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Pregnancy-center director tells committee about traumatic home abortions and telecare concerns
Summary
Kathy Waterbury, executive director of Confidential Care, told the House Health Full Committee that clients who take abortion pills at home have experienced severe trauma and medical complications, and that telecare providers and clinics sometimes fail to provide needed follow-up.
Kathy Waterbury, executive director of Confidential Care, testified to the House Health Full Committee about patient experiences with the abortion pill and telecare services.
Waterbury recounted that a 17-year-old client who took the abortion pill at home later called the center "hysterical," saying she held what she had been told was a "clump of cells" but which Waterbury said had "arms, legs, and a face." The center advised the young woman to tell her parents and seek emergency care.
Waterbury also described a client who crossed a state line to obtain abortion pills, experienced extreme vomiting afterward, and was not assisted by the clinic she contacted; Confidential Care referred the woman to an emergency room. Waterbury said her organization connects callers to an RN for counseling and to local pregnancy centers and argued, "What I'd like to say is this is not health care." She urged improved care for women in Tennessee.
Chair allowed the witness three minutes for testimony and no committee members asked follow-up questions during the session.
