This is according to a report by #WeCount, a research project by the Society of Family Planning, a group that supports legal abortion.

The study is notable because it is the first full-year census of US abortion providers following the June 2022 US Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization. This sheds light on how they view trends in their industry.

The survey only considered data from licensed clinics within the health care system, researchers said and does not account for what may be illegal procedures, such as abortion pills ordered from overseas.

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Dr Dermot Kearney, a hospital cardiologist and a past president of the UK's Catholic Medical Association, was last year the subject of a complaint about his treatment.

MSI Reproductive Choices, a major UK abortion provider, along with its allies, then complained to the UK General Medical Council (GMC) which regulates the conduct of doctors.

MSI Reproductive Choices and friends claimed the abortion pill reversal treatment Kearney was prescribing were a risk to women.

Dr Kearney had been prescribing a hormone - progesterone - to women who had started medical abortion procedures and then changed their minds.

Progesterone was his drug of choice because research in the United States has shown it neutralises the effects of the abortion pill.

After he began legal proceedings at the High Court of Justice to continue the treatment and challenge the ban on the drug, the GMC undertook some research itself.

The results showed the GMC that there was no evidence to suggest progesterone endangers the health of women or unborn children.

Kearney says he was "the victim of a coordinated campaign by senior figures in the abortion industry who have been determined to prevent women in urgent need from accessing abortion reversal treatment."

He now wants other doctors to consider his treatment.

"The truth about abortion reversal treatment must now be told and medical professionals who are able and willing to support women with the treatment should be allowed to do so without fear," he says.

"My hope is that woman across the UK will now be told by medical regulators and abortion providers that abortion reversal treatment is safe, that it is available, and that success is possible if they regret their decision to have an abortion and choose to seek help," he said.

Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, says: "We are delighted that justice has been served for this brilliant and compassionate doctor. We are, however, deeply concerned that a case was brought against him in the first place.

"The mantra of the abortion lobby of ‘my body my choice' should extend to a woman changing her mind about going through with an abortion. The abortion industry does not want to give women that choice."

Source

• Crux Now
• Image: Right to Life UK

He and his team will help any woman seeking help. Many are asking.

"We help all women including Muslims, atheists, and others," he says.

"I know that human life begins from conception and I believe that new life is a precious gift from Our Lord. Let's work together to have more babies on Earth and more happiness."

For a time, abortion - legal in Russia since 1920 - saw the Soviet Union having one of the world's highest abortion rates, with millions of abortions performed each year.

Although official numbers are now about 450,000 a year, the estimated 500,000 medical abortions - such as those procured through the abortion pill - aren't reported, say Pro-lifers.

Abortions "are very affordable and easily available everywhere," Fokin says.

He began helping women who had sought drug-induced abortions and then changed their minds in 2016.

Many take the first of the prescribed pills (mifepristone) "impulsively, without strong decision," Fokin says.
Many then almost immediately decide they don't want to go on with the process, which involves taking a second pill containing misoprostol.

Spurred by the inquiries, Fokin found a Heartbeat International's (HBI) website that guides women who have taken mifepristone through an "abortion pill reversal" (APR) process involving prescribed doses of progesterone.

Sure of its efficacy, Fokin and his colleagues adapted the treatment - which is taken under medical supervision usually within 24 hours of taking the first pill.

"In 2018, we published the first video on YouTube with APR instructions in Russian," he says.

"We had 20,000-30,000 views and about 2,000 visitors per year."

Some US abortion advocates and pro-choice media claim the therapy is "unproven" and "unethical." However, Fokin assures critics APR is "absolutely ethical, highly efficient, and safe."

"Mifepristone induces chemical ‘miscarriage.' It is the mifepristone, which blocks the natural development of pregnancy and kills babies, that is unethical. Mifepristone is a legalised poison," he says.

"It blocks progesterone receptors and causes the death of a normal and healthy baby."

Progesterone has been known for decades to be an "effective and safe drug for the treatment of miscarriage," he says.

"Giving progesterone, we unblock progesterone receptors and turn back the natural process in the right direction. This is absolutely ethical."

APR critics often cite a U.S. study of the treatment that was stopped in 2019 after some participants were admitted to emergency rooms.

HBI says the 'Creinin study' "actually showed that the abortion pill carries major health risks to a mother." Another study involving the same doctor (Creinin) showed that the abortion pill regimen resulted in hemorrhaging ... confirming "the bleeding is attributable to mifepristone and not progesterone."

A 2018 peer-reviewed study indicates APR saved 64-68 percent of pregnancies without an increase in birth defects. It concluded "the reversal of the effects of mifepristone using progesterone is safe and effective."

Fokin says officials are concerned about Russia's population, which fell by more than 700,000 in 2020.

He hopes APR therapy will be included in the standard of care for miscarriage or to develop a new standard of care.

Source

• CNA
• Image: Catholic News Agency