Family Planning is selling RU-486, the chemical abortion pill, via webcam, making Maine only the third state to use this dangerous procedure.

That alone should be enough of a warning, but there are many more. Federal Drug Administration figures from April 2011 show there were 2,207 adverse events to the use of RU-486, including 14 deaths, 612 hospitalizations, 58 ectopic pregnancies, 339 blood transfusions and 256 cases of infections in the U.S. alone, and Family Planning calls this women’s health care.

Family Planning sells these abortions through 70 days from the first day of the last menstrual period, well past the FDA recommendations of only 49 days. The FDA also recommends that women see an abortion doctor in person prior to having a chemical abortion. This won’t happen with the webcam.

Also, according to the FDA, at least two women have died from ruptured ectopic pregnancies after using RU-486. A doctor’s presence could prevent deaths like these.

This perversion of good telemedicine technology is putting Maine women in danger and must stop. These abortions are bloodier (sometimes requiring blood transfusions), take longer, and are more traumatic for women, who have to deal with the body of their dead baby at home.

Maine must join the 18 other states that have laws on the books that insist abortionists must be in the same room as the pregnant women. Chemical abortions are much more profitable than surgical abortions. We must protect the lives and health of Maine women, not the bottom line of Family Planning.

Ronald J. Stauble Sr.

Unity