Woman Tweets about Abortion on Twitter to Demystify RU-486
Be careful what you attempt to demystify.
At 4:08 p.m. on Feb. 18 micro-blogger Angie Jackson (left) began posting the blow-by-blows of her RU-486 abortion on Twitter. "I took the first pill a little under 2 hours ago," she tweeted.
The 27-year-old's intention, she later told ABC News, was to "demystify" RU-486 abortions.
Jackson had announced her pregnancy on Twitter Feb. 13, even before telling the boyfriend ("BF") she and her 4-year-old son have been living with since last December.
BF was on board with aborting his offspring, so when it came down to which type, four-weeks pregnant Jackson chose the RU-486 at-home medical abortion, which the FDA states can be prescribed up to 49 days, or seven weeks, after the first day of a mother's last period.
RU-486 abortions are the coming rage, much less hassle for abortion profiteers than surgical abortions. The mother takes an RU-486 pill (aka mifepristone or mifeprex) at the clinic, which kills the baby, and follows up at home with one or two doses of cytotec (aka misoprostol) pills to cause contractions to expel the baby. All for $480, as Angie tweeted.
The bonus for abortion clinics is if an RU-486 abortion doesn't work, which occurs 7.9 percent of the time according to RU-486's label, there is no guarantee, so mothers must then undergo and pay for surgical abortions – abortion double-dipping.
Notwithstanding that, along with serious, life-threatening complications that can lead to death, as has happened at least eight times in the U.S. since RU-486 was legalized in 2000, are RU-486 abortions generally less hassle for aborting moms?
Jackson thought so, basing her decision on the fact her abortion would "be over in 4-8 hrs," as she initially tweeted, and done in the comfort of her home, since she was frightened of surgery.
After visiting her local Planned Parenthood, Jackson again tweeted her abortion experience would be a "4 hour bleed-out," so this was apparently the official teaching Angie received.
But the first rule of demystifying is one must herself be demystified before attempting to demystify. If not, the demystifying process may not go as anticipated, which is what happened in Jackson's case.
Only because Angie decided to live tweet her RU-486 abortion did we learn in actuality it's a long, drawn out, painful process. For that reason I thought Angie's exposé was a worthwhile educational experience for us all.
Here are some common adverse reactions, according to the RU-486 packaging:
Nearly all of the women … will report adverse reactions, and many … report more than one. … 80 to 90 percent of women reported bleeding more heavily than they do during a heavy menstrual period. … Women also typically experience abdominal pain, including uterine cramping. Other commonly reported side effects were nausea, vomiting and diarrhea … pelvic pain, fainting, headache, dizziness … fatigue … back pain. …
That's sobering enough on paper, but how does reality play out?
For nine days, from Feb. 19-27, Jackson tweeted about such severe cramps she had difficulty walking across the room. She went through 17 Vicodin in six days and at a point soon after requesting a prescription for another 20.
Jackson tweeted nausea, vomiting, backaches, headaches and bleeding. Five days into her abortion experience, Angie commented on another blog, "Honestly I had no idea this would go on so long. I thought the entire abortion would take a few hours, as I'd read in a few stories. ..."
At the bottom of this column you can read what Jackson's suffering looked like in real time, where I've synopsized nine days of her tweets.
Planned Parenthood obviously did not explain the reality of an RU-486 abortion to Jackson, nor did any of her other sources.
But Edouard Sakiz, former chairman of Roussel Uclaf, the company that developed RU-486, stated:
As abortifacient procedures go, RU-486 is not at all easy to use. ... True, no anesthetic is required. But a woman who wants to end her pregnancy has to "live" with her abortion for at least a week using this technique. It's an appalling psychological ordeal.
Dr. Etienne-Emile Baulieu, who invented RU-486, stated:
It's insulting to women to say that abortion now will be as easy as taking aspirins. It is always difficult, psychologically and physically, sometimes tragic.
Jackson stopped tweeting her symptoms on Feb. 27, when she realized I was reposting them on my blog. But she wrote the evening of March 2, "In real life, I had a terrible day & don't wanna talk about it."
So whatever the physical, emotional, psychological toll Jackson has endured up to this point, it's not over. How many millions of other mothers have undergone the same ghastly experience?
My intent here is not to drive mothers to undergo surgical abortions rather than RU-486 abortions. They're no picnic, either.
All of this was just to say RU-486 is no abortion panacea, except for those selling it.
Following are some of Jackson's tweets detailing her ordeal.
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Why do you leave out the reasons behind her abortion ?
She has clearly stated that a pregnancy presented a serious risk to her health . Do you demand that she risk death ?
The first caused complications. She knew beforehand that getting pregnant was hazardous to her health .
Perhaps she should have spared herself the agony and got her tubes tied.
The plural of 'anecdote' is not 'data'.
"She knew beforehand that getting pregnant was hazardous to her health ."
Which is why she was taking precautions.
"Perhaps she should have spared herself the agony and got her tubes tied."
From the information she has presented it would sound as though she has had some medical issues, an operation like having her tubes tied may not have been advisable at that point.
They lied to her and caused her pain and suffering.
After reading what the producing company and the inventor of that medication has to say about it, I am not sure how to feel about your use of the word "advisable". But, as long as Planned Parenthood stood to profit from her pain, you will support them in telling her it was fast and safe . This is telling about you.
Surely having tubes tied would be less stressful than a week-long slow-motion abortion . From what I understand, it was not a case of her health being frail, but a matter of her body not handling the efforts of childbirth well.
The plural of 'anecdote' is not 'data'.
I see no evidence that they lied to her... from the description it sounds as though her experience was not the average.
"But, as long as Planned Parenthood stood to profit from her pain, you will support them in telling her it was fast and safe . This is telling about you."
Your ability to construct straw men is quite remarkable... I have said nor implied no such thing.
I do not care about how much money Planed Parenthood brings in, just that it provides needed services to those in the lower economic rungs.
http://www.ru486facts.org/index.cfm?page=whatto
"An RU-486/misoprostol abortion usually takes between 2 days to two weeks, but can take three to four weeks. It requires at least three visits to the doctor ."
The manufacturer of Cytotec does not recommend it be used for anything other than ulcers.
Would you care how much a "big-box" bargain gun store chain would earn by setting up their shops in the neighborhoods of "those in the lower economic rungs?"
Kill poor babies = A-OK
Kill poor criminals = Cause for Outrage
Do you ever tire of making excuses?
The plural of 'anecdote' is not 'data'.
The ru486 page you gave there is remarkably consistent with what is found on the Planned Parenthood page for the same medication :
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-topics/abortion/abortion-pill-medication-abortion-4354.htm
"Would you care how much a "big-box" bargain gun store chain would earn by setting up their shops in the neighborhoods of "those in the lower economic rungs?""
If guns were somehow a vital medical service then I would be all for it... but they are not so it's hardly relevant.
Further you again ignore the fact that for many women Planned Parenthood is the only affordable health care that they can get for dealing with female medical issues.
I can't see how a procedure which, when successful, takes a life is a valid medical procedure.
Can you think of ANY other medical procedure which, when successful, snuffs out a living being?
The plural of 'anecdote' is not 'data'.
"I can't see how a procedure which, when successful, takes a life is a valid medical procedure."
So you are now advocating a complete ban on abortions, regardless of the circumstances?
"Can you think of ANY other medical procedure which, when successful, snuffs out a living being?"
Since I do not consider a fetus a living being that question doesn't make a great deal of sense.
To not afford human rights to a fetus, due to court precedent, but are you unscientific to the point that you actually think a fetus is not alive pre-birth?
If it is not alive in the womb, what is its state of being?!?
I bet you think a singular germ is a living being, just like I do. Contrast this with what you just said. You are off the deep end.
The plural of 'anecdote' is not 'data'.