University of Tennessee Student Organization Hosts Training On How To “Self-Manage” Abortion Using Illegal And Potentially Unsafe Pills

Image Credit: Women’s Coordinating Council / Instagram & RawPixel / Public Domain

The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –

A student organization at the University of Tennessee hosted a training earlier this month on how to “self-manage” abortions using illegal pills from overseas.

In an Instagram post, UT’s Women’s Coordinating Council announced that a “visitor” was scheduled for October 19th who “leads virtual and in-person trainings all about abortion pills. This training is focused on everything people need to know about abortion pills. Including, but not limited to: what are they, how do they work, what are the side effects, what preparation is needed before the medication abortion, how are pills accessed regardless of a state’s laws, and a little bit about digital privacy.”

The post goes onto say that “many people are unaware that abortion pills are extremely medically safe” but under state law, abortion is illegal in all instances other than “to prevent the death of the pregnant woman or to prevent serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function” of the mother’s body, regardless of the manner of abortion, be it by a procedure or by drugs.

Maxine Carwile from Self-Managed Abortion; Safe and Supported (SASS) led the training, telling students they needed to “keep their mouth absolutely, completely shut” and justifying the breaking of Tennessee law by comparing it to speeding on the highway.

Earlier this year, Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti sent letters to several pharmacies that operate within the state to seek confirmation that they would not sell or dispense mifepristone, one of the abortion-inducing drugs that Carwile talked about in the training.

It is unclear who could potentially be prosecuted if abortion-inducing drugs are obtained through the organization that Carwile recommended to UT students. That organization lists up to 25 companies from which someone can order generic drugs from India with no medical support or follow-up, a country that routinely produces unsafe medications.

In April, the Washington Post reported that generic cough syrups produced in India had killed dozens of children. Chronically short on regulatory oversight, India has also been responsible for eye drops that have caused blindness and had cases of contaminated chemotherapy drugs.

Recently in the US, 68 patients in 16 states were affected by the eye drops that were contaminated with drug-resistant bacteria. Of those patients, 3 died, some went blind and others had to have eyeballs removed.

While India produces up to 20% of the world’s supply of generic medicines, systemic fraud has been rife for decades. Discussions have been underway since 1976 regarding a national law that would deal with drug recalls.

Should women require medical care after taking these potentially risky drugs, Carwile advises women to lie to medical professionals about what they have done, and claim they are simply having a miscarriage.

About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.