Webcam abortions on way out?

The abortion industry was excited when the concept of a webcam abortion was developed: an abortionist would have a brief online conference with the mother-to-be, then press a button and in the room where the woman was sitting, a drawer would open and deliver to her a package of drugs to cause an abortion.

The benefits seemed to abound for abortionists, including less travel time and the ability to hold many more consultations.

No more. In fact, pro-life organization Operation Rescue says more and more states are standing up and saying no to the procedure.

The latest is Wisconsin, where Gov. Scott Walker just days ago signed a bill banning the dispensing of the abortion drugs without the presence of a licensed physician.

"The law virtually bans the practice of telemed, or webcam abortions," Operation Rescue said in a new report.

"This new law will certainly save lives, and we thank the Wisconsin Legislature and Gov. Walker for acting to protect women from predatory webcam abortion practices that attempt to increase abortion profits by cutting corners on women’s health and safety," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman.

Newman called the law "a textbook example of how activism encourages legislation."

"Once we discovered the webcam abortions in Iowa, we worked with other organizations to create legislation," he explained. "That legislation has been picked up by other groups and guided through the legislative process. The result is positive change and increased protections for women that will result in fewer abortions."

Operation Rescue first uncovered the abortion pill distribution scheme being used by Planned Parenthood of the Heartland in Iowa several years ago. Then uncovered were plans for the scheme to be expanded nationwide as more and more abortionists retire or leave the field and new doctors are unwilling to take over.

But states reacted, and now Wisconsin joins Arizona, Nebraska, Kansas and South Dakota in banning webcam abortions. North Dakota and Oklahoma have also passed webcam bans that are currently in the process of litigation.

Minnesota and Missouri have bans part way through the process, and proposals have been considered in Alabama, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Tennessee.

Rep. Steve King of Iowa is seeking federal legislation to stop webcam abortions.

According to reports, during the webcam abortion process, the abortionist conducts a brief interview with a potential abortion patient in another location over an Internet video conferencing connection. The abortionist then pushes a button on his or her computer screen that releases a "cash drawer" containing the abortion drugs. The woman self-administers some of the drugs immediately and is then released to take the rest of the drugs at home. The patient is never examined by a licensed physician, and in the case of an emergency, there is no accessibility to the prescribing abortionist.

"There can be no doubt that halting the misuse of abortion drugs will save the lives of women and their babies. Because of this we are working to halt the practice of telemed abortions nationwide," said Newman.

A recently released government report also says 14 women have died in the United States alone, and several thousand have experienced an "adverse event" after taking the abortion drug RU-486, which is dispensed in telemed conferences.

A Food and Drug Administration document, called the "Mifepristone U.S. Postmarketing Adverse Events Summary," is being highlighted by Liberty Counsel, a public interest legal organization that fights on behalf of the right to life, among other issues.

"I hate to say this, but we told you so," said Mathew D. Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel and dean of Liberty University School of Law. "We warned that the RU-486 abortion drug would kill and injure women. But the Obama administration and its abortion allies have lost common sense, because they are blinded to reality by their radical commitment to the holocaust. President Obama and the FDA must halt this destructive abortion chemical."