(Image Source: Facebook)

BY EVAN BUSH

ANCHOR ANA COMPAIN-ROMERO

Facebook is saying...sorry about that... after it removed one of its user’s profile pictures -- which detailed how to perform a do-it-yourself abortion.

Here’s the post, from a medical doctor and abortion rights activist, Rebecca Gomperts, who works with two non-profit organizations for women -- Women on Web and Women on Waves. The post explains how to use the drug misoprostol to end a pregnancy. The Atlantic Wire explains what Gomperts suggested on the social networking site.

“The content was intended for women who wanted to safely have an abortion in countries where the procedure was against the law, as misoprostol can be prescribed to treat ulcers. Misoprostol used in conjunction with an abortion drug called mifeprex is an FDA-approved way of ending early pregnancies.”

Although Gomperts did not include any information about mifeprex in her post -- her non-profit organization says misoprostol alone can be used through the first 9-weeks of pregnancy. A study cited by the World Health Organization found using the drug alone “88 % effective and was not associated with more side-effects or complications”.

Facebook apologized to Gomperts, and she re-posted the social-networking site’s response on her profile.

"[The policy-enforcement] team looks at hundreds of thousands of reports every week, and as you might expect, occasionally, we make a mistake and remove a piece of content we shouldn't have."

A writer for Jezebel says Facebook got it right in the end -- because in the developing world, women might need access to this kind of information.

“...we don't live in [an ideal] world. Gomperts's advice is for women who can't access legal abortion. There are risks involved (and Gomperts mentions them, noting that women need to see a doctor if they experience fever, severe pain, or excessive bleeding), but carrying an unwanted pregnancy to term has risks too. Gomperts's tips will give some women more choices...”

But Dr. Randy O’Bannon, director of education and research at the National Right to Life Committee, tells Life News promoting the use of this drug for abortion on the social networking site is “highly irresponsible”.

“What these people are proposing is not some revolution in women’s health, but something which promotes their radical abortion agenda quite possibly at the expense of women’s health...”