Ohio Pro-Lifers Demand Action After Toledo Doctor Sentenced to 6 Months in Abortion Pill Case

The saga involving a Toledo-area doctor who forced his girlfriend to ingest abortion-causing drugs has come to an end with Dr. Hassan-James Abbas receiving six months of jail time plus two years of probation. The sentence is unacceptable to Ohio pro-lifers, who are urging the Department of Justice to step in.

On Tuesday, Center for Christian Virtue President Aaron Baer was joined by other Ohio leaders who addressed the tragic incident.

Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, was similarly outraged and penned a letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche that same day calling for action.

The incident took place in late 2024, when Abbas was in a relationship with the victim, Jona Affholder, after separating from his wife.

When Affholder informed Abbas on Dec. 7, 2024, that she was pregnant, he told her to get an abortion, though she did not want one.

The next day, Abbas acquired pills from an out-of-state telemedicine abortion provider and used his estranged wife’s information to do so, using his own credit card, email address, and delivery address. Three days later, the drugs arrived.

On Dec. 18, when Affholder was staying the night, she woke up to Abbas on top of her as he held her down and forced a crushed powder into her mouth, which absorbed into her bloodstream through her gums. While she fought her way to the kitchen and called 911, Abbas took her phone and hung up.

Affholder was documented by the hospital as an “assault victim” and had a diagnosis of vaginal bleeding. She lost the baby.

Abbas was sentenced on Sept. 11. The surgeon pleaded no contest in May to four felony charges, including disrupting public services, unlawful distribution of an abortion-inducing drug, identity fraud, and deception to obtain a dangerous drug.

On Tuesday, Baer and others gathered in Toledo to express their outrage over the six-month sentence.

“So, we have to ask ourselves, how did this happen? How did a life get taken, a woman get abused … and the predator only got six months in prison?” Baer asked. He went on to blame the Biden administration’s relaxing of standards for acquiring the pill in December 2021, especially as it pertains to acquiring pills online.

The Food and Drug Administration stopped requiring that abortion drugs be dispensed to mothers in person, which allowed them to receive such drugs through telehealth appointments and by mail.

“Predators like Abbas can steal an identity, order the pills, drug a woman, and take a life. So I tell you, where was her choice in this whole process? Where’s the voice of that unborn child? That’s why we stand here today to fight for the unborn life and fight for Ohio’s women,” Baer continued.

That theme was expressed by speakers throughout the press conference, including Dave Yost, Ohio’s former attorney general who now works with Alliance Defending Freedom.

“Whatever you feel about the abortion issue, whether you feel it’s a right or not, you should be appalled. My friends on the left should be appalled by the assault that happened on this woman,” Yost said about Abbas.

“This was a forcible administration [of the drug]. He used his superior size to push this into her body. I can think of no other fact patterns where there wouldn’t be nearly universal outrage. It is act of violence, and I concur that first, the federal government needs to reimpose the commonsense Obama-era restriction for safety of women, and secondly, the Ohio General Assembly needs to act.”

Moreno was similarly dissatisfied by the sentence, as his letter made clear.

“Unsurprisingly, reckless Biden-era mail-in abortion policies are responsible for this hell-on-earth tragedy,” Moreno wrote early on.

“Without ever setting foot inside a pharmacy, Mr. Abbas procured the mail-order abortion drugs fraudulently using his estranged wife’s name. It is hard for me to imagine a wickedness more significant than this,” Moreno later wrote. “What makes this even worse is that Mr. Hassan Abbas was only sentenced to six months of jail time and two years of probation.”

Yost also highlighted how regulations were stronger during President Donald Trump’s first term and also under former President Barack Obama’s administration.

“This would not have happened because of the legal structure,” Yost said. “During the Obama administration, and actually from the time of its approval, Mifepristone required a three-visit regimen.”

Pro-lifers, including ADF, have tried for years to get the matter of the abortion pill dealt with before the U.S. Supreme Court. The unanimous decision in 2024 of FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine found that the pro-life doctors in the case did not have standing. There’s a new effort, however, with Louisiana v. FDA. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit heard oral arguments earlier this month.

“As a matter of public policy, I encourage you to act quickly to conclude the Louisiana v. FDA case, such that the in-person dispensing in a medical setting requirement is reinstated as the FDA continues its critical safety review of the drugs,” Moreno urged Blanche.

For all of his frustration toward the Biden administration, the senator expressed hope in the Trump administration’s DOJ.

“I applaud the historic work the United States Department of Justice has done to unveil the damage the Biden Administration caused, including the weaponization of federal law against pro-life Americans. However, the work is far from done. I look forward to working together to protect mothers and babies from the real threats of evil that exist, such as what tragically Ms. Affholder endured,” Moreno concluded.

CCV has a campaign urging people to reach out to the DOJ on the matter.

The Daily Signal reached out to the Department of Justice about the letter but did not hear back in time for publication.

Furthering the need for action, speakers during Tuesday’s press conference highlighted stories of other forced abortions via the pill across the state and country.

State Rep. Josh Williams warned that “this light sentence that was given to this man is only going to destroy the voice and kill in this community,” and he echoed other speakers, including calling for the Ohio Legislature to ban the mailing of abortion pills.

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