(DAILY CALLER) – Medication abortions are far more dangerous than surgical abortions, former Planned Parenthood clinic director Abby Johnson told The Daily Caller News Foundation in an exclusive interview Wednesday.
“Medication abortions are significantly riskier than surgical abortions because there are follow-up appointments that are required, and a lot of women do not follow-up afterwards,” Johnson told TheDCNF by phone, explaining that the majority of deaths occur after “retained products of the fetus still in the uterus become septic.”
A medication abortion occurs when a woman takes a mifepristone pill at a clinic and a second pill of misoprostol between six and 48 hours later, usually at home, according to Planned Parenthood. The pill is used to end pregnancies up to 10 weeks.
Medication abortions are “really dangerous, and I’ve known physicians who won’t even prescribe the pill because of its risks,” said Johnson, adding that the lack of in-person patient interaction throughout the entire procedure makes it especially risky. The rate of women that came back for their follow-up appointments while Johnson was at Planned Parenthood was 50 percent.
