The growing weaponization of the abortion pill

Rosalie Markezich smiled when she realized she was pregnant in 2023. The young woman from Louisiana waited a week before telling her then-boyfriend, who was initially supportive. Then, she says, he changed his mind.

“He told me that he actually did not want to keep the child,” Markezich says in an interview with Alliance Defending Freedom, the faith-based legal organization representing her case today. “And so I told him that I do. I don’t want to get rid of my baby.”

What Markezich says happened next is chilling: Her boyfriend ordered abortion drugs online that arrived in the mail. One day, he grew livid and pressured her to swallow them in front of him, she claims. She says she tried to throw them up as soon as possible; instead, she lost her baby.

I looked into Markezich’s story and others like hers after noticing that a number of major pro-life organizations are starting to track reported cases of women being coerced into consuming the abortion pill — the most common type of abortion in the United States.

Markezich’s story is perhaps most famous, because it is at the center of a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s 2023 policy allowing abortion drugs to be distributed by mail. It appears on lists by groups like SBA Pro-Life America, 40 Days for Life and Heartbeat International of women who say they were pressured or tricked into taking the abortion pill.

Each year, hundreds of thousands of women follow the two-drug regimen. Permitted for use through 10 weeks of gestation, the abortion pill is also sometimes called chemical abortion, medication abortion or telemedicine abortion. In 2000, the FDA first approved mifepristone, which is paired with another drug called misoprostol, for abortions in the earlier weeks of pregnancy.

Every abortion ends the life of an unborn baby. But these reported cases of illicit use present an opportunity for both pro-lifers and abortion supporters to come together and agree: Pregnant women who want their babies should have the support and love they need.

It should concern everyone if even one woman is forced or tricked into an abortion.

To track various cases, pro-life groups are relying on reports from media outlets that are also noticing these incidents. Local news affiliates as well as outlets such as ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, the Associated Press and even People magazine are reporting about this.

Using these stories, pro-life groups document around two dozen reported cases. At the same time, they suggest the number is much greater. Some point out that many women never come forward publicly. Many also see this as a growing problem that will continue.

Heartbeat International says its tracker began in response to an increased number of calls to their Abortion Pill Rescue Network, which serves women who regret beginning the abortion pill’s two-drug regimen and want information about how to continue their pregnancies. The group says they are noticing more calls involving coercion, pressure and allegations of deception.

These trackers also point to a larger problem. A 2023 study by the Charlotte Lozier Institute, SBA Pro-Life America’s research and education institute, found that 24% of women who have had an abortion said it was unwanted or coerced. Only 33% said their abortion was wanted, and 60% said they would have preferred to give birth if they had received more emotional support or had more financial security.

The study suggests that women generally aren’t seeking abortion because it’s a choice. They’re pursuing it because they feel like they have no other choice.

This is why the thousands of pregnancy centers nationwide that minister to pregnant and parenting women in need are important. This is why the Catholic Church’s accompaniment of these women with its parish-based initiative, Walking with Moms in Need, is crucial.

And for women who may experience coercion or deception with the abortion pill, this is a reason why resources like Heartbeat International’s helpline exist.

Women should know they are not alone; they should feel empowered to choose life for their babies.

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