Attorneys General Led by Iowa Pressure YouTube to Take Down Abortion Information Panel

St. Paul, MN— Attorneys general from 16 states, including Nebraska and South Dakota and led by Iowa’s Brenna Bird, furthered their fearmongering and attacks on essential health care this week, demanding YouTube remove an abortion-related content information panel or face potential legal action. 

The YouTube information panel states, “An abortion is a procedure to end a pregnancy. It uses medicine or surgery to remove the embryo or fetus and placenta from the uterus. The procedure is done by a licensed health care professional.” The medically and scientifically accurate description of abortion is crucial as misinformation and fear have grown in the increasingly confusing health care landscape since the fall of Roe v. Wade. 

In the letter to YouTube, the attorneys general make false claims about the safety of medication abortion. Medication abortion involves safely and effectively terminating a pregnancy non-surgically through a combination of two prescription drugs: mifepristone and misoprostol. With a medical professional, patients can safely decide when the abortion starts, where it should happen, and who should be with her while it is happening. Data from the CDC show that medication abortion has more than a 99% safety record and serious complications are rare. 

“This is just another deplorable attempt to stoke fear among the public, who now lives in a constant state of manufactured chaos,” said Ruth Richardson, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States. “Medication abortion has proven to be an extremely safe and effective way for patients to end a pregnancy for more than nearly two decades. It breaks down existing barriers to care that would otherwise require people to drive hundreds of miles to access an abortion and empowers patients during very personal medical decisions. People need greater access to accurate information about abortion care, especially now.”  

Bird, Iowa’s attorney general, has focused on stripping Iowans of their bodily autonomy since taking office in 2023. She immediately signed onto an effort by Gov. Kim Reynolds to resuscitate a law banning abortion at about six weeks and also paused funding for sexual assault survivors to receive emergency contraceptives and, if needed, abortion care. At the same time, she has led fundraising efforts for anti-abortion centers that do not provide legitimate medical care. 

Other states that signed onto the letter include Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.  

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Planned Parenthood North Central States and its subsidiary organizations provide, promote, and protect reproductive and sexual health through high quality care, education and advocacy. A member of America’s most trusted reproductive health care provider, our affiliate is proud to support and operate 25 health centers across our five-state region (Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota).  Each year, we provide health care to nearly 100,000 people and health education to more than 50,000 people in our region.