RU-486

The medication "mifepristone" was invented in France by Dr. Etienne-Emile Baulieu in 1980. It is widely know as "RU-486" throughout North America. The letters is taken from the initials of the pharmaceutical company Roussel-Uclaf. The "486" is an arbitrary lab serial number. 1 It was first introduced in France, where it is called Mifegyne. Ž It has been used, in combination with prostaglandin medication, to induce abortions in about 500,000 women over almost 2 decades.

Over the last fifteen years, dozens of clinical studies on RU-486 have been conducted with thousands of women in over 20 countries, including France, Britain, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the U.S., Scandinavia, and the former Soviet Union. 11 In 1999, mifespristone was approved for marketing in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Israel, the Netherlands and Spain. 15 Danco Laboratories, the U.S. distributor expected to be selling the pill in that country by the end of 1999. 11 That did not happen; FDA finally approved the pill for U.S. distribution on 2000-SEP-28. It will be distributed under the name "Early Option Pill."

In late 1988, Roussel-Uclaf started distribution of the drug in France

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2% of the women experience excessive bleeding and require a blood transfusion. "The National Academy of Sciences estimates that 20 million abortions are performed illegally or unsafely each year worldwide, causing 100,000 or more deaths. He is the same abortion provider who survived an assassination attempt in 1994 when an anti-abortion terrorist shot him in the leg. " 3

Christopher Slattery, of the Legal Center for the Defense of Life in New York NY commented: "There's a chance women will see this as an easier, less expensive, and less physically traumatic abortion, and may be attracted to it. "Focus" reports that: "As the FDA finalizes protocols for dispensing the drug, pro-life advocates are appealing to public outrage and for prompt recall by Congress. House passed a bill to bar approval of RU-486 by the Food and Drug Administration. This causes her cervix to soften and dilate. 4

RU-486 would be of particular benefit in developing countries, where a lack of physician and clinics makes a conventional abortion dangerous. " Seven other European countries also legalized RU-486. I'm worried that we're going to turn more health-care practitioners into killers. Krieger "RU-486 abortion pill still not widely available in the U.

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