A recent study from the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) analyzed nearly 866,000 chemical abortions involving the abortion drug mifepristone. Though these drugs are touted as “safe” for the mother, over 10% of women experienced serious complications, including hemorrhage, infection, sepsis, emergency room visits, and incomplete abortions requiring surgery.

These are the outcomes in a world where abortion pills are distributed with fewer safeguards than ever. EPPC study authors, Jamie Bryan Hall and Ryan T. Anderson, pointed out that “The magnitude of complications we observed calls for immediate action from the FDA to protect women from the dangers of these drugs.”

However, since 2016, the FDA no longer requires the reporting of adverse events unless they result in death. And mifepristone abortions now account for nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the U.S.

In a rare moment of public candor, a Planned Parenthood official finally acknowledged the risks of online abortion pill access. Associate medical director Casi Scully stated, “Potential complications can be bleeding, infection—those kinds of things.” Her admission sounds unbelievably glib in the face of such life-threatening complications, but the fact that she acknowledged it at all is a surprise.

The statement came in the wake of a tragic case in Pennsylvania, where a woman obtained abortion pills online after being told she was too far along for an in-clinic abortion. Texts from the woman to a friend reveal the abortion happened at home, involved a visibly developed baby, and ended with the child’s body buried in a backyard.

Katie Brown Xavios of American Life League remarked, “Planned Parenthood’s own acknowledgment of the risks confirms what pro-life advocates have been warning about for years: these pills are not safe, especially when purchased from unregulated sources.”

However, Planned Parenthood’s halfhearted warnings about “complications” stand in stark contrast with their role in referring women to these same unregulated vendors.

Despite mounting data, FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary recently stated there are no plans to act on mifepristone-related harms. But the EPPC study—along with Medicaid claims research from the Charlotte Lozier Institute and emergency room data from Heritage Foundation—shows a clear pattern: with unregulated mifepristone use, risks go up.

In state after state, ER visit rates following abortion pill use are climbing. Researchers are even seeing an increase in reported miscarriages—raising concerns that some abortions are being misclassified to mask the source of complications.

Xavios put it bluntly: “Unregulated and unsupervised, this so-called ‘medical’ regimen is the true manifestation of the ‘back-alley abortion.’”

Dr. Laura Streicher, a pro-life physician, agrees. “The abortion pill is a dangerous, unregulated drug that places women in harm’s way. The idea that it can be taken safely without proper medical oversight is a lie.”

We have a God-given responsibility to fight for life—and to proclaim the truth that every human being is made in the image of God. That work doesn’t just happen in courtrooms. It happens every time we share the gospel.

Sharing the gospel is how we bring hope to women in fear, healing to those who’ve been harmed, and clarity to a culture that has lost sight of God’s plan for life. All it takes is something as simple as handing out Chick tracts to expose people to the truth of the gospel and the dangers of abortion. Jack wrote Who Murdered Clarice and Baby Talk for this purpose exactly.