{"id":242211,"date":"2021-03-26T17:00:48","date_gmt":"2021-03-26T22:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=242211"},"modified":"2021-07-14T21:22:03","modified_gmt":"2021-07-15T02:22:03","slug":"exposed-behind-recent-attacks-abortion-pill-reversal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/exposed-behind-recent-attacks-abortion-pill-reversal\/","title":{"rendered":"EXPOSED: Who is behind recent attacks on abortion pill reversal?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The left-leaning group openDemocracy, which once referred<\/a> to the abortion pill as a “revolution for women’s reproductive rights,” has published several recent hit pieces attacking<\/a> Abortion Pill Reversal (APR<\/a>) by falsely labeling the protocol as “dangerous” or “unproven,” even referring to women who seek out the treatment as “guinea pigs.”<\/p>\n

Despite the group’s obvious support for abortion on demand, there may be another motive for openDemocracy to be on the attack against APR: one of its more recent donors has ties to the U.S. manufacturer of the abortion pill.<\/p>\n

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openDemocracy attacks Abortion Pill Reversal (APR) (Image: Twitter)<\/p><\/div>\n

The abortion pill (mifepristone) was brought\u00a0to the U.S. by the\u00a0eugenics-founded<\/a>\u00a0Population Council which later\u00a0established<\/a>\u00a0Danco Laboratories to manufacture the pill. The Population Council was in charge of overseeing clinical trials for the abortion pill and set up a system through which it would also\u00a0receive<\/a>\u00a0royalties from its sales.\u00a0In 1996,\u00a0the David and Lucile Packard Foundation<\/strong> also invested\u00a0$14.2 million<\/a>\u00a0into Danco and\u00a0is now also\u00a0investing<\/a>\u00a0millions in\u00a0GenBioPro<\/a>, Inc., an FDA-approved company\u00a0which began manufacturing a generic version of the abortion pill in 2019.\u00a0Packard has also\u00a0funded<\/a>\u00a0Gynuity Health Projects,<\/b>\u00a0which is currently conducting abortion pill\u00a0clinical trials<\/a>\u00a0and a number of\u00a0studies<\/a>\u00a0with the goal<\/a> of expanding access to the abortion pill regimen.<\/p>\n

In 2020<\/a>, this same group \u2014 the Packard Foundation \u2014 gave openDemocracy<\/a> $300,000 to “[t]o build a new and more inclusive international consortium of investigative journalists focused on reproductive and sexual rights.” This language referring to “reproductive and sexual rights” has long been understood to mean abortion<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Packard Foundation which invested in abortion pill MFG Danco grants to OpenDemocracy 2020<\/p><\/div>\n

Who is openDemocracy?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Online, openDemocracy\u00a0claims<\/a>\u00a0to be “an independent global media organisation” registered in the UK and “wholly owned by the non-profit openDemocracy Foundation for the Advancement of Global Education…”\u00a0The openDemocracy company claims to “work only with those whose values and objectives are compatible with our own,” while at the same time\u00a0boasting<\/a> of transparency and independence:<\/p>\n

Our value and reputation as journalists and as a publisher depends on our editorial independence; and transparency about who we work with,\u00a0who funds us<\/a>, and who we serve is vital for our mission in the world…We also receive significant levels of funding in grants from trusts and foundations. We work only with those whose values and objectives are compatible with our own; they, of course, support us for the same reason. <\/em><\/p>\n

However, their financial support does not give them any decisive control over what we publish…<\/em><\/p>\n

But openDemocracy’s Board\u00a0chair<\/a>, Suzanna Taverne, is actually a former Chair<\/a> at the UK-based abortion chain, Marie Stopes International (recently renamed<\/a> MSI Reproductive Choices to hide the chain’s eugenics past). In the U.S., openDemocracy’s current editor Teddy Wilson<\/a>\u00a0regularly tweets articles published<\/a> by the pro-abortion blog Rewire, where he is also a staff\u00a0writer<\/a>.\u00a0He has personally referred to APR as “junk science<\/a>” or “pseudoscience<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

In her piece entitled, “UK women are being \u2018used as guinea pigs\u2019 by \u2018abortion reversal\u2019 doctors,” writer\u00a0Nandini Archer claimed, “A US study into APR was cancelled in 2019 after some participants went to hospital with\u00a0severe haemorrhaging<\/a>. The lead researcher, Mitchell D Creinin,\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0it was stopped because ‘It wasn\u2019t safe for me to expose women to this treatment.'”\u00a0Archer is listed<\/a>\u00a0as “an active member of the feminist direct action group\u00a0Sisters Uncut<\/a>\u00a0[who] previously worked with the\u00a0International Campaign for Women’s Right to Safe Abortion<\/a>.” In other words, she is blatantly pro-abortion,\u00a0which might explain how her piece failed to note that study author\u00a0Mitchell D.\u00a0Creinin<\/span>, MD<\/a>\u00a0 is a consultant for abortion pill manufacturer Danco Laboratories, and has received compensation from them.<\/p>\n

That particular\u00a0study<\/a>\u00a0from Creinin was sponsored by groups tied to both abortion and abortion pill investors \u2014 the University of California-Davis and the Society of Family Planning (SFP). SFP was\u00a0founded<\/a>\u00a0in 2005 with a generous contribution from the Packard Foundation and is\u00a0also\u00a0funded<\/a>\u00a0by the\u00a0Buffett Foundation<\/a>\u00a0(billionaire Warren Buffett), a\u00a0Danco investor. Published by the pro-abortion<\/a>\u00a0American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’\u00a0Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology<\/a>\u00a0(a.k.a.\u00a0The Green Journal) the study\u00a0was the result of a failed clinical trial<\/a>\u00a0in which Creinin and his Planned Parenthood collaborator Laura Dalton intended to\u00a0give<\/a>\u00a0participants either progesterone or a placebo. The\u00a0\u201cstudy<\/a>\u201d was terminated between August and\u00a0September 2019,<\/a> following the enrollment of\u00a0 just\u00a012 pregnant women<\/em>\u00a0after a failed attempt to recruit 40 participants.<\/p>\n

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Study attacking APR authored by Mitchell Creinin funded by Danco the abortion pill manufacturer<\/p><\/div>\n

While the openDemocracy author descibes APR as an “off-label treatment,” she fails to point out that the abortion pill itself has been used<\/a> “off-label” by the abortion industry.<\/p>\n

openDemocracy’s other support<\/strong><\/p>\n

The George Soros-funded Open Society<\/a>, a long-time pro-abortion philanthropist,<\/a>\u00a0is also a supporter of openDemocracy\u00a0(2012-2015<\/a>,\u00a02019<\/a>).\u00a0Open Society<\/strong>\u00a0has boasted\u00a0support<\/a>\u00a0for pro-abortion Media Matters and other\u00a0media allies<\/a>\u00a0which have also attacked pro-life organizations. In\u00a02000<\/a>, Open Society gave\u00a0$383,000 to support abortion pill clinical trials.<\/p>\n

In 2004<\/a>, openDemocracy LTD’s website listed the Rockefeller Foundation<\/strong> as a donor<\/a>\u00a0which the Foundation continued to\u00a0support<\/a>\u00a0the company years after. The\u00a0Rockefeller Foundation has long\u00a0funded<\/a>\u00a0eugenics and\u00a0abortion<\/a>\u00a0organizations including the\u00a0Population Council<\/a>, which brought the abortion pill to the U.S.<\/p>\n

According to the DNA Learning Center at\u00a0Cold Spring Harbor<\/a>, the\u00a0Rockefeller Foundation<\/a>\u00a0also provided funds to construct the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute where racist Nazi programs<\/a> were developed decades ago. The Rockefeller Foundation is also listed<\/a> as a donor to Gynuity Health Projects<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Early<\/a> on,\u00a0openDemocracy’s website showed financial support from the pro-abortion Ford Foundation<\/strong>, which continues support<\/a> to this day. In 2010, former Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards joined the\u00a0board<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0Ford Foundation\u00a0and currently\u00a0serves<\/a>\u00a0as a Trustee. The Ford Foundation has for decades promoted progressive policies and abortion ‘rights’<\/a>, and has also\u00a0donated<\/a>\u00a0millions of dollars to Planned Parenthood, the\u00a0Population Council<\/a>, IPAS<\/a>, Marie Stopes International (MSI)<\/a>, and many other abortion groups.<\/p>\n

Hopewell Fund<\/strong> is also listed<\/a>\u00a0as an openDemocracy supporter. Live Action News previously detailed<\/a>\u00a0a Hopewell\u00a0project<\/a>\u00a0known as\u00a0Equity Forward,<\/a>\u00a0which has targeted pro-life centers and organizations and is financially supporting<\/a> abortion facilities through an \u201cAbortion Delivery\u2019s Business Sustainability Project,\u201d\u00a0financed<\/a>\u00a0in part by abortion philanthropists\u00a0William and Flora Hewlett Foundation<\/a>\u00a0and (guess who?) the\u00a0Packard Foundation<\/a>.<\/p>\n