An out-of-state anti-abortion group is pushing for a criminal investigation into a process used by Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, which provides abortion pills to women who consult with physicians via closed video conferences.

The Kansas anti-abortion group Operation Rescue claims it received Fed-Ex confirmation that a letter sent to the Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller’s office was received June 24.

The letter requested that Miller consider an investigation of Planned Parenthood’s telemedicine distribution of the abortion pill in Iowa.

Roughly two years ago, Iowa became the first state in the nation to carry out the telemedicine program, which uses “modern technology and telecommunications” to connect a patient from a rural area with a doctor at a remote location.

Planned Parenthood has telemedicine programs in 16 locations throughout the state, including Iowa City.

If a woman chooses a telemedical procedure, the medical staff provides her with an examination and an ultrasound.

Results are then sent to a doctor who meets with the patient via a closed-circuit video conference to discuss any concerns.

Once the doctor has determined the woman is medically eligible to take the abortion pill, a medication dispensing unit is unlocked and the patient has access to the pill, misoprostol or mifepristone.

The doctor observes the patient take the pill and provides her with additional instructions forfollow-up care.

Operation Rescue senior policy adviser Cheryl Sullenger said her group is concerned about the safety and legality of the telemedicine program.

“This is too dangerous of a thing for a girl to just get a pill, go home, and take it, and never have access to a physician,” she said. “That is tantamount to patient abandonment … that’s ridiculous.”

Operation Rescue also filed a complaint with the Iowa Board of Medicine in April for the same program, and it has received confirmation that an investigator has been assigned to the case.

“We’re hoping [in the short term] this will make [Planned Parenthood] stop and reconsider its plans to continue with this dangerous process that endangers women’s lives,” Sullenger said.

Planned Parenthood has provided the Iowa medical board the requested information about its program, officials said.

This isn’t the first encounter that Planned Parenthood has had with Operation Rescue.

“I first knew it in 1988, when they blockaded our clinic in Des Moines,” said Jill June, the president and CEO of the Iowa organization. “It is among the most extreme of the anti-abortion organizations in the country.”

June said she’s not concerned about the threat of criminal investigation.

“We were very, very careful in the design of the program prior to the implementation,” she said. “I am very confident that we are meeting all of the requirements in the state of Iowa for the provision of telemedicine services.”

The national Planned Parenthood announced Monday it filed a lawsuit challenging Nebraska’s Women’s Health Protection Act, which aims to prevent coerced abortions and clarify physician responsibility. The act, which will go into effect July 15, is vague and unconstitutional, according to Planned Parenthood.

As of now, all 16 Iowa telemedicine locations are in “operation as normal,” said Planned Parenthood communication affiliate Marsha Dorhot.