Vol. For Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Former executive of planned parenthood and strong advocate of women’s reproductive rights, the appearance of the Supreme Court is somewhat scandalous. Ready to cancel against Ro Wade.
So last week, at a committee hearing on a tax bill for food and drug consumers, Senator Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) Inadvertently tried to amend the bill to ask women to consult with doctor and have an ultrasound before giving permission. Smith was angry about the use of abortion pills.
“It’s not really necessary,” he said at Tuesday’s hearing.
“This change is forcing women seeking medical abortion to be tested in person and only after this unnecessary procedure,” she said. “To be clear, those [transvaginal] “Ultrasound has no medical purpose in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, which is where women can access a medical abortion.”
blacksmith He wrote it on Twitter After the hearing, she also claimed Marshall’s proposal had “zero” grounds and accused her of “punishing women for seeking a common medical procedure.”
It may be over. After all, Smith is right: medical abortion, also called the abortion pill, was approved by the FDA in 2000 and It is safe, effective and widely established For abortion and abortion care in the first 10 weeks. It is also the most common method of abortion in the country, ca. 60% of all abortions..
In December, women no longer have to go to the doctor to take a two-pill regimen. The FDA rejected this rule so that doctors could prescribe it through televised consultations and refer it to patients in states where it is permitted by law. This is before the survey in March found that medical abortion can be given without ultrasound or physical examination, A study with far-reaching results Because you areUltrasound machines cost thousands of dollars and require special training.
But Marshall, who wants to claim to be the only senator-gynecologist in the Senate, He turned to Twitter on Twitter – This time a strange statement about the dangers of abortion pills.
“Women will die if they skip this step,” Marshall said of the ultrasound, “and babies will be born with birth defects because the drug is less effective during pregnancy.”
Deadly women! Babies with birth defects! This is outrage!
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the leading professional organization of gynecologists and gynecologists, responded to a HuffPost request for comment almost immediately after being asked about Marshall’s claims.
“ACOG does not support this claim,” said Kate Connors, a spokeswoman for the organization. “Medical abortion is safe and effective, and the evidence shows that it can be delivered safely and effectively through health television, not to mention ultrasound.”
Connors also taught HuffPost ACOG’s Official Instruction on Medical Abortion, Those interested in a medical explanation for what’s going on, he said, “discuss what he’s saying wrong: misoprostol can be teratogenic in the first trimester However, the data show that planning a pregnancy based on the last menstruation is sufficient to determine the patient indicated for medical abortion, so an ultrasound dating is not necessary.
Meanwhile, Smith criticized his Republican counterpart for “spreading misinformation” about the safety of abortion drugs. Safer than Tylenol.
“You. Marshall is a gynecologist.” He knows what the standard is, “she told HuffPost in a recent interview, accusing her of” hiding behind a doctor’s degree “to scare women from having a safe abortion. .
The Minnesota Democrat said it’s important to note the context of Marshall’s claims.
“He’s doing it because it’s likely within the days of the Supreme Court Roe v.“ Wade was removed and many are using medical abortion as a means of accessing abortion, ”Smith said.“ He’s trying. make it even harder when we think about the future of abortion care, where he turned his back on Rowe Wade. “
When asked for comment in response to ACOG and Smith saying his statements about abortion drugs were untrue, Marshall’s spokesperson released us with a lengthy statement that the senator was an arrogant gynecologist.
“I will always be OBGYN first,” Marshall said in an email. “When I see a political agenda that harms patients, it is my responsibility to speak up.”
The Kansas senator even said that women who take abortion pills without an ultrasound will “lose an ectopic pregnancy and a woman.” [sic] “He also said that without ultrasound, women would receive pills beyond the approved 70-day period, which he said could lead to“ significant birth defects, as well as delays in prenatal care and high rates of undiagnosed diabetes, high blood clotting. blood. and preeclampsia. ‘ .
“As an OBGYN for 30 years, I have given birth to more than 5,000 babies, but I also treat patients with bruises in the emergency room due to a failed outage,” said Marshall, reaffirming his medical credentials. “As an OBGYN, one in only four doctors in the U.S. Senate, it is in the interest of women and the unborn child to consult a doctor before prescribing chemical abortion pills.”
Again, the ACOG certainly denied Marshall’s claims.
The fact that Marshall commonly uses the term “chemical abortion” is highly irrelevant, Connors says, because the ACOG uniquely named it as “partial and nonclinical language.”
“If one thing is valued by pregnant women in their lives, it would be a gross and deliberate misinterpretation of scientific data to limit access to abortion based on politics and ideology.”
– Dr. Jen Vlavicenzio, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
Furthermore, Dr. Jen Vilavicenzio, ACOG Capital Transformation Leader and a gynecologist specializing in the family planning complex, said Marshall’s claims are actually dangerous for women.
“If there’s one thing that will tax pregnant women in their lives, it’s a gross and deliberate misinterpretation of scientific data to limit access to abortion for political and ideological reasons,” Vilacencio told HuffPost.
“As a doctor who currently delivers babies, performs surgery on people with life -threatening ectopic diseases and provides abortion care, I can say both policy and medical practice must demonstrate solid science and clear evidence. ,” he says. “Restrictions on abortion are clearly not supported by the data.” Medical abortion is a very safe and effective medical intervention and for many people the need for an ultrasound is just a barrier to treatment. ”
The Supreme Court will end its term in office at the end of June or the first week of July. It is generally expected to cancel Roe v. Wade.
Source: Huffpost
