Abortion is Not “Essential”

Lois Anderson

Executive Director

In Oregon, Governor Kate Brown made decisions about what businesses and industries were “essential” during the year-long shutdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Health care providers were deemed “non-essential” on March 19, 2020 when Gov. Brown signed an executive order calling for the temporary end of all elective procedures. Hospitals, clinics and dentist offices, to name a few, were forced to reschedule or cancel appointments, regardless of detrimental impacts to patients. One industry maintained its “essential” status all year, despite its lethal differentiator: the abortion industry. 

Many important health and safety guidelines and restrictions have been issued over the past year with a singular goal in mind: save lives. Meanwhile, the abortion industry gets a special carve-out to do the opposite.

At Oregon Right to Life, we oppose abortion at any point of gestation because abortion ends the life of a genetically distinct, growing human being.

Oregon is already one of the least restrictive states in one of the least restrictive countries, on abortion. Yet the COVID-19 crisis is being used as an excuse to expand the industry and deepen their pockets. The industry is choosing profit over safety by sending abortion pills in the mail, a dangerous cocktail of medication that results in the death of innocent unborn babies, without even the minimum precautions taken. 

Since 2016, Oregon has been participating in the TelAbortion research project, run by a New York “reproductive health” organization, that provides medical abortions via the mail. A medical abortion is the use of pills mifepristone and misoprostol to terminate the life of an unborn baby and end a pregnancy. Telemedicine undermines the health risks women face without in-person screening for medical abortions.       

FDA guidelines specifically say the mifepristone pill should be administered to patients in health care settings. TelAbortion has bypassed this standard due to biased studies paid for in part by Planned Parenthood.

The FDA has reported over 4,000 adverse events — including 24 deaths – since the approval of mifepristone in 2000. The Oregonian and the broader media must understand that all women, regardless of class, race, religion or where they live, deserve all information, risks included, before making the life-altering decision to have an abortion and end the life of their unborn child.

TelAbortion is not pro-women and it does not follow the science. It misleads women by ignoring the scientific development of the unborn baby.

The unborn baby is not just an embryo or “tissue” at the time medical abortions are administered. According to science, at five weeks old, the baby’s heart starts to beat. At the 10-week mark, the cut off for TelAbortion, the baby’s recognizable limbs are bending and details unique to that child have begun to form.

The governor and the Oregon Health Authority have maintained abortions, or the termination of a genetically unique human being, as “essential” during the COVID-19 event, despite withholding other medical treatment.      

Despite our range of differences in Oregon, around 70% of Oregonians support some limits on abortion, including basic health and safety measures. Telemedicine abortion is a failure to meet those basic measures.

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  1. People need an honest option to voting Democrat. R’s who claim to be pro-life but who are monsters on the economic front undermine their own base and empower the pro-abortion people.

  2. I would like to know if there is something I can do to help.
    I live in Eugene, I work a lot so I don’t have much time.
    I’m 58 my wife is 56.

    1. Be watching for our action alerts and voter guide. We give easy opportunities to connect with your representatives and speak up for life. Thank you for your passion on this important issue!

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