HISTORY
ABORTION
The “Abortion Pill” (RU 486) Approved by the FDA (2000 AD)
The synthetic-steroid Mifepristone (RU 486), a.k.a., the “abortion pill” or “chemical abortion” was first developed in 1980 and used legally in France as early as 1987. It reached the US market when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved its use in September 28, 2000. Initially sold under the brand name “Mifeprex,” it was approved for stand-alone usage for pregnancies through 7 weeks. In 2019, the FDA expanded the range to 10 weeks when combined with Misoprostol. ( 1 )
The first drug, Mifepristone, blocks the hormone progesterone, halting fetal development. Then 48 hours later, taking misoprostol induces pre-term labor, expelling the dead child and any other pregnancy tissue. RU-486 is often touted as a panacea of safe, effective, secret abortion. But, in reality, RU-486 poses a much higher risk of complications compared to surgical abortion. That’s because it’s basically a DIY (Do It Yourself) at-home abortion. That means unsupervised, non-clinical conditions. In other words, higher risks for women. Additional risks with RU-486 include ectopic pregnancies, Rh-incompatibility (a blood disorder), and a 5-10% failure rate. Plus, normal, treatable, complications like excess bleeding and cramping, can become major, even fatal, complications for lack of clinical supervision. ( 2 ) For these reasons pill abortion has been shown to cause up to 400% more medical complications and 50% more ER visits for the mother. ( 3 ) Furthermore, pill abortion is easily exploited by traffickers and abusers since they can coerce her into an abortion by forcing her to take a pill. That’s a lot easier than forcing a surgical abortion.
Sources: https://www.fda.gov/drugs/postmarket-drug-safety-information-patients-and-providers/questions-and-answers-mifepristone-medical-termination-pregnancy-through-ten-weeks-gestation; see also, https://lozierinstitute.org/fact-sheet-risks-and-complications-of-chemical-abortion/; and Niinimäki M, Pouta A, Bloigu A, Gissler M, Hemminki E, Suhonen S, Heikinheimo O. Immediate complications after medical compared with surgical termination of pregnancy. Obstet Gynecol. 2009 Oct;114(4):795-804. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0b013e3181b5ccf9. PMID: 19888037;
Images: https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230105123125-medication-abortion-process-wellness.jpg?q=w_1110,c_fill;
Born-Alive Infants Protection Act Passed (HR2175) (2002 AD)
On August 2, 2002, the Born-Alive Infants Protection Acts was signed into law by George W. Bush. This act helped fortify legal protection for any infant born alive even from a failed abortion. This one-page bill states that anyone fully delivered (outside the womb) is a legal person. The bill, however, clarifies that it does not “expand or contract” any legal standing for children-in-utero. In other words, abortion at any point before birth is unaffected by this bill. Additionally, this bill says nothing about enforcement, policing, or punishment. ( 4 ) In 2019, a more specific addition to this bill was proposed: The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Act (HR 26). It adds clarification and enforcement measures to the 2002 bill. The 2019 Abortion Survivors Act passed in the Republican majority House but stalled in the Democrat-led Senate (2019-2024), possibly because it has “abortion” in the title and poses a clearer regulatory threat to abortion compared to the “Born-Alive” bill (2002). ( 5 ) As of May 2025, the bill has not yet passed in the Trump administration, despite a Republican majority in the house and senate.
Assassination of Dr. George Tiller, the Most Famous Late-term Abortionist at that Time (2009 AD)
In the 1990's and 2000's the most prolific late-term abortion providers in the country, Dr. George Tiller, was a known target among radical anti-abortionists. It didn’t help that his clinic stood out like a sore thumb in Wichita, KS (i.e., Republican middle America). In 1993 he survived an assassination attempt at the hands of Shelley Shannon, a member of the anti-abortion extremist group Army of God. He would use security escorts and bodyguards after that. 16 years later, on Sunday, May 31, 2009, another member Army of God, walked into the Wichita Reformed Lutheran Church where Tiller was serving as an usher and shot Tiller in the head. The shooter, Scott Roeder, was arrested and tried.
He defended his actions saying he was protecting the lives of babies. The jury, unimpressed, found him guilty of murder on January 29, 2010 and sentenced him to 50 years in prison, with parole eligibility after 25 years. ( 6 ) ( 7 ) Both the victim and perpetrator claimed to be born-again Christians; yet neither acted in accordance with historic Christianity.
Kermit Gosnell, The Most Prolific Serial Killer in US History, is Arrested (2010 AD)
On February 18, 2010, Federal authorities raided the Philadelphia clinic of doctor Kermit Gosnell, on suspicion that he was selling prescription drugs illegally. ( 9 ) He would eventually be arrested January 19, 2011 as the investigation and raid revealed that running a “pill mill” was the least of his problems. The clinic was a veritable house of horrors: squalid and filthy, unsafe for any medical practice. Remains of aborted and murdered babies could be found in bags, and jars, piled in hallways and offices. Jars holding severed baby feet were kept in the fridge next to employees lunches. Some employees were not even trained medical providers. One of them just 15 years-old. And the clinic clearly had not been inspected in years. Evidence suggests hundreds of babies had been killed by cutting their spinal cords after delivery. At least one woman, a Nepalese immigrant, died from Gosnell’s malpractice. ( 8 ) Gosnell’s clinic catered to poor, indigent, immigrants while earning him up to $1.8 million a year. Gosnell was convicted on three murder charges, with a basket of felonies and misdemeanors. He’s currently serving a life sentence without parole.
Despite how the evidence suggests Gosnell could be the deadliest serial killer in U.S. history, the story was apparently blacklisted by mainstream media till Kirsten Powers of USA Today wrote on op-ed piece, “Philadelphia Abortion Clinic Horror,” lambasting the media for squashing the story and refusing to cover Gosnell’s trial. That was April 11, 2013 over three years after the clinic raid, two years after his arrest, and three weeks into the Trial. At one point, only one journalist could be found reporting on-site at the trial: Phelim McAleer, a moderate pro-choicer and crime correspond for the Sunday Times (London). McAleer and his wife Ann McElhinney would later write a book and produce a movie on Gosnell - since none of the national news sources were willing to risk platforming such negative press on the abortion industry. Nevertheless, the negative press eventually proved unavoidable.
Parents are Awarded $2.9 Million in Wrongful Birth Lawsuit (2012 AD)
In Portland, Oregon, Ariel and Deborah Levy sued Legacy Health hospital for failure to alert the Levys that their child had Down Syndrome. March 11, 2012 the Levys were awarded $2.9 million in the lawsuit claiming that they would have aborted their daughter had they known of her Down Syndrome diagnosis. ( 10 ) This lawsuit alleges that Legacy Health was "negligent in their performance, analysis and reporting" of genetic testing and analysis. While the parents claim to love their daughter very much, they would have aborted her with a correct diagnosis, and $2.9 million was the projected cost of caring for a person with Down Syndrome over the course of a lifetime. ( 11 )
ources: https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/03/10/parents-get-2-9m-in-down-syndrome-girl-wrongful-birth-suit
https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2012/03/despite_abuse_from_critics_par.html
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/03/09/article-2112708-12198392000005DC-924_306x314.jpg
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/03/09/article-2112708-1219ADFB000005DC-970_634x334.jpg
Kentucky Passes HB 2, the Ultrasound Informed Consent Act (2017 AD)
On January 9, 2017 in Frankfort, Kentucky, Governor Matt Bevin signs HB2 requiring doctors to perform a fetal ultrasound before an abortion. ( 12 ) In it, doctor’s are required to accurately describe what the ultrasound depicts, location of the pregnancy, number of fetal humans, and to play the sounds of the heartbeat. Women are not obligated to view the ultrasound and may request the volume be reduced or silenced. Opponents claim HB2 victimizes women by requiring a vaginal ultrasound. Supporters claim an ultrasound is needed to identify any risky irregularities the location of the pregnancy, regardless of one’s abortion decision. Regardless, abortion surgeons routinely use ultrasounds to perform abortions and to identify fetal age and location, before an abortion, as that information determines which procedure to use. In 2019 this Kentucky law was upheld by the Supreme Court, paving the way for a 2019 surge in “Heartbeat Bills” - banning abortion after a detectable heartbeat. ( 13 )
Wisconsin Pro-Life Center Firebombed (2022 AD)
On May 6, 2022 the Wisconsin Family Action office – a pro-life resource center – was firebombed, but not before the assailant spray-painted on the outside of the clinic, “If abortions aren’t safe, then you aren’t either.” While no one was present at the time, the office was damaged and the safety of employees and visitors threatened. After nearly a year of searching, Hrindindu Sankar Roychowdhury was arrested and charged for the crime. The trial revealed that he was responding to the leaked Dobbs decision, from four days earlier, foretelling the fate of Roe v. Wade. Mr. Roychowdhury was found guilty and sentenced to 7 ½ years in prison. ( 14 ) The US Attorney, Timothy O’Shea, called the actions domestic terrorism and called for harsh sentencing. While he was not given the minimum sentence, Wisconsin Family Action claims the sentence was too light. ( 15 )
North Dakota Passes “Baby Olivia Act,” Requiring Public Schools to Teach Accurate Fetal Development (2024 AD)
On April 26, 2023 North Dakota Governor, Doug Burgham, a Pro-Life Republican, signed into law HB1265, known as the “Growth and Development and Human Sexuality Curriculum” Act. ( 16 ) This law requires public schools to show a medically accurate video illustrating fetal development. This law, is also known, informally, as “The Baby Olivia Act,” since it became a legal template for other states and the preferred sonogram-style video for these bills is the “Baby Olivia” Video produced by LiveAction.org in 2021. ( 17 )
Supporters of the bill argue that children should have a scientifically accurate grasp of human development, including early stages in the womb. Opponents claim the video is inaccurate for showing development from conception rather than from the date of the last menstrual cycle. Biologically speaking, however, there’s the science is settled that new human life begins at conception. Nevertheless, the law, allows substituting a comparable video if desired, so that objection is moot. Critics also argue that fetal-movement, at 11 weeks, is just reflexive movements. But, it’s still self-movement (not the mother’s body), so the point is still moot. After North Dakota, as many as 9 other States have introduced or passed a “Baby Olivia Act” as of May 2025: Arkansas, Hawaii, Iowa, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia. But North Dakota is the first to pass it, resolve objections, and activate it in their public school system.
Texas Midwife Arrested for Illegal Abortions (2025 AD)
Dr. Maria Margarita Rojas was arrested March 6 for Medicaid fraud, and performing abortions and practicing medicine without a license. Rojas had been operating four illegal clinics in the Houston, Texas area. A complaint in January about illegal abortions being performed in Rojas’ clinics led to the investigation that culminated in her arrest. Rojas told the two women featured in the initial complaint and investigation that their pregnancies were not viable and provided them with medical abortions. Additionally, two others were arrested at her clinics for practicing medicine without a license, Jose Ley and Rubildo Matos. ( 18 ) Matos is a nurse practitioner whose license has been suspended, while Ley is a Cuban citizen in the country illegally who does not appear to have medical training.
The Waller County District Attorney Sean Whittmore said, “The gravity of what they were doing transcends whether you’re pro-choice or pro-life,” Whittmore said in an interview. “It’s worse than violating the ban: These women were not even safe.” ( 19 )
Sources: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14512515/health-clinic-texas-midwife-abortions-arrested-maria-margarita-rojas.html; https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/03/17/texas-abortion-doctor-attorney-general-paxton/
Images: https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/HGJ7XBUTWEXGXP2ZAM2CJMHVEU.jpg&w=1200
Page Citations & Notes
1. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “Questions and Answers on Mifepristone for Medical Termination of Pregnancy Through Ten Weeks Gestation.” FDA. Quoted/reference point: the page cites FDA approval of mifepristone on September 28, 2000, initial approval through 7 weeks, and later use through 10 weeks with misoprostol.
2. Niinimäki, M., A. Pouta, A. Bloigu, M. Gissler, E. Hemminki, S. Suhonen, and O. Heikinheimo. “Immediate Complications after Medical Compared with Surgical Termination of Pregnancy.” Obstetrics & Gynecology 114, no. 4 (2009): 795–804. PubMed. Referenced for: the page’s comparison of complication rates between medical and surgical abortion.
3. Charlotte Lozier Institute. “Fact Sheet: Risks and Complications of Chemical Abortion.” Referenced for: the page’s claims about higher complication and ER-visit rates associated with chemical abortion.
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4. United States. Born-Alive Infants Protection Act of 2002, Pub. L. 107-207. Congress.gov summary and archived White House signing statement. Quoted/reference point: the page cites the Act for defining anyone born alive after complete expulsion or extraction as a legal person while not expanding or contracting legal status before birth.
5. United States Congress. Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. Referenced for: the page’s statement that a later enforcement-focused born-alive bill was proposed after the 2002 Act.
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6. State v. Roeder, No. 104,520 (Kan. 2014). Kansas Judicial Branch. Referenced for: the page’s account that Scott Roeder killed George Tiller in 2009 and was convicted of premeditated first-degree murder.
7. Planned Parenthood Federation of America. “Statement on the Sentencing of Scott Roeder for the Murder of Dr. George Tiller.” January 30, 2014. Planned Parenthood. Referenced for: the page’s statement that Roeder ultimately received a life sentence and public reaction to the killing.
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8. First Judicial District of Pennsylvania, Investigating Grand Jury. Report of the Grand Jury in the Matter of County Investigating Grand Jury XXIII. 2011. U.S. Supreme Court-hosted PDF copy. Referenced for: the page’s description of Gosnell’s clinic conditions, unlicensed staff, patient death, and post-delivery killings described in the grand jury report.
9. United States Department of Justice. United States v. Gosnell et al. indictment, December 14, 2011. DOJ PDF. Referenced for: the page’s statement that the initial federal raid was tied to unlawful prescription-drug activity before broader abuses were uncovered.
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10. ABC News. “Parents Get $2.9M in Down Syndrome Girl Wrongful Birth Suit.” March 10, 2012. ABC News. Quoted/reference point: the page cites this report for the $2.9 million award in the Levy wrongful-birth suit involving an alleged missed Down syndrome diagnosis.
11. Levy v. Legacy Health System reporting. OregonLive. Referenced for: the page’s summary that the parents said they loved their daughter but would have chosen abortion with an earlier diagnosis.
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12. Kentucky. HB 2 (2017 Regular Session). Kentucky Legislature bill PDF and Kentucky statute § 311.727. Quoted/reference point: the page cites the law for requiring an ultrasound, description of the images, and auscultation of the fetal heartbeat before abortion, subject to stated exceptions.
13. EMW Women’s Surgical Center, P.S.C. v. Beshear coverage. BMJ news report. Referenced for: the page’s statement that the Kentucky law was allowed to stand in 2019 after Supreme Court review was declined.
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14. United States Department of Justice. “Wisconsin Man Sentenced to Prison for 2022 Firebombing of Madison Building.” April 10, 2024. DOJ press release. Quoted/reference point: the page cites the attack on Wisconsin Family Action, the connection to the leaked Dobbs draft, the conviction, and the 90-month sentence.
15. Wisconsin Family Action. “Statement Regarding Sentencing of Individual Who Firebombed Its Office.” April 5, 2024. Wisconsin Family Action. Referenced for: the page’s summary of the organization’s response and view that the sentence was too light.
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16. North Dakota. HB 1265 (68th Legislative Assembly, 2023). North Dakota Legislature overview and House bill PDF. Referenced for: the page’s statement that North Dakota enacted a curriculum law requiring instruction on human growth and development and an ultrasound video component.
17. Belmont Health Law. “New North Dakota Law Requires Schools to Teach About Fetal Development in Health Class.” May 9, 2023. Belmont Health Law. Referenced for: the page’s description of the law’s curriculum requirements and video-content expectations.
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18. Texas Attorney General. “Attorney General Ken Paxton Announces Arrest of Houston-Area Abortionist and Crackdown on Clinics.” March 17, 2025. Texas Attorney General. Quoted/reference point: the page cites the arrest of Maria Margarita Rojas, the allegation of illegal abortions, and the charge of practicing medicine without a license.
19. Texas Tribune. “Texas’ First Abortion Arrests Stem from Monthlong Attorney General Investigation.” March 17, 2025. Texas Tribune. Referenced for: the page’s description of the additional arrests, the clinic network, and the broader context of the case.
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Narration and or text on this page has been developed with the assistance of the ChatGPT LLM.