Pro-choice activist turns hero after taking mail-order abortion pill during live TV debate

Abortion rights advocate Jex Blackmore turned instant legend within pro-choice circles as she took an abortion pill during a live TV debate. Blackmore was part of a debate discussing the Food and Drug Administration’s decision, in December, to allow abortion pills to be prescribed via telehealth and shipped to patients in the mail. When asked if the abortion pills were safe, Blackmore held up a pill and downed it along with a glass of water to highlight that it was. Blackmore confirmed she had just ended a pregnancy and said it was her third abortion, shocking host Charlie Langton and Rebecca Kiessling, an advocate arguing for antiabortion on the program, reported The Washington Post. The incident happened during a live segment on Sunday on WJBK in Detroit. 

The Fox News 2's segment, Let It Rip's host Charlie Langton started the discussion by asking if the mail-order system worked and if it was a safe method to approach abortion. Blackmore explained it was 'incredibly safe,' and then held up a white pill saying it was the first of two pills that a pregnant person needed to take to terminate a pregnancy. “I want to show you how easy it is, and safe it is, by taking it myself,” she said, before swallowing it. Kiessling's jaw dropped.

A stunned Langton asked, “You’re not pregnant, are you?” and Blackmore replied, "I would say that this is going to end a pregnancy. This would be my third abortion.” Kiessling was shaking her head at this point. She later claimed that she "broke down in tears." Abortion pill medication mifepristone needed to be dispensed in person earlier but the Biden administration cleared the way for it to be sent via mail order. Mifepristone is used in conjunction with another drug, misoprostol, to carry out medical abortions. Mifepristone blocks a hormone needed for pregnancy, while misoprostol empties the uterus. The use of abortion pills is considered safe within the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, according to the FDA. 

Despite FDA relaxing rules on sending abortion pills, 19 states still prohibit receiving the drugs through telehealth appointments. Blackmore's interview was broadcast in Michigan where it is legal to get an abortion pill prescription via telemedicine, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. The debate was scheduled to coincide with the weekend of the 49th anniversary of the 1973 landmark Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, which established abortion as a constitutional right. Supreme Court is set to decide on a Mississippi law that prohibits abortions after 15 weeks, and if it were to be upheld, it would overturn the Roe v Wade judgment.

During the show, Kiessling, the anti-abortion advocate, argued that the abortion pill is reversible using certain hormones. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has since debunked the claim, and said the observation is "not based on science” and does “not meet clinical standards.”

Jex Blackmore is a former Satanic Temple spokesperson, a progressive organization that also supports abortion. As we reported earlier, The Satanic Temple made an argument for bodily autonomy and reproductive rights on religious grounds, saying, "We must accept the fact that traditional efforts to protect reproductive rights have failed. Religions have special privileges under the First Amendment and RFRA. The Satanic Temple is utilizing these privileges to protect our religious belief in bodily autonomy—we’re taking our fight to the next level." The Satanic Temple is a non-theistic religious group that shot to fame after being profiled in the 2019 documentary 'Hail Satan?'. The Satanic Temple has gained a reputation for its progressive politics and much of its work is centered around taking governments, people, and corporations to court.