In recent years, access to abortion pills through the mail has been pushed as a convenient, private solution for women facing unplanned pregnancies, especially by activists and practitioners upset by the Dobbs court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. But as a retired obstetrician with over a quarter century of experience, I can tell you this trend is not only dangerous, it’s tragic.
This isn’t just a political or ideological issue. It’s a medical crisis. Women are being sold a lie that ending a pregnancy alone, without a physical exam, ultrasound, or follow-up care, is safe. The truth is that mail-order abortions come with serious risks, and they put women’s lives in danger.
Ignoring Medical Standards Means Ignoring Women’s Safety
When a woman walks into an ob/gyn’s office, the doctor will take the time to listen to her, examine her, and give her the care she deserves. This face-to-face treatment is the standard of medicine we follow in every other area of healthcare. But with mail-order abortion, that standard is thrown out the window.
The first drug taken in the abortion pill regimen, mifepristone, cuts off nutrients to the growing baby. The second, misoprostol, triggers contractions to expel the baby from the uterus. This process can lead to severe bleeding, infection, and even incomplete abortions that require emergency surgery. Without an ultrasound, how can a woman know how far along she is? Without an exam, how can she be sure she doesn’t have an ectopic pregnancy? 1% of ALL pregnancies are ectopic (tubal) pregnancies. The abortion pill is in no way considered a treatment for an ectopic pregnancy. A ruptured ectopic pregnancy is still the number one pregnancy related cause of death in the first trimester. These are not rare complications. They are real, and they can be deadly.
Statistically, the risks are deeply concerning. A comprehensive study of over 865,000 abortion pill patients found that more than 11 percent experienced serious adverse events, including hemorrhage, infection, or the need for surgery. 11% is 22 times higher than what we had previously been told. Chemical abortions have a complication rate four times higher than surgical abortions. Emergency room visits following abortion pill use increased by over 500% between 2002 and 2015, and about 60 percent of those women were misclassified as having miscarriages (sometimes due to the women purposefully withholding that information from medical personnel). The push for mail-order access only increases the chances that these complications will be missed or mistreated, especially when women have no relationship with the provider who prescribed the pills.
What’s more, abortion pills are now being shipped to women’s homes without any meaningful medical oversight. Websites offering “fast and private” abortions don’t always check ID, verify the age of the recipient, or even check that the person ordering the pills is the one who intends to take them. This dearth of safeguarding opens the door to coercion, abuse, and trafficking. We’ve seen reports of abusive partners secretly ordering abortion pills to control women’s choices. It’s not empowerment. It’s exploitation.
The Human Cost of “Convenience”
Every human life begins at the moment of conception. As a doctor, I have treated patients inside the womb. I’ve performed blood transfusions on babies before they were born. Doctors have repaired spina bifida and treated twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome while those babies were still in the safety of their mother’s womb. A patient is a person, no matter how small.
Mail-order abortion ignores this reality. It treats pregnancy like a problem to be erased, not a life to be protected. It reduces a complex, deeply human experience to a transaction—click, ship, swallow, done. But the emotional and physical aftermath can be anything but simple. Women are left alone to cope with pain, fear, and trauma, often with no follow-up care or support. If your daughter has a cell phone, she has access to the abortion pill in all 50 states, even if she lacks a health insurance card or a credit card.
There is a better way. For women who have just started a chemical abortion and regret their decision, there is hope. The Abortion Pill Reversal protocol can often stop the effects of mifepristone and save your baby’s life if begun soon enough. There exists a growing network of physicians trained and ready to help. Women deserve to know this option exists.
Protecting Life, Supporting Women
Our mission at ProLife Doc is to protect both the lives of children and the well-being of their mothers. We believe in compassionate, science-based care that honors the dignity of every person involved. No woman should be misled into thinking that a pill in the mail is a safe, one-size-fits-all answer to a life-altering decision.
If you or someone you know is considering a mail-order abortion, I urge you to slow down and get the facts. Real healthcare means real care—from doctors who will look you in the eye, answer your questions, and stand by you every step of the way.
To support the ProLife Doc’s work or to learn more about the fight to protect life, explore the free resources on our website or order our curriculum to discover how the miracle of life unfolds from the very beginning. Let’s stand together for truth, for compassion, and for the tiniest of human beings.
