Duggan: Don’t support ‘tele-murder’ in Dubuque, C.R.

By Tim Duggan

Editor's note: Planned Parenthood of East Central Iowa declined The Gazette's invitation to provide a guest column on the telemed abortion issue.

During a recent visit by Cecile Richards, the national president of Planned Parenthood, to Cedar Rapids, Iowa Public Radio reported two major announcements and a shocking statement revealing the true nature of Planned Parenthood's priority mission, which is to increase the number of abortions.

The first message was that the telemed abortions that Planned Parenthood pioneered in Iowa are included in a strategic plan to take the procedure nationwide over the next five years. This involves RU-486, the abortion pill.

During the interview, Barbara Chadwick, the director of Patient Services of Planned Parenthood East Central Iowa (PPECI), boldly proclaimed that “PPECI has agreed to sign onto the program.” Further, she stated that “this would help get the organization to their goal faster.”

In plain English, that means more dead babies in Dubuque and Cedar Rapids.

Now that the truth has been revealed, PPECI is backpedaling. Jennifer Vick, their Director of Communications, is doing damage control. While she claims that Chadwick misspoke, even her denial is suspect. What does Jennifer mean when she says that PPECI has no plans to do telemed abortions in Dubuque or Cedar Rapids at this time?

PPECI refuses to say it will never do abortions in Dubuque or Cedar Rapids. Frankly, they are embarrassed that one of their spokespersons let the cat out of the bag and revealed their plans before her bosses wanted her to.

The telemed abortion procedure is a disturbing new trend in the abortion industry that is endangering the lives and health of thousands of women. To date, the manufacturer admits 29 women have died from using RU-486.

A telemed abortion is performed via a teleconferencing service similar to “Skype.” Patients are put in a room where an off-site abortionist appears on a computer monitor and explains the abortion procedure to them over an Internet hookup. After the brief teleconference, but no physical examination by the abortionist, the abortionist remotely unlocks a dispenser and the dangerous abortion drug RU-486 is administered to the pregnant mother.

The telemed abortion involves two steps. In the first step, the abortionist instructs the mother to ingest the first pill in front of the camera while she is in the office. Then, she is given a second prescription to take at home. The second drug, to be ingested within 48 hours, causes uterine contractions to expel the unborn child. The end result is that the mother aborts her own child at home.

The consequences of this procedure are frightening. Young mothers will face the horrific reality of seeing their aborted baby and then flushing him or her down the toilet. Emergency rooms will see an increase of young women coming in with excessive bleeding and hemorrhaging due to the effects of taking this drug.

There is no longer a disconnect between Planned Parenthood and abortion in Dubuque and Cedar Rapids. The truth is that eventually babies, the most innocent and defenseless members of our society, will die in Dubuque and Cedar Rapids via the tele-murder.

I call on all people of good conscience to condemn this horrible practice, become involved, and stand with us against this abomination.

Join us as we celebrate the sanctity of the unborn, support the dignity of every human person from the moment of conception until natural death, and promote a culture of life in Dubuque and Cedar Rapids.

Tim Duggan, a father of three, is chair of Dubuque County Right to Life Inc., a non-profit, non-sectarian, educational organization dedicated to preserving and fostering a respect for human life from conception to natural death. Comments: tduggan@mktalt.com