American Life League's STOPP International applauds the resolve of Monty Patterson, father of Holly Patterson, the young girl who died last year after taking the lethal RU-486 abortion pill that she obtained from a California Planned Parenthood facility. Mr. Patterson is fighting to get the dangerous drug removed from the market. "As a father, I can offer my sincere sympathies for the loss Mr. Patterson has suffered and I respect the fact that he is not letting his daughter's memory be forgotten," said Jim Sedlak, executive director of STOPP. "The truth is, RU-486 never received a proper government review and never should have been legalized in this country."
From the beginning, STOPP has been a staunch opponent of the deadly drug and has continually pushed for its recall. After Holly's 2003 death, STOPP challenged the state of California to conduct a full, thorough and impartial investigation of all Planned Parenthood facilities and their "healthcare" practices offered throughout the state. "Sadly, the loss of human life is nothing new at Planned Parenthood," said Sedlak. "This organization, the nation's leading abortion provider, killed 227,375 preborn children through surgical abortion in 2002 alone."
Debbie Patterson, Holly's mother, has also been vocal opponent of the drug. "You know, I lost not only my daughter but my grandchild," Debbie told a San Francisco area media outlet after her daughter's death. "If I could look back on things I would have said, 'If you didn't want this baby, I want this baby. It's my grandbaby.' But we never had the chance to talk. We were never faced with that. It's hindsight."
"It is vitally important that people understand what this drug did to Holly," said Sedlak. "However, we cannot stop at saying that this abortion only took the life of the mother, because it also took the life of her preborn baby." STOPP contends that one cannot separate the tragedy of Holly's death from the tragedy of her child's death. There are two distinct victims in this case.
STOPP International hopes the United States government will protect all women and children by removing the deadly RU-486 pill from the market. "RU-486 is just another form of the violent act of abortion, which kills a preborn child and can injure - even kill - the mother," said Sedlak. "Women and children deserve much better than this."
Release issued: 16 Sept 04
