Some facilities only do pill abortions where sidewalk counselors will be ministering. Since the abortion pill is only given up to 10 weeks of pregnancy, these will be very early-term abortions. That woman may have the mindset that it is not at all a big deal.
If this is the case where you are serving, you might find it helpful to consider important things to be aware of that are unique to such facilities.
Be familiar with what happens in pill abortion
A pill abortion is a two-day procedure of taking medications. The first medication, Mifepristone, actually serves to detach the baby from the uterus by cutting off progesterone, which is the natural hormone the body produces to sustain a pregnancy. This takes time in most cases and it’s not always effective, which is why a second set of pills is given the second day. The second set of pills, called Misopristol or cytotec, causes the uterus to contract, which expels the baby.
The abortion center staff will describe the medical abortion as being just like having a heavy period. They say the baby is just a clump of cells and it will be no big deal. In reality, women hemorrhage during 1 in 500 abortions and require a blood transfusion. Women often will pass golf ball-sized clots – and, despite what the abortion center staff says, they will sometimes see a recognizable intact little baby in the bloody mess.
This happened recently to one of the women that was being counseled in Virginia. After she took the pill, a few hours later she did pass the baby fully intact and fully formed. It was a recognizable little human being and the mother was incredibly distraught crying out to the counselor. “You were right. How I wish I had listened to you,” she said.
Be familiar with abortion pill reversal
Knowing how the abortion pill reversal works is also critical. Remember: That first abortion pill cuts off progesterone, which is the hormone that sustains the pregnancy. Oftentimes, women who miscarry have low progesterone levels. The abortion pill reversal is actually a very simple and elegant process by which progesterone is flooded back into the woman’s system. It has been used for years in helping women who are prone to miscarriage, and is completely natural and safe.
The baby can be saved approximately 66% of the time. The likelihood of the baby surviving is greater if the reversal procedure is begun within the first 24 to 48 hours. The baby survival is more likely if the baby is 9 or 10 weeks as opposed to younger.
Knowing these basic facts is the first step in ministering at an abortion center that only does pill abortions.
Be careful about timing of what you call out
Next, being very aware of the critical nature of timing in what you call out is very important. As in all abortions, we recommend not calling out to the women only about God’s love or His forgiveness because they are often using that as an excuse or rationale to have the abortion. There is a time and a place for calling out about God’s forgiveness but it is certainly not to an actively abortion-determined woman.
Similarly, calling out about abortion pill reversal before the woman has had the abortion pill can be very damaging. She will often look at that as the rationalization to take the pill and then if she regrets it go for the reversal. I’ve actually had women tell me this. We only call out about abortion pill reversal when we see women leaving with evidence that they have already taken the first pill.
The lies and the mindset
It is important to know that the abortion center itself will tell the women that once they take the first pill they absolutely must take the second day set of pills. They are told they will be in danger if they do not. This is not true. Our counselors must know what happens in abortion pill reversal so that we can encourage the women in a safe way to try to save their babies.
Telling them about the reversal process
First of all they should call the abortionpillreversal.com hotline. They will be connected with a nurse who will tell them about what they need to do to safely begin abortion pill reversal. They will go to the provider and the nurse will take down some medical history and then will do an ultrasound. This is critical. If the baby’s heartbeat cannot be found, and the baby has already died because of the lack of nutrition and oxygen, then the mother should complete the abortion or at least wait for her body to dispel the baby. If the baby remains inside her body once the baby has died, that can be very dangerous as infection can set in.
So in the abortion reversal, once the baby’s heartbeat is found, the protocol is explained to the woman and the first progesterone pills are given to her. She is told she will need to return for another ultrasound in a week and she will need to continue those pills of progesterone for the first trimester. Usually if the baby makes it the first week or two, it is likely the pregnancy will continue safely.
What to call out
When calling out to women who are about to go in for the pill it is important to understand that they believe it is a less terrible thing than a surgical abortion. This is not true. We would call out the same things that we call out normally about the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception, that no matter how small that baby is, that baby is precious to God. Secondly, the abortion pill essentially asphyxiates and starves the little baby. This is never what any mother should do to her growing child. The same regrets and lifelong consequences and despair can follow a pill abortion as can follow a surgical abortion. In both cases, we would always offer resources as well as the truth of the Gospel.
When women are leaving and we are calling out about abortion pill reversal, I will often add the statement: “God is giving you a second chance! Your baby might still be saved. Please go to abortionpillreversal.com for a safe and free protocol to reverse the pill abortion.”
Be clear in your own heart about sanctity of all human life
To dispel the fallacy about what the woman will face with a pill abortion, it might be good to be familiar with and even have on your phone the segment from the movie Unplanned where a pill abortion is very realistically depicted. To be able to describe what happens in a pill abortion both to the woman and to the baby can be an effective deterrent.
All abortions destroy a living human being. All human beings are loved and created by God and fully human from the moment of conception. All little babies in the womb have all the human DNA they will ever have. All abortions are a rejection of the gift that God has intended to be a blessing.
Probably the most important truth that those who minister at clinics that only do early trimester abortions using the abortion pill is that they have clear in their own mind that a baby from the moment of conception is indeed a baby, made in the image of God. They need to be clear in their own heart that the destruction of human life at any point is wrong. Obviously we cannot give what we do not have. If we are not absolutely certain in our own heart that, from the moment of conception, abortion is an abomination before God, then we will not be able to clearly represent that truth to the women we serve.
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