Medications To End Pregnancy Under Consideration By Senate Committee

This is a developing story and may be updated.

Medications and drugs used to terminate pregnancies were the subject of a bill before the Senate Health and Human Resources Committee on Tuesday.

The first witness, Thomas Dinkel, state captain for Students For Life of West Virginia told the committee how easy it was to order online both mifepristone and misoprostol, two medications that can be used to end a pregnancy. No one, he said, asked his age, gender, whether he was pregnant, how far along, or offered any medical advice. 

“Approximately one week later, after putting my name, address and payment, the pills arrived in my mailbox. The pills were shipped in a discrete packaging,” Dinkel said.

“I received a double dosage. I received a total of 30 pills containing mifepristone and misoprostol. Upon further research, we discovered that this quantity of roughly 30 pills could be used to induce up to four abortions.”  

The cost was $75, not including shipping, he told the committee.

Another witness from the same organization pointed to the kind of flyer she said is passed out on college campuses as proof that the medications used are unsafe.

“They said a person should be sure they are less than 12 weeks pregnant. Here they are saying that ‘later in pregnancy, this is very dangerous,’” testified Lori Cascio, a married mother of four who works for Students For Life Of America.

“Do you expect a woman who has maybe been on birth control or wasn’t tracking cycles [to know] how far along they are if they didn’t mean to get pregnant?” Cascio asked the committee. “There are plenty of other situations where she might not know how far along she is, and it can be extremely dangerous for her.”

If passed, supporters say, Senate Bill 173 is designed to close a loophole in West Virginia’s anti-abortion laws by banning mail order medications intended to end a pregnancy. But Dr. Nicole Perry Bryce, an ob-gyn resident based in Charleston, drew on her medical experience to share a different perspective.

“I think we all can agree that we want to protect women and children in this state, and we want to make sure that our laws are upheld. That being said, medication abortion is safe, it is effective and it does save lives,” she said.

The websites mentioned, she said, were not legitimate medical sites providing pills from an FDA approved pharmacy. Multiple medications are available from such sites, she said. 

The committee recessed before considering amendments or the bill itself and will resume discussion Tuesday evening after deadline.