The Rising Tide of Chemical Abortion

By Peggy Hamill, State Director Emeritus, Pro-Life Wisconsin

Updated 03.25.2024

As we strive to advance The Gospel of Life, we must pause to take a numbing reality check. Since abortion was legalized in this country, more than 63 million preborn children have been slaughtered through induced abortion. Beyond the recorded numbers, we can only imagine the additional hundreds of millions of children who continue to perish through abortifacient hormonal birth control drugs and devices, including the so-called morning-after pill. 

The most recently released abortion statistics for our own state indicate that in 2021, abortions in Wisconsin were at their highest point since 2013, with 6,579 preborn lives lost that year.[1,2]
Furthermore, a staggering 36%, or 1,180 of that 2021 total, were "chemically induced (any non-surgical procedure including oral, injected and vaginally inserted chemicals)." That's the equivalent of the chemical extermination of approximately 26 school buses full of children.[3]

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, the state's leading abortion provider, advocates increased access to birth control and the morning-after pill to curtail the rise in abortion. They have even lobbied for free birth control as basic health care under ObamaCare. This would only fuel an already out-of-control epidemic of sexual promiscuity, STDs, teen pregnancies, and, of course, abortion. 

In fact, the growing dependence on, and widespread availability of, pre-implantation abortifacient birth control has resulted in an increased demand for post-implantation chemical abortions. When birth control and the morning-after pill fail to eliminate the "problem," post-implantation chemical abortion (mifepristone/RU-486) is seen as a speedy, convenient "solution." 

There is a form of birth control named "Ella" that contains ulipristal acetate, an embryo-lethal chemical identical to the one found in mifepristone, the active ingredient in RU-486. Billed as an "emergency contraceptive," Ella is recommended for use up to 5 days after intercourse. However, ulipristal acetate can cause a post-implantation chemical abortion. Ulipristal can be detected in reproductive tissue up to two weeks after ingestion. Clearly there is no separation between hormonal birth control and abortion. The current trend toward chemical abortion is concrete proof that there is no room in the battle against abortion for neutrality on birth control.

Pro-Life Wisconsin's lonely battle against the abortion industry's birth control agenda is increasingly intense at the State Capitol. We are forced by Planned Parenthood to lobby against government-funded birth control, coerced insurance coverage of contraceptives, and forced contraception education and instruction in our public schools.

It all starts with the contraceptive mentality, which leads to the use of birth control, which leads to a dependence on abortion, especially chemical abortion, as back-up contraception. The pro-life community instinctively knows this, but very few of us have the courage to say it and do something about it. Regardless, Pro-Life Wisconsin will endeavor to turn back the rising chemical abortion tide and the entire contraceptive/abortion mentality.

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1 - 2022 Reported Induced Abortions in Wisconsin, https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/publications/p45360-22.pdf

2 - We reference here statistics in 2021, because - PRAISE GOD - the Dobbs decision saved lives in 2022! Sadly, that year still saw 3,333 lives ended in the violence of abortion.

3 - Editor’s note: While the gross number of chemical abortions in 2022, 1180, is down from the 2,251 lives lost to chemical abortion in 2009, the percentage of abortions performed chemically continues to rise, making chemical abortion a continued threat to many preborn children. In 2009, 27% of abortions were performed chemically as opposed to 36% in 2022.