RU-486: safe, easy and private? For whom?
Not only does this dangerous drug end the life of an unborn child, it also is far from what most of us would call “safe”

On September 28, 2000, the Food and Drug Administration approved the RU-486 abortion cocktail, effectively putting women’s health at greater risk and boosting the multi-million dollar business of baby-killing. This drug regimen - essentially a do-it-yourself abortion kit - requires multiple doctor visits and constitutes anything but the “safe, easy and private” abortion procedure that advocates so loudly insist to be the right of every woman. NOW, NARAL and company hail it as “a major breakthrough for women’s health” after a “heart-rending wait” to enable women to “exercise their right to choose in privacy.” But what does the process really entail?

The approved RU-486 drug combination involves three steps - and at least three visits to the doctor. At the first visit, the woman takes three tablets of mifepristone (RU-486) orally. The drug inhibits the production of the hormone progesterone, which prepares and thickens the lining of the uterus to nourish the tiny embryo. As the uterine lining disintegrates, the baby literally starves to death and dies. At her second visit to the doctor, the woman takes two tablets of a prostaglandin (a labor-inducing drug) known by its generic name misoprostol or brand name Cytotec. The dead baby is usually expelled within the next two weeks, and the woman returns to the doctor for a third visit to ensure a complete abortion.

It is worth noting that Searle, the pharmaceutical manufacturer of Cytotec, warns against using this drug with pregnant women because of its unpredictable and dangerous risks to both mother and baby. The president of a national midwife organization has also recently criticized Cytotec-induced labor, citing unusually high numbers of uterine rupture.

The FDA ignored, in its speedy approval of this chemical execution method, the demonstrated risks that both RU-486 and its accompanying drug pose to women. Bleeding, cramping, nausea, diarrhea and vomiting were side effects reported during clinical trials. The average duration of bleeding and spotting was 13 days and fifty-six women needed surgery. Eight percent of the women did not abort and required a surgical abortion. Risks are greater - and in fact, the drug is not recommended - for women with high blood pressure, diabetes, anemia, allergies, epilepsy, asthma or age restrictions (under 18 or over 35). In addition, smoking and obesity are contraindications for this regimen. Exactly what is it about this drug-induced miscarriage that appeals to pro-abortion notions of safety, ease and privacy?

Despite this unwelcome news from the FDA, a reason for hope is the evidence that many physicians appear reluctant to embrace this new form chemical abortion. With so much controversy, so many risks and so many unknowns about this drug’s effect on women’s future fertility, many would rather focus on healing rather than killing. For that prolifers can be thankful. In the meantime, it appears we have a new challenge before us: to continue to demonstrate the humanity of the unborn child and offer compassionate assistance to mothers in crisis. Fortunately, for those mothers and babies, prolifers are here to stay until the battle is won on every front.

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