Mariah McCarron, New England regional coordinator for Students for Life, reports that the University of Massachusetts at Amherst is making chemical abortions available on campus starting next fall, and the state's lawmakers are considering a proposal to make it available on all state-supported campuses.
"Chemical abortion is several times more dangerous than surgical abortion, not to mention the fact that 8% of chemical abortions wind up with a woman in an emergency room due to complications or to investigate complications," McCarron explains.
College health clinics, she says, are by no means equipped to handle them.
"There are so many more complications to do with it," the pro-lifer continues. "A woman could have an ectopic pregnancy, where her preborn child is implanted in a fallopian tube, and not know during a chemical abortion."
Colleges do not provide sonograms to rule out an ectopic pregnancy or to determine the stage of pregnancy, both of which are important details. Attempting a chemical abortion for an ectopic pregnancy can be fatal for the mother, and the pills are most effective only up to 10 weeks.
"There are no emergency services on campus there," McCarron reiterates. "If a student has a car, it would take roughly half an hour to drive to emergency medical services if they needed that."
That is if they were in any shape to drive.
McCarron is hopeful the school will rethink its policy and that lawmakers will understand that imposing chemical abortion on other campuses would be a serious mistake.
