LAT Omits Dangers of Deadly Abortion Pill and Abortion

The Los Angeles Times has an article today (Mon. 9/10/07) about a new law in Missouri. It dictates that all of Missouri's abortion mills be properly stocked with medical equipment and have adequately wide doorways and hallways to handle emergencies. Abortionists are raising a stink because renovations to their facilities could be burdensomely costly. The law would also apply to clinics who solely issue the abortion pill.

In reporting the story, the Times completely omits some important facts about the abortion pill. Since it was approved for use in the United States in 2000, Mifepristone (Mifeprex/RU-486/"the abortion pill") is "associated with the deaths of at least 8 women, 9 life-threatening incidents, 232 hospitalizations, 116 blood transfusions, and 88 cases of infection. There are more than 950 adverse event cases associated with RU-486 out of only 575,000 prescriptions, at most" (emphasis mine) (source, US House of Representatives hearing, May/Oct. 2006). And the liberal New York Times has even admitted, "Some deaths may have gone unreported, meaning the real risk may be even higher." It also added, "Pill-based abortions are also 5 to 10 times as likely to fail as surgical ones" (link). Meanwhile, the abortion lobby innocently asks, "How is expanding the doorway size going to improve women's health?"

The Times didn't feel it was relevant to report these inconvenient facts. Rather, it begins its article:

A first-trimester surgical abortion takes about two minutes. After, patients at the Planned Parenthood clinic here walk down a dimly lighted hall to a small, spare recovery room, where they rest in recliners, a box of tissues by each chair. Most are cleared to go home after 15 minutes.

Thousands of women have safely ended pregnancies at [a Missouri] clinic since it opened in 1987.

"[T]akes about two minutes"?" "[C]leared to go home after 15 minutes"? Can you imagine a more innocuous portrayal of a surgical abortion?

Not surprisingly, the culprit in this reporting is the reliably biased Stephanie Simon, whose work we've reported on in the past here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Simon and the Times clearly want to paint early abortion as a simple, safe, and innocent procedure. What's the truth? Simon and her friends might want to take a look at Blackmun's Wall, compiled by Life Dynamics, that lists 347 women who have died as a result of those so-called "safe and legal" abortions. (And don't forget about the 47 million that have been exterminated since Roe vs. Wade.) It has also been very well documented that abortion-related deaths frequently go unreported. (Check out this eye-opening article from the Elliot Institute. How about an article on this, Stephanie?)

To see an image of the Times article today, click here.