Ohioans who oppose abortion came to Columbus on Wednesday to tell state legislators why they want them to ban doctors from using video-conferencing to treat women taking abortion drugs.

"There is no place for telemedicine when we are discussing the administration of this restricted-access medication," said Dr. Lindsay Rerko, a Columbus physician. She homed in on one of the drugs used in the two-drug procedure.

"Mifepristone can cause severe prolonged bleeding, severe infection, sepsis with atypical symptoms and anaphylaxis. If the physician administering mifepristone needs to be in close enough proximity to provide surgical intervention should the need arise, telemedicine is contraindicated and dangerous."

Rerko urged a Senate committee to send a bill on to their colleagues for a vote that would ban the use of technologies such as webcam examinations, audio or any other telecommunications platform in prescribing the drugs for a medical abortion.

But first, opponents will get a chance to testify on the controversial measure, one of several introduced in Ohio in recent years to put barriers in the way of abortion.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires the first of the two pills used in medical abortions to be taken in a doctor’s office, but the doctor does not have to be present. A remote physician can examine a patient and then instruct clinic personnel. Senate Bill 260 would ban that.

Supporters argue that the ban is for the safety of women, saying the FDA has reported 24 deaths in the U.S. since medical abortions became legal in 2000.

A major problem in all those cases is that the signs and symptoms of an ectopic pregnancy, a hemorrhage or a serious reproductive-tract infection — painful cramping, heavy bleeding or gastro-intestinal distress — also are standard side effects of the chemical-abortion process, said Jessica Warner, lobbyist for Ohio Right to Life.

"They are signs that even a trained emergency room doctor, like the one who saw Holly Patterson, can easily misinterpret."

Patterson, 18, died in 2003 seven days after obtaining a medical abortion using the two-drug procedure. Before she died, she complained of severe cramps and other maladies to both clinic workers and her doctor, but they told her to take pain pills.

Opponents of the bill such as Sen. Cecil Thomas, D-Cincinnati, said those deaths, while tragic, represent 0.0006% of the approximately 3.7 million women who took the drugs during the same period.

Telemedicine is used to connect people with specialists after a stroke, during high-risk pregnancies, for post-surgical follow-ups and for after-hours pediatric care, said Jamie Miracle, deputy director of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio.

"The fact that they are trying to ban these drugs because of a fake concern for patients is entirely preposterous," Miracle said. "This isn’t about safety; it’s about blocking access to abortion care in Ohio."

Ohio’s abortion clinics are clustered in the state’s urban areas, so women in rural areas often spend hours driving to and from the clinics for their first examination, Miracle said. Ohio law requires women to wait at least 24 hours after that first visit before having an abortion.

"They actually don’t care about safety," Miracle said of supporters of the bill. "They care about banning abortion as much as they can."

About 20 states ban the use of telemedicine in abortions.

astaver@dispatch.com

@annastaver