Petition to End Webcam Abortions Submitted to Iowa Board of Medicine

Des Moines, IA – Iowa Right to Life first raised the alarm on the issue of webcam abortion in September 2008 and has since tirelessly worked to get Iowa’s policymakers and the Board of Medicine to end this grisly practice. This practice produces abortions with no direct physician interaction.  No doctor is physically present and often no follow-up appointments occur.  Iowa Right to Life has collected 20,000 signatures and counting of concerned Iowans, both pro-life and pro-choice, who agree that Iowa’s women deserve better care than what amounts to an impersonal, subpar, and dangerous system like webcam abortion.

Earlier today, doctors and other healthcare professionals banded together to submit a petition to the Iowa Board of Medicine asking them to make adjustments in their guidance and rules to end webcam abortions in Iowa.  Fourteen states now maintain regulations prohibiting abortions by webcam and we look forward to seeing Iowa do so as well.

Iowa Right to Life is pleased that these medical professionals and over 20,000 Iowans who signed our “Stop Webcam Abortions” petition have given the Board of Medicine all the rationale and support they need to finally end this heinous process.

“In 2008, webcam abortions began as a ‘first-in-the-nation test pilot program’ here in Iowa at Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, the largest abortion provider in our state,” stated Jenifer Bowen, Executive Director of Iowa Right to Life. “Yet, the truth remains-these chemical abortions are more painful, traumatizing and bloody for women, but far more profitable for Planned Parenthood.”

“For far too long Iowa women remain at risk emotionally and physically with these abortions that end days later, far from the clinic, with our young women delivering their dead child, alone.  We are profoundly grateful for these doctors and nurses standing up for the safety of our women and for the lives of Iowa’s unborn children,” Bowen concluded.

We are hopeful that the Iowa Board of Medicine will thoughtfully consider the proposed rules laid out in the petition and quickly adopt them.