GARRETT RILEY: The Missing Truth In “Choice” — Why Chemical Abortion Demands New Scrutiny

GARRETT RILEY: The Missing Truth In “Choice” — Why Chemical Abortion Demands New Scrutiny

by | May 29, 2025 | Opinion

By Garrett Riley |

For decades, the rallying cry of “choice” has driven the abortion debate. Pro-abortion advocates paint it as a matter of personal liberty — a private decision between a woman and her doctor. But real choice demands full, honest information. And the latest evidence on chemical abortion reveals a disturbing truth that’s been hidden for too long.

A massive new study by the Ethics and Public Policy Center, analyzing over 865,000 chemical abortions from 2017 to 2023, shows that 1 in 9 women who take the abortion pill suffer serious medical harm. That’s nearly 11% of women dealing with severe complications like hemorrhaging, sepsis, and infection — consequences that can lead to permanent damage, emergency surgeries, or even death. Another 5% need additional medical interventions, exposing the pill’s failure rate.

For anyone who claims to care about women’s well-being, these numbers demand immediate action. For the government agencies that regulate drugs and healthcare, they require urgent oversight. And for those who genuinely believe in the “pro-choice” principle, they demand a clear-eyed rethinking of what real, informed choice means.

Choice Without Truth Isn’t Choice

“Choice” means nothing without accurate information. The abortion pill has been spun as “safer than Tylenol,” but that’s a blatant lie. The FDA’s official label for mifepristone claims a serious adverse event rate of less than 0.5% — over 22 times lower than what the real-world data proves.

No one can make a good decision if key facts are hidden. In any other area of medicine, these numbers would trigger an immediate recall or at least a thorough review of safety guidelines.

When the FDA fast-tracked the abortion pill in the 1990s, it was with a promise: that safety standards would be rigorously upheld. Today, those standards in Arizona— like mandatory ultrasounds, in-person exams, and physician oversight — are being threatened and have been stripped away in other states by abortion-rights legislation.

The result? A pill once administered under a doctor’s care is now shipped through the mail, often with no medical oversight. No follow-up exams. No real informed consent. Women facing vulnerability—particularly those under the coercion of abusive partners—are exposed to severe risks affecting both their physical and mental well-being.

Pills That Kill: Medicine Turned Upside Down

Abortion advocates call the pill “medication abortion,” as if it heals. But real medicine heals. Chemical abortion does none of that. It destroys innocent unborn children and puts women’s health at risk.

Calling abortion “medicine” is a dangerous lie.  True medicine doesn’t harm or kill. No one who truly believes in women’s health can honestly call this “medicine.”

The original “safe, legal, and rare” mantra has vanished. Chemical abortions now make up 63% of all abortions in the United States — and in some states, as high as 80%. Each pill dispensed means more danger for women — not less.

We’ve gone from “safe, legal, and rare” to “dangerous, deregulated, and widespread.” That’s a betrayal of women — and of the very idea of healthcare.

This Is About Women’s Health, Not Politics

This isn’t about partisan politics. It’s about whether women can truly make informed choices. It’s about whether agencies like the FDA and HHS will honor their mission to protect the public — or cave to ideological pressure.

If you believe in choice, you must also believe in full, honest information. Anything less isn’t choice — it’s propaganda.

If you believe in human rights, you must recognize every human life’s inherent worth — and the dignity of every mother’s health and future.

If you care about healthcare safety, you can’t ignore these numbers. You must demand a full review of the abortion pill’s safety — and an end to the lies that have kept women in the dark for far too long.

Read the full EPPC report here.

Arizona Life Coalition Stands with Women’s Health

The Arizona Life Coalition, along with more than 100 pro-life organizations, has urged the FDA to act on this alarming evidence and reinstate the safety standards that once protected women. You can read that letter here.

What Can We Do?

We must ensure that every woman facing a crisis pregnancy has support and the truth — not abortion industry spin.

Demand that the FDA and other agencies incorporate this evidence into their safety evaluations. Share this information with your family, friends, and public officials. Urge them to reinstate common-sense safety standards. Push for a full review of a pill that seriously injures 1 in 9 women.

Medicine is meant to heal — not to harm and kill. Any healthcare policy or practice that does otherwise has no place in a just society.

Garrett Riley is the executive director of the Arizona Life Coalition, with a mission of inspiring pro-life choices through charity, education, and unifying collaboration.

Prop 139 Will Endanger Women’s Health In Arizona And Across The Nation

Prop 139 Will Endanger Women’s Health In Arizona And Across The Nation

by | Oct 8, 2024 | Opinion

By Dr. Erica Kreller |

As an OB/GYN with over a decade of experience treating patients with high-risk pregnancies and complications, I have seen firsthand how complex and vulnerable caring for these women can be. While political activists claim that Proposition 139 will improve healthcare in Arizona, nothing could be further from the truth. I’ve never encountered a proposal more dangerous for women’s health.

Supporters of Prop. 139 claim that it’s a necessary step to safeguard abortion access, but in reality, this measure dismantles critical health and safety standards, exposing women—particularly young women—to grave harm. Arizona is just one of 10 states considering such a measure, and the adoption of these constitutional amendments would send shockwaves across the country, paving the way for a radical erosion of reproductive health standards that could influence national policy.

Arizona law already allows abortions up to 15 weeks, with exceptions for later abortions in medical emergencies — a policy supported by 90% of the state’s residents. Prop. 139, however, goes far beyond guaranteeing access.

Consider this. Under Prop. 139, regulations that protect women during abortion procedures would be outlawed. Imagine a teenager seeking an abortion—shouldn’t her physician be required to explain the potential risks and ensure she understands her options? Under this amendment, such a requirement would become illegal. Mandatory ultrasounds to detect dangerous conditions like ectopic pregnancies? Illegal. Parental consent for minors? Also illegal. Requiring that a licensed physician perform the procedure? Illegal.

This isn’t speculation… it’s in the text of the proposition. Prop. 139 prevents any law or regulation that could be interpreted as a “barrier” to abortion. Even commonsense regulations such as regular inspections of facilities, or a waiting period before undergoing an abortion, would be cast aside. These precautions are simply designed to protect women’s lives and well-being. Worse yet, and perhaps most concerningly, the amendment is deliberately vague in its definition of who can perform abortions, labeling them simply as “health care professionals” without specifying their qualifications. This could allow unlicensed and unqualified individuals to perform the procedure.

The consequences would be devastating, and not just for Arizona. We’ve already seen states across the country adopt radical amendments like this one, and in Michigan, good laws that enhance healthcare for pregnant patients have been stripped away. What happens in one state often ripples into others, influencing policy debates and shaping future legislation at the national level.

This isn’t a return to reproductive rights; it’s a step back into the unsafe, unregulated, and dangerous world of back-alley abortions— but this time, with legal protection. The risk of botched procedures, infections, infertility, and even death would rise dramatically. Women will pay the price.

As a physician, I’ve treated women who were led to believe that abortion was a quick solution to their problems, only to experience lasting trauma—both physically and emotionally. These women deserved better medical care and better counseling that Prop. 139 simply will not provide.

And the danger doesn’t stop there. This amendment would likely lead to an increase in abortions performed later in pregnancy, where the risks to a woman’s health grow exponentially. According to research from the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, a woman’s risk of death increases by 38% each week after eight weeks of pregnancy.

Prop. 139’s proponents argue they want to make abortion “safe and easy,” but the reality is the opposite. Removing essential safety standards does not make abortion safe; it makes it deadly for women. Stripping away regulatory oversight doesn’t expand women’s rights—it puts their lives in jeopardy.

This fight extends beyond Arizona’s borders. If Prop. 139 passes, it will encourage other states to gut health and safety standards under the guise of expanding access. We cannot allow this dangerous and reckless model to keep gaining traction. Women across the nation deserve better – and the buck stops with us, the physicians entrusted to provide them with excellent healthcare.

As physicians, we are committed to doing no harm. But Prop. 139 would prevent us from upholding that oath. It would rob doctors of the ability to protect their patients and deliver quality, informed care. And in the end, more women will be hurt—physically, emotionally, and sometimes fatally.

The women of Arizona — and the women of America — deserve a future where reproductive care is safe, informed, and compassionate. For the sake of women’s health, we must reject Prop 139.

Dr. Erica Kreller is a board-certified OB/GYN practicing in Gilbert, Arizona. She is also a founding member of Arizona Physicians Against Prop 139.