Battling a Chemical Coat Hanger

By: Bradley Mattes, originally published August 28, 2025, Life Issues Institute

As the United States tackles the illegal onslaught of chemical abortion pills, the next battle is already heating up in international circles.  

Once we reverse the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, the U.S. will immediately be faced with a nuanced frontier of the abortion industry.  

Abortion profiteers have long promoted misoprostol-only abortions where mifepristone is not available or where a streamlined and less expensive chemical abortion procedure is more conducive in developing nations. 

Not only is misoprostol less effective when used by itself, it poses serious risks to women – sometimes killing both baby and mother.  

• The drug caused the death of an adolescent girl after she self-medicated with misoprostol in her first trimester of pregnancy. The young girl’s demise was particularly horrifying.  
• A woman died from toxic shock as a result of a misoprostol-only abortion. The report cautioned against “clandestine abortions” using this drug. Now, just a decade later they are referred to as “self-managed abortions” and touted as safe procedures.  
• Three women died after using misoprostol to abort their babies. And a young pro-abortion activist died four days after taking misoprostol to abort her baby. 
• Misoprostol can inflict serious health issues on unborn babies who survive the drug’s assault. This baby now suffers from Moebius syndrome after the mother used misoprostol to abort her pregnancy without medical supervision.  
• A study suggests that when misoprostol is used for a mid-trimester abortion it increases the risk of a premature or very premature delivery in subsequent pregnancies.  
• It is possible for women to overdose on misoprostol. A 23-year-old woman required emergency medical care after overdosing during what was labeled an illegal chemical abortion, now championed by pro-abortion activists.  

Misoprostol functions as a chemical coat hanger that inflicts death, illness and destruction upon unsuspecting women while killing their babies. 

As the President of the International Right to Life Federation I am pleased to work with Carlos Polo, a member of the board of directors representing Ibero-America. 

Carlos, along with colleagues at Population Research Institute have documented in dramatic fashion how the so-called Latin American Consortium Against Unsafe Abortion (CLACAI) has built a network of members that undermine the sovereignty of pro-life nations. Its focus is to promote illegal abortions using only misoprostol.  

Instrumental to the growth and success of CLACAI has been the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) that have been high stakes investors in this scheme. 

So, it is of paramount importance that President Donald Trump dismantled USAID while facilitating the continued operation of legitimate programs under the Secretary of State. President Trump did much more than stop the flow of money through USAID into the coffers of countries that support and provide abortion. He also eliminated the people responsible for supplying them with critical funds to operate. In addition, one of Mr. Trump’s first actions during his second administration was to pull the United States and its funding out of WHO. 

Carlos and his colleagues at Population Research Institute have just published an impressive and detailed report on the country by country activities of CLACAI. The organization boasting 165 organizations representing 19 countries has been quietly laying the groundwork to impose abortion on demand throughout the region, often in direct conflict with the laws and constitutions of many nations. At a minimum they work to weaken the legislative protections of countries that cherish their greatest natural resource, unborn babies.  

Misoprostol is their weapon of choice, regardless of its impact on unsuspecting women. Carlos reports that CLACAI operates under the guise of “human rights” as they exploit vulnerable women and violate the sovereign legal framework of nations.

You can read the full Population Research Institute’s report in either English or Spanish. Please share it widely. These people prefer to work in the shadows so let’s shine a bright light on their efforts to kill babies and harm their mothers. 

This CLACAI project is a precursor to a future global effort to expand their scheme of death around the world.  

Defending Life, 

Brad Mattes,
President, Life Issues Institute

Bradley Mattes is co-founder and president of Life Issues Institute.