‘Cartel-style’ network ships abortion drugs to US

Groups modeled after drug cartels are illegally smuggling abortion drugs into the United States, contributing to the country’s drug crisis, according to a new report that exposes one of Mexico’s most popular abortion pill networks.

Several networks and abortion doctors continue to provide abortion drugs to women online and by mail in states that have passed abortion restrictions since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the law. Roe vs. Wade in June 2022, giving states more latitude in regulating and restricting abortion and abortion drugs.

According to some reports, the number of chemical abortions in the United States has increased since the Supreme Court ruling.

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Women in all 50 states and U.S. territories will still have access to abortion drugs thanks to the FDA’s repeal of in-person abortion regulations in 2023, according to a study released Wednesday by the advocacy group American Life League, “Beneath the Surface: Exposing the Abortion Pill Drug Cartel.”

Mexico-based Las Libres is one of several networks that illegally smuggle abortion drugs into states and U.S. territories with abortion restrictions.

In a statement to The Christian Post on Wednesday, Katie Brown, national director of the American Life League, said women across America are gaining access to abortion drugs at an “astonishing rate,” despite several states passing abortion restrictions since 2022.

“It’s clear that the FDA has dropped the ball on this one,” she said. “As a government agency charged with overseeing drugs coming into this country, they have failed.”

“And where is the (U.S. Postal Service)?” she asked. “The post office is supposed to check packages for illegal items, but there are black market abortion drugs being shipped to every state.”

According to the report, Las Libres encourages women to open a Proton Mail account to obtain abortion pills. The instructions ask women to provide their name and the date of their last menstrual period, but then say: “No other information is required. You will receive instructions on how to order.”

One of the dangers of women ordering abortion pills online is that they may be mixed with other medications. This problem can also occur with other medications, such as fentanyl.

Dealers often mix fentanyl with other drugs and make it look like other prescription opioids, putting lives at risk.

Another potential risk to women’s safety that the American Life League highlighted in its report is how easily an abuser can obtain abortion drugs and give them to his or her wife or girlfriend without that person’s knowledge or consent.

In March 2022, Catherine Herring’s husband did just that after she told him she was pregnant. The couple had been married for 11 years and separated at the time of the pregnancy. Herring credits her pregnancy to an abortion pill reversal hotline, and the woman’s daughter is still alive.

While many media outlets and abortion advocates maintain that chemical abortions are safe, right-to-life advocates have questioned the validity of this claim due to the lack of reporting of complications.

As the American Life League report noted, Las Libres tells women how to hide their online abortion pill requests and advises them to lie to doctors if they experience complications that require medical attention. The Abortion Pill Network explains that doctors “can provide appropriate medical care after a miscarriage without knowing you’ve taken pills.”

“These unsupervised procedures — self-administered without constant medical supervision — are incredibly traumatic and dangerous for women,” Brown said Wednesday. “Even legitimately distributed abortion pills come with an FDA wrapper warning about potentially deadly infections.”

“The Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care reports that many women who have taken these drugs report extreme stress and trauma caused by expelling their dead baby’s body at home, alone, after days of nausea, severe cramping and bleeding,” she continued. “The FDA and USPS should be paying close attention to this illegal importation of dangerous DIY abortion drugs.”

The Christian Post reached out to Las Libres for comment. A response was not immediately received.