Friday, August 30, 2013

Iowa Board of Medicine axes telemed abortions on an 8-2 vote

The Iowa Board of Medicine on Friday approved a rule this afternoon to prohibit telemed, or webcam, abortions.  Adopted by an 8 to 2 vote, the rule requires a physician to be physically present with the mother while abortion drugs are being adminstered, as opposed to simply pushing a button from a remote location following a video consultation.

Some 3,000 babies have lost their lives to this new Planned Parenthood money-making venture and 3,000 mothers and families have been forever damaged.

"The pro-life movement is often falsely accused of only caring for the baby," said Iowans for LIFE Executive Director Maggie DeWitte. "Yes, we dearly care for the baby, but we also dearly care for the mother."

"This issue is about women's health care, and in the case of telemed abortion, lack of adequate women's health care," she said.

"I would think every woman in the state of Iowa who considers herself a feminist would be supporting the efforts of the Iowa Board of Medicine in looking into this practice and realizing that this is a safety issue for our mothers, sisters, aunts, friends and any woman we know," DeWitte continued. "I wouldn't want to subject my worst enemy to the shoddy care of telemed abortion, where they never see a doctor in person during the entire procedure."

That was a point made by an ER doctor. She pointed to the lack of follow-up care with telemed abortions.  She pointed out that women were told to go to the ER if they have complications, but the ER doctors don’t know these patients or their history and therefore they are not getting the best level of care they could.

During a hearing on the matter, a Planned Parenthood representative was asked who administers the pre-telemed ultra-sound. He first stated that typically it is an RN. He later corrected himself and admitted that not all Planned Parenthood clinics have RN’s on staff. In some cases it was a certified medical assistant (CMA). Yet Planned Parenthood’s chairman, Dr. Robert Shaw refused to answer if he ever relied on a CMA’s evaluation to conduct a procedure or provide medication in his practice.

The rule is set to become effective Nov. 6.

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