The French Abortion Pill 
p.35
by Stephen R. Burke

Copyright 1994 American Life League

RU-486, ALSO KNOWN AS Mifepristone, splashed into the news two years 
ago when a woman tried to bring some of it into the United States, 
deliberately provoking a challenge to the Food and Drug 
Administration's ban on the drug. RU-486 had been in existence for at 
least ten years. Pro-abortionists loudly demanded that RU-486, which 
had been developed inFrance, be made available in America. It was 
called "the moral property of women."

Thanks to misleading reporting, RU-486 is widely believed to be a drug 
that neatly induces an abortion. It is not. RU-486 is an anti-hormone 
that blocks the action of progesterone, the hormone that maintains the 
integrity of the womb for the preborn child. When progesterone is 
blocked, the mother's body is prevented from maintaining the pregnancy. 
In what is similar to menstruation, the preborn child often detaches 
from the uterine wall and is expelled, with heavy maternal bleeding.

Used by itself, RU-486 causes an abortion only about 50% of the time. 
When prostaglandin (which induces labor) is administered several days 
later, as is the practice in Europe, the "effectiveness" rate increases 
to over 90%.

Prostaglandin is a powerful synthetic hormone that is not sold over the 
counter. When RU-486 is combined with prostaglandin, a hospital stay 
becomes necessary due to the stress of the resulting contractions. 
Doctors and pharmacists would be criminally negligent if they simply 
handed out RU-486 and prostaglandin to women and then sent them home.

RU-486 abortions are dangerous. A woman in France died of a heart 
attack several hours after receiving the prostaglandin, and thousands 
more have had side effects from it. A group of American women who 
recently traveled to England for RU-486 abortions expressed surprise at 
the amount of pain involved - one said she thought she was going to die 
from it. Ten percent of women who have aborted with RU-486 and 
prostaglandin have required narcotics to control the pain. In 1990, the 
International Inquiry Commission on RU-486, in France, called for the 
"immediate canceling of the marketing and use of RU-486," and referred 
to its "very severe side effects."

Roussel-Uclaf, the developer of RU-486, has decided not to market it in 
the United States, fearing a pro-life boycott of their other products. 
Proponents of RU-486, however, are trying another approach. In April 
1994, a New York research group known as the Population Council 
obtained a license from Roussel-Uclaf to produce RU-486 in America. At 
this writing they are trying to find a drug manufacturer to do the 
actual production. Roussel-Uclaf has agreed to provide enough RU-486 
for clinical trials, but none for distribution. Incidentally, the 
Population Council is the group that developed Norplant.

RU-486 will never be a "home remedy" abortifacient. It causes heavy 
bleeding thatcan easily become life-threatening(which is why it's not 
suitable for Third World women, who typically are anemic). It is 
effective up to only the sixth or seventh week of pregnancy. When it 
does work, an examination is necessary to ensure that no infection 

occurred and that the abortion was complete, meaning that no remains of 
the child are in the womb. If it doesn't work and the pregnancy 
continues, there is the possibility of severe birth defects. For this 
reason, clinics in France offering RU-486 abortions require the mother 
to sign a form in which she agrees to get a surgical abortion if the 
RU-486 fails, thus eliminating the possibility of the clinic's being 
held liable for any subsequent birth defects.

Above all, an RU-486 abortion is still an abortion. A child is no less 
dead if killed by a chemical than if by a curette.

American Life League has produced a "Celebrate Life!"video, "The French 
Abortion Pill" (order #CL-35), to help educate the public on the 
hazards of this poison, RU-486. The video includes interviews with 
young adults and with medical authorities in France, including the 
director of a clinic that performs RU-486 abortions. See p. 46 for 
ordering information.

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