The Ohio State Medical Board suspended the license of a training physician at the University of Toledo Medical Center earlier this month after he forced his girlfriend to take abortion pills against her will.
The State Medical Board suspended the license of 32-year-old surgical resident Dr. Hassan-James Abbas on Nov. 5 following an incident last year in which he forcibly gave his romantic partner, identified in legal documents as “Patient 1,” the abortion pills mifepristone and misoprostol without her consent.
The case received attention on social media from Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who called it “absolutely horrific.”
There have been several high-profile cases of pregnant women being forced to take abortion pills, including in Texas and Louisiana, but the set of circumstances surrounding the Ohio situation is unique, considering that abortion access is protected in the Ohio constitution until 22 weeks gestation.
Documents from the Ohio medical board obtained by local news outlet WTOL11 indicate that Abbas had separated from his wife in October 2024 and began a sexual romantic relationship with Patient 1. On Dec. 7, 2024, Patient 1 informed Abbas that she was pregnant, but she refused to get an abortion despite Abbas’s request, the documents allege.
Abbas admitted to the state medical board during an investigation into the incident this summer that on Dec. 8, he ordered the abortion medications mifepristone and misoprostol online. Abbas said he used his estranged wife’s identifying information, including her date of birth and driver’s license number, to obtain the pills, but used his mailing address and credit card information.
The state medical board documents outline that Patient 1 asked Abbas for advice on what medication to take for nausea on Dec. 11, and he provided her with prescriptions for anti-nausea medications, forming what the medical board classified as a doctor-patient relationship with the victim.
Patient 1 told state officials that she spent the night with Abbas on the evening of Dec. 17, and at approximately 4:00 AM on Dec. 18, she woke up to Abbas shoving crushed pills into her bottom lip and gums. She testified that she fought to get away, ran to the kitchen to call 911, and then Abbas hung up the phone.
During the investigation process, Abbas admitted to the medical board that he administered crushed abortion pills to Patient 1 and hung up her 911 call, but he insists Patient 1 took the pills voluntarily.
The medical board ruled almost unanimously, with one abstention, that Abbas’s conduct “presents a danger of immediate and serious harm to the public” and revoked his medical license.
The abortion medication mifepristone has been at the center of the American abortion debate since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed for states to set their own gestational age limits or prohibitions on abortion.
Anti-abortion advocates highlight that the Biden-era Food and Drug Administration relaxed regulations on mifepristone by no longer requiring in-person screening and dispensing requirements to obtain the abortifacient.
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Abortion opponents argue that removing these safety guardrails enables intimate partners or family members to pressure or otherwise force pregnant women to undergo at-home abortions without their consent or knowledge.
Several cases of abortion coercion involving mifepristone were cited in letters sent by Senate Republicans to FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary that asked for a status update on the ongoing safety review of the medication after a new generic abortion pill was approved by the agency in October.
State Medical Board of Ohio Suspends Doctor's License by victoria dugger
