TOLEDO, Ohio – Center for Christian Virtue President Aaron Baer joined elected officials and pro-life advocates today at the Lucas County Courthouse to call for state and federal action to protect women and unborn children from the dangers and abuse of mail-order abortion pills.
The press conference followed the sentencing of Hassan-James Abbas, who received six months in jail after fraudulently obtaining abortion pills online and forcing them on his pregnant girlfriend without her consent, resulting in the death of her unborn child.
Speakers called for an end to mail-order abortion pills, stronger Ohio laws to hold perpetrators accountable when the drugs are used against women and unborn children, and the restoration of in-person dispensing requirements.
Former Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, now senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, challenged claims about the safety of mifepristone and said removing in-person safeguards puts women at risk.
“One in 25 women that use mifepristone, according to the FDA, end up in the ER,” Yost said. “The fiction that is pushed by the left, and frankly the mainstream media, that this is a safe and easy drug like aspirin or something is just not supported by the data.”
Yost said the Toledo assault case should provoke outrage regardless of where someone stands on abortion.
“Whatever you feel about the abortion issue, whether you feel it’s a right or not, you should be appalled,” Yost said. “I can think of no other fact pattern where there wouldn’t be nearly universal outrage at this act of violence.”
Sue Liebel, director of state affairs for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, warned the case is part of a broader problem.
“This is happening all over now. This new crime is popping up because of the lax Biden-Brown policy to mail the drugs,” Liebel said. “It’s really becoming a public health crisis.”
State Rep. Josh Williams, R-Sylvania Township, called on the Ohio General Assembly to act.
“We are calling on the Ohio Legislature to push legislation banning the abortion pill through the mail,” Williams said. “No one should ever be force-fed the abortion pill in the state of Ohio, resulting in the termination of their pregnancy.”
Williams said anyone who forces an abortion on a woman should be “prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Baer said requiring in-person dispensing and a doctor’s involvement would help prevent abortion pills from being obtained and used in this way. He also called on candidates seeking Ohioans’ support to state their position on mail-order abortion.
“Everybody who thinks they deserve Ohioans’ votes needs to make it clear today whether they believe it’s OK for these dangerous and deadly pills to be available online and through the mail,” Baer said.
The push for action also reached Washington on Tuesday. U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, sent a letter to the U.S. attorney general asking the Justice Department to review whether federal charges could be brought against Abbas and calling for the restoration of in-person dispensing requirements for mifepristone.
Moreno called what happened a “hell-on-earth tragedy” and urged the Justice Department to “do everything in your power to ensure this depravity never happens again to a woman and their unborn child.”
CCV has previously called for enforcement of federal restrictions on the interstate mailing of abortion drugs and investigations into providers shipping mifepristone across state lines.
The press conference concluded with a call for action in Columbus and Washington to end mail-order abortion pills, strengthen consequences for those who use the drugs against women and unborn children, and ensure mothers and their unborn children receive the protections of the law.
Additional speakers included Cindi Boston, vice president of Heartbeat International; Savannah Marten, executive director of the Ohio Coalition of Pregnancy Centers; Ed Sitter, executive director of Foundation for Life; and Maggie Groover, social media coordinator for Created Equal.
As Ohio’s largest Christian public policy organization, Center for Christian Virtue seeks the good of our neighbors by advocating for public policy that reflects the truth of the Gospel.
For more information, contact CCV at 513-733-5775 or contact@ccv.org. For media inquiries, email media@ccv.org.
