. In addition, medical abortions carry a 7-20 percent failure rate, depending on how the pills are administered. Women who suffer failed or incomplete abortions would require them to be completed surgically or face life-threatening complications. With no doctor in sight, that presents a new danger to women.
Described by one Planned Parenthood receptionist as a “self-induced miscarriage,” the medical abortion process takes days, can be very painful, and involves heavy bleeding and cramping until the pre-born baby is expelled. Yet, the only follow-up offered by Planned Parenthood is a recommended appointment in “two or three weeks” after the abortion where a second ultrasound is offered to make sure the “pregnancy no longer exists.”
This follow-up care is completely inadequate. If tissue from the pregnancy is retained, that presents a risk of infection to the woman that could kill her, especially if care is delayed 2-3 weeks.
In a recently published study conducted on 120 women who underwent medical abortions at 9 weeks, 34 of the women (28%) retained tissue. Fetal heartbeats were detected in fourteen of those pregnancies (11.6%), but abdominal ultrasound only detected the heartbeats in ten of those cases for a 29% failure rate. The study concluded that abdominal ultrasound examination alone is not entirely reliable after medical abortion and also concluded that the higher the woman’s body mass index, the higher the risk of not detecting retained tissue or even a complete pregnancy.
I cannot imagine a woman going through the process of miscarriage, either natural or forced, and not having access to a physician, especially for follow-up care. Any number of things could go wrong, and to never actually be seen by a licensed doctor during the entire process seems risky at best, grossly negligent, and perhaps criminal.
I do not want these dangerous Webcam abortions to be done in Nebraska which will harm women and kill their unborn children. Again, I ask you to please vote for LB 521 out of the judiciary committee and allow the state legislature to vote to ban Telemed Abortions.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Your Signature HERE!
