Des Moines, IA – Ten years after the abortion pill, RU 486, also known as Mifeprex or Mifepristol, was approved by the FDA, questions about its safety remain, especially in Iowa, where Planned Parenthood of the Heartland is dispensing an abortion drug combination via a remote controlled vending machine scheme known as telemed abortions that prevents patients being examined physically by a licensed physician or receiving adequate follow-up care.

Because of this, Operation Rescue is asking women who have suffered complications from medical abortions, especially in Iowa, to tell their stories.

Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, which is the first in the nation to employ the remote-controlled abortion pill distribution system, incredibly has told media that after 1,900 telemed abortions, there have been no complications.

“We know that is simply impossible. All this statement shows is that Planned Parenthood supplies such abysmal follow-up care that they are completely ignorant about what happens to women after they load them up with abortion pills and send them out the door to deal with the aftermath on their own,” said Operation Rescue spokesperson Cheryl Sullenger. “Planned Parenthood’s emergency plan is to tell the women to go to the emergency room if complications arise, then wash their hands of them.”

According to Planned Parenthood’s own statistics, 3-4% of women taking the abortion pill will suffer incomplete abortions that require surgery. The UPI reported on September 28, 2010, that the abortion pill’s incomplete abortion rate is actually eight percent.

That means out of 1,900 telemed abortions done by Planned Parenthood, there should be approximately 60-150 women who have suffered incomplete abortions requiring surgical intervention. Those numbers do not even take into consideration other known complications, such as excessive bleeding requiring surgery and serious infections that require immediate emergency care.

In addition, Planned Parenthood is prescribing Mifeprex through 9 weeks of pregnancy, two weeks beyond the safety limit set by the FDA. Along with Mifeprex, women are given a drug called Misoprostol, also known as Cytotec, a drug originally developed to treat ulcers. The manufacturer of Cytotec has warned women not to take the drug to induce abortions, a warning cavalierly disregarded by Planned Parenthood. These factors increase the risks of serious complications.

Operation Rescue has filed a complaint against Planned Parenthood’s telemed abortion scheme with the Iowa Board of Medicine. An investigation is underway. The IBM is scheduled to discuss public policy on telemedicine at a meeting on October 22.

“It is time for women who have suffered these complications to come forward and tell their stories so other women won’t have to suffer as they have. If necessary, we will protect the identity of anyone who wants to speak with us about their abortion pill experience,” said Sullenger.

Contact Operation Rescue at 316-683-6790 ext. 112 or send an e-mail to contact(at)operationrescue.org.

Severna Park, MD — Abortionist Romeo Ferrer, 69, whose medical license was suspended by the Maryland Board of Physicans earlier this month, has closed his Gynecare Center abortion clinic after his replacement abortionist suddenly quit last week.

Operation Rescue discovered that abortionist Ghevont Wartanian had been hired to fill in for Ferrer during his suspension. Due to recent publicity surrounding Ferrer’s troubles and an unrelated illegal late-term abortion scheme operated by notorious abortionist Stephen C. Brigham, Wartanian had expressed reluctance to do abortions at Ferrer’s troubled clinic beyond September 30.

Operation Rescue published an exposé on Wartanian’s troubled past on Monday, September 20.

Just two days later, Wartanian met with pro-life leader Michael Martelli of Living Hope for Life, who had moved a scheduled prayer vigil to Wartanian’s private office where no abortions are done, hoping to persuade him to stop abortions at Ferrer’s clinic. After a cordial 45-minute discussion, Wartanian agreed to stop doing abortions effective immediately. He called Gynecare, cancelled his existing appointments, and told the clinic he would not be coming back.

With no one to replace Wartanian, Ferrer has permanently closed Gynecare. The clinic telephone plays a recording informing callers of the closure and asking them to call back periodically for “future developments.” The recording tells women seeking abortion appointments to refer to the phone book or Internet.

However, the office space occupied by Gynecare has been listed as available for leasing, confirming Wartanian’s claim to Martelli that the closure is permanent.

“Gynecare is no longer a functioning abortion mill, and the two abortionists that worked there are not currently engaging in the abortion business. This is a huge victory for the team of pro-life groups that worked together for this outcome,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman.

Romeo Ferrer faces permanent license revocation for the abortion-related death of Denise Crowe in 2006. Ferrer could also face criminal charges for killing Crowe during a second trimester abortion after he overdosed her on pain-killing drugs while failing to monitor her vital signs. Pro-life groups, including Operation Rescue, had pressured the MDBP to suspend his license, which was done on an emergency basis on September 8, 2010.

Operation Rescue worked with a number of pro-life groups to expose Ferrer and close his abortion clinic, including Pro-life Unity, Living Hope for Life, Christian Defense Coalition, Defend Life, and Cherish Life Ministries.

Fayetteville, AR — Arkansas abortionist William Harrison, 75, died on Friday, September 24, 2010, after a four-month bout with leukemia. He closed his Fayetteville abortion clinic on July 30.

Harrison was a crusty old man who boasted of having done over 20,000 abortions. He openly called himself an “abortionist” and, according to the LA Times, acknowledged, “I am destroying life.”

He was known to mock Christians and their beliefs as they prayed for him outside his abortion clinic, and heretically called his post-operative patients “born again.”

Thankfully, there is no one to take his place, and today Northwest Arkansas remains abortion-free.

“We are thankful that this man will never again have the opportunity to kill any more babies, hurt any more women, or cause any more human misery on this Earth,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “In the end, God always gets the last word. Our Christian faith informs us that one day we will all have to stand before God and give an account for our lives. Without faith in Christ, the outlook for Mr. Harrison’s meeting with his Maker is grim. We pray other aging abortionists around the nation will not follow Harrison’s example, but will instead find repentance and forgiveness for their bloodguilt through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ.”