Some Good News About RU-486

The latest information from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on RU 486 (mifepristone) is very encouraging. Let me give you an update.

Last February the FDA said that it would approve the sale of RU 486 once the makers of this human pesticide met some final requirements, however, they were never identified. Recently, details of the proposed FDA requirements were released to pro-abortion advocates involved in promoting the chemical abortion drug.

The restrictions have pro-abortion activists frightfully anxious about the future of their abortion panacea. Vicki Saporta, Executive Director of the National Abortion Federation, said, “The FDA is considering placing so many restrictions on doctors who want to use the drug that few will be interested in using it.” Gloria Feldt, President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the largest single abortion provider in the nation, said, “…mifepristone could be approved by the agency [FDA] but never really be on the market.” It’s likely that the pro-life movement collectively responds to these statements with a big “Amen, sisters!”

The FDA has proposed that only abortionists already trained in surgical abortions would be allowed to administer mifepristone. A subtle but important change from “practitioner” to “physician” eliminates nurse-practitioners from administering the drug. The abortion industry has long been bemoaning the fact that the pool of abortionists is steadily shrinking and that this new chemical abortion process would provide cover for physicians and other medical caregivers who could be seduced into the business of killing unborn babies.

Another proposed restriction would require that abortionists must have hospital admitting privileges within an hour’s travel time in the event of life-threatening complications. Abortionists would also have to be trained to read sonograms and licensed in how to administer the drug.

Further, the FDA is requiring a registry of abortionists who prescribe mifepristone. “The FDA appeared to be interested in being able to track the use of the drug from the factory to the office and to the patient,” said Paul Blumenthal, Medical Director of Maryland’s Planned Parenthood affiliate.

Danco Laboratories is a private company handling the manufacturing and distribution of this death drug. A spokesperson said that the FDA has until September 30 to approve RU 486. These latest proposals may severely impact

the financial potential of mifepristone. It is unknown whether Danco’s investors will have a change of heart as a result of this recent development.

The abortion industry’s response is that these restrictions are excessive and unnecessary. However, in 1996 the FDA’s panel of medical experts reviewed the data and recommended that RU 486 be approved with some concerns noted. The FDA’s proposed restrictions simply reflect the panel’s legitimate concerns.

The FDA may be demonstrating a basic concern for the physical well being of women who take this drug. FDA eyebrows probably raised when they were informed that an Iowa physician in favor of legalized abortion reported treating a woman who took RU 486/prostiglandin in the Des Moines trials and lost about half her blood volume. He saved her life by emergency surgery and a transfusion. Planned Parenthood of Des Moines tried to cover up this horrible incident by claiming in the press that there had been “no complications.”

Perhaps FDA officials read that none other than Dr. Edwardo Sakiz, then president of Roussel Uclaf (where RU 486 began), said, “…this [RU 486] is an appalling psychological ordeal.”

Then again, it could be that women with any of the following 20 conditions or diseases were excluded from the US trial on mifepristone: under 18 years of age, more than 35 years of age, smoked over 10 cigarettes a day and had another cardiovascular risk factor, liver disease, respiratory disease, kidney disease, adrenal disease, cardiovascular disease, blood clots, hypertension, anemia, insulin-dependent diabetes, known allergy to prostaglandins, using an intrauterine device (IUD), breast-feeding, receiving anticoagulation therapy, receiving long-term cortisone therapy, infection or masses in female organs, ectopic pregnancies or had signs that they might abort spontaneously.

Those promoting RU 486 told the FDA in July 1996 that it will be used on women who would have been barred from the US trial. For example, there will be no restrictions on age or smokers. FDA officials would have to be deaf, dumb and blind to not know how unrestricted the abortion industry already is. Maybe they think giving unfettered RU 486 to the abortion industry would be like putting a drunk behind the wheel of a school bus full of children.

I’m greatly encouraged the FDA is demonstrating that women’s health and well being might not totally be pushed aside for a political agenda after all. Stay tuned.