Ingrid Skop, M.D., FACOG

This fact sheet summarizes some of the main ways U.S. abortion data, including complications and abortion-related mortality data, is currently insufficient for studying abortion incidence, outcomes, safety, and other related issues. Also addressed are the ways in which existing peer-reviewed research has sometimes been misused or misinterpreted both by the government and by pro-abortion media.

Coincident with the increasing dominance of medical abortion, there is a concurrent increase in the misattribution of post-induced abortion emergency department visits to a spontaneous abortion. High levels of visit acuity suggest that these miscodes represent a serious risk factor. Further, these miscodes mask post-abortion complication rates and undermine both the science and medical management necessary to address these issues.

Poorly equipped, unsanitary, and understaffed facilities. A sewage leak caused patients to vomit. Positive sexually transmitted infection results went unreported.  The New York Times gave a shocking glimpse behind the curtain of Planned Parenthood. Although the legacy media usually defends and promotes the largest U.S. provider of abortion (nearly 39% of all abortions in our country), some things are too egregious to ignore. 

Texas is often the subject of interest and criticism. The Texas Heartbeat Act was the first strong protection of unborn life allowed while Roe was in effect, and an even stronger protection, the Texas Human Life Protection Act, was enforced following the overturn of Roe. Much media attention has been focused on potential adverse events these laws might cause. Immediately after Texas enacted stronger gestational age limitations, pro-abortion media advocates began a campaign of accusations. In this paper, the most notable of these objections will be addressed.

While questioning Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., implied that pro-life state laws do not allow physicians to provide emergency treatment for incomplete miscarriages.

In 2023, Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey released a report riddled with speculative claims, unfounded assertions, and flawed reasoning, intending to smear and discredit pregnancy centers. Pregnancy centers in New Jersey not only serve their communities well but do so in full compliance with New Jersey law, providing millions of dollars in goods and services at no cost to their clients.

After a JAMA Pediatrics research letter identified notable national increases in infant mortality following the Dobbs decision, pro-abortion media were quick to blame pro-life laws. The reaction mirrored the response to a JAMA Pediatrics article from June reporting that infant deaths rose 12.7 percent above expectation in Texas following the implementation of its Heartbeat Act.

Last week, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) called for states to repeal pro-life laws because they “are preventing ob-gyns and other clinicians from providing health care to their patients.” ACOG specifically condemned “attempts to misuse examples of tragic deaths that result from abortion bans” by “groups aiming to advance their harmful anti-abortion political agenda.” As a board-certified OB-GYN who practices in Texas, a state with a pro-life law, I’m appalled at these claims.

Charlotte Lozier Institute Vice President and Director of Medical Affairs Dr. Ingrid Skop is calling out the "fearmongering" and "lies" of the media that are hurting women who don’t understand new abortion laws. A recent piece from ProPublica blamed the deaths of two Georgia women, Amber Nicole Thurman and Candi Miller, following chemically induced abortions in 2022, on the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the state’s new abortion limits. 

A left-leaning media outlet recently publicized the heartbreaking stories of two Georgia women who died following failed abortions. Amber Thurman, 28 years old and nine weeks pregnant with twins, was given abortion drugs at a facility in North Carolina after she ran late for a surgical abortion appointment. Similarly, 41-year-old Candi Miller had multiple medical conditions including lupus that can make pregnancy risky; instead of going to a doctor, she ordered abortion drugs online. In both cases, the drugs failed to clear the uterus of tissue, which can lead to severe infection.