Cedar Rapids, IA – Plans to expand abortions via the Internet without the on-site presence of a licensed physician have been placed on hold by Planned Parenthood of East Central Iowa, (PPECI), after a representative from that group prematurely told a reporter that the controversial chemical abortion scheme was slated to expand to Cedar Rapids and Dubuque.

"Planned Parenthood is in a tailspin over this telemed abortion scandal," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "The dangers and possible illegalities of telemed abortions were made public before Planned Parenthood was ready, so now they are forced to backtrack."

According to a press release issued over the weekend by PPECI, there has been no Board approval for the expansion of abortion services into that organization's clinics and denies that there is a blueprint in place for such an expansion.

However, Director of Patient Services Barbara Chadwick previously told Iowa Public Radio that there were plans to expand abortion services into every Planned Parenthood clinic nationwide over the next five years.

"We have been looking at initiating an abortion service as a core service of all Planned Parenthoods as part of the Federation's Strategic Plan for 2015," Chadwick said. She also said that signing up for the telemed service will help her organization meet that goal the fastest.

"PPECI wants the telemed abortions, but is backing off now that the truth is out that these remote controlled abortions constitute an abuse of telemedicine and the doctor/patient relationship. It is very likely that we have delayed or even scuttled the planned implementation of dangerous telemed abortions in East Central Iowa," said Newman.

Telemed abortions are remote controlled push button abortions using pills containing the dangerous drug RU 486, also known as Mifepistrone. An abortionist briefly visits with a patient via a teleconferencing hook-up then pushes a button to release a drawer at the outlying clinic that contains the abortion drugs. The patient takes one set of pills and is sent home with instructions for taking the rest of the medication on her own. The woman never has direct personal access to a licensed physician at any time during the abortion process. [Read OR's Special Report on Telemed Abortions]

Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, (PPH), a separate and larger Planned Parenthood affiliate has been experimenting in the use of what is known as the "telemed" abortion since July, 2008. So far, the risky process has not expanded beyond the PPH organization. There have been 13 known deaths attributed to RU 486 and over 1,100 serious complications.

Operation Rescue has filed a complaint with the Iowa Board of Medicine asking them to stop the dangerous abortion scheme. An investigation is ongoing.