As the Abortion Pill Rescue Network is seeing a record year for Abortion Pill Reversal inquiries, pro-abortion opposition to the life-affirming protocol persists. The opposition has come in the form of smearing of the treatment's efficacy and safety, lawsuits brought by elected officials, and also outright mob intimidation.
Dr. Dermot Kearney faced an aggressive pro-abortion mob chanting obscenities earlier his year when he was invited to speak about Abortion Pill Reversal (APR) in the UK on campus by the University of Manchester pro-life students’ group.
The University of Manchester had a reputation for not being welcoming to pro-life voices, Kearney said, with “fierce and actually violent opposition” to the University of Manchester Pro-Life Society even being formed at the university. Still, Kearney was prepared for respectful debate at the University of Manchester, if necessary, after facing a similar situation a couple of years ago at the University of Birmingham, where he was able to have productive discourse.
Kearney was threatened by his government’s medical council with the loss of his medical credentials in 2021 for assisting women in reversing their chemical abortions. He ultimately prevailed and regularly speaks about APR.
APR is a newer application of a treatment used for decades to combat miscarriage and consists of prescribing bioidentical progesterone to counter the effects of the first drug in the two-drug chemical abortion regimen. A 2018 peer-reviewed study showed positive results, including that 64%-68% of the pregnancies were saved through APR, there was no increase in birth defects, and there was a lower preterm delivery rate than the general population. The Abortion Pill Rescue Network (APRN), managed by Heartbeat International, reports that to date more than 7,000 lives have been saved thanks to the APRN.
The APRN has assisted women in 98 other countries and all 50 states in U.S. and has seen a 30% increase in reversal starts in the latest fiscal year.
Heartbeat is the largest network of pregnancy help organizations in the U.S. and globally, and is, along with other pregnancy help organizations, the subject of lawsuits brought by abortion supportive state attorney’s general in California and New York concerning sharing information about APR.
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Kearney found out the day before he was going to Manchester there was a possibility of opposition because posters had been made with his picture and they'd turned his picture into what he called “a deep red, like a devil.”
“And they said some nasty things about this misogynist, dangerous person who puts women's lives at risk was coming to talk about so-called Abortion Pill Reversal,” said Kearney.
The Pro-Life Society’s leader Inga did warn him, offering to reschedule or cancel if he had second thoughts.
“And I said, absolutely no,” he said. “No, I've been invited, I'm going to come, I'm going to speak.”
“I'm not going to let people intimidate me from speaking the truth,” Kearney said. “Because otherwise if you back down, then they've won. They've achieved what they wanted to achieve.”
Tweet This: “I'm not going to let people intimidate me from speaking the truth” - Dr. Dermot Kearney regarding Abortion Pill Reversal.
Kearney told Inga he was happy to hear what anyone who opposed the event had to say and address any concerns that they might wish to raise.
When he arrived in Manchester he was met by Inga and a couple of her colleagues from the pro-life group, and they drove him to the venue. When they walked around the corner to where the building was, they could hear the chants.
“I don’t know what the initial chants were, but they weren't welcoming me with open arms to the University of Manchester,” Kearney said.
When he got closer, a male approached and started shouting, “Dermot! Dermot!” and Kearney wondered if the guy knew him, reaching out for a handshake. But the guy shouted an obscenity back at him.
“So, they knew my name,” Kearney said.
There were roughly 75 people demonstrating, he said, blocking the entrance so Kearney and the others couldn't get into the building. Three of the pro-life students were already in the building and wanted to bring Kearney and the others with him in, but those inside could not get out. There were two uniformed police officers there who told them they were waiting for backup before they could try to get them into the building.
“They obviously didn't want to have any sort of violence break out,” Kearney said.
There were two other plainclothes officers further back who later made themselves known to Kearney’s group, two men from campus security, and another man who kept somewhat close to Kearney, telling him he was there to protect him.
“But we waited and waited and waited and still no backup police force arrived,” he said.
They eventually decided to hold the event elsewhere when it became clear they weren't going to be allowed into the University of Manchester building.
“In the meantime, they continued chanting their slogans,” Kearney recalled.
Kearney had a reasonable exchange amid the chaos with one girl who was pro-abortion, but who wanted to talk.
“At least she was prepared to debate the issues,” he said.
Not everyone was. Another man ran up and claimed what Kearney was doing was dangerous to women - but could not explain why and simply turned his back when he could not refute the science and medicine in Kearney’s answers.
Looking at the faces of those who approached him and the pro-life students aggressively, Kearney said he didn't feel intimidated, rather, he saw “a sadness.”
“They obviously had no idea what they were doing,” he said. “They had no idea what they're talking about.”
“Most of them were wearing masks, so you couldn't see their full face,” Kearney said. “We could see the eyes, and I felt pity for them.”
“These were people who were being misled,” he said, and he wished he could have educated them on the issue.
The Pro-Life Society was able to find an alternative venue near to the university campus. It was about two hours before they left and conducted the event elsewhere and the crowd of pro-abortion protesters persisted throughout.
Most thought the pro-life group was giving up and leaving, but then some among the mob tried to follow them. That's when these plainclothes police officers and some security stepped in.
Kearney explained that the crowd blocking access to the event venue only became harassment by the authorities’ definition when members of the crowd started following the pro-life group. So, they were allowed to block the pro-life group’s entrance the university building, but they weren't allowed to follow them off campus.
Kearney said it was “interesting” that the police moved the crowd back at that stage to allow the three people from the pro-life group out of the building. He then asked the question, if they do that to let them out, why couldn’t they do the same to let the rest in?
“And there was no response to that,” Kearney said.
There is the question of whether the university had broken a law for not allowing free speech on campus because it did not prevent the demonstrators from obstructing the event. Additionally, there may have been officers from the Student Union among the protesters, based upon photographs and videos taken. The Student Union oversees affiliated student groups, and its officers are not allowed to be partisan, show favoritism, or prevent other affiliated groups within the university from having an event.
Kearney has tremendous respect for Inga and her group for the courage they displayed throughout the altercation.
He is disappointed in those who claim to support a woman’s right to choose but seek to quash choices other than abortion.
“I am not that naive to expect that we were going to be welcome with roses and warmth,” Kearney said. “And I knew that there might be some opposition. But it's disappointing that the people who are opposed to what we're doing, they claim to be pro-choice.”
This is a perfect situation for them to demonstrate that, he said.
“It seems the only choice that they want to offer is abortion,” said Kearney.
He is hopeful that some good could come from the incident, such as the University of Manchester tightened security and showing more respect to voices that don't necessarily have a message the majority wants to hear.
Kearney remains determined to share the message of Abortion Pill Reversal and life. He contends that this is a spiritual battle and considers opposition a sign that the pro-life movement is alive and kicking and not going anywhere.
“We keep doing what we know to be right,” Kearney said. “That's the key.”
“Anytime I give a presentation on APR or these types of issues, I finish up with the message to never get tired of doing what's right and what you know to be right,” he said.
“Regardless of what opposition may be there or may not be there,” said Kearney, “just keep doing what you know to be right.”
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages the Abortion Pill Rescue® Network (APRN) and Pregnancy Help News. Heartbeat is currently the subject of two lawsuits brought by state AGs concnering sharing infromation about Abortion Pill Reversal.
