In addition to its use in terminating unwanted pregnancies, MIFEPRISTONE (formerly known as RU-486) also may be effective in treating a range of serious diseases and medical conditions, many of which particularly affect women. Yet American clinical trials for most of these uses have come to a standstill due to anti-abortion politics.

A B O R T I O N & F E R T I L I T Y C O N T R O L

Available to women in many countries (but currently not in the U.S.), mifepristone (formerly known as RU-486) is the first in a new generation of fertility control agents that can terminate an early pregnancy. Mifepristone works by blocking the action of progesterone, which is necessary to sustain a pregnancy.

Mifepristone, taken along with a prostaglandin, has been used by over half a million women worldwide and has found to be safe and effective as an early abortion method during the first nine weeks of a pregnancy.

A woman can take mifepristone as soon as she knows she is pregnant. Mifepristone is administered orally, is non-invasive, requires no anesthesia, and bears less risk of infection. Many women prefer mif

1999: Mifepristone is approved in Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Finland, Greece, Germany, the Netherlands, and Israel. The Population Council and Danco, a group of investors formed to market mifepristone, submit the requested information to the FDA. Approval is widely expected by early 2000.

Apart from the logistical and legal hurdles, there are the moral and psychological ones. Doctors who don't do abortions on principle are not likely to change their mind based on the method. Those who approve of abortion under certain circumstances will still want to see how mifepristone works, how widespread its use becomes and whether a backlash could endanger their entire practice. Dr. Thomas Purdon, president-elect of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, spoke with a lot of his colleagues last week after the news broke and found them both receptive and cautious. "The medical abortion is less traumatic and done so much earlier in a pregnancy that physicians can rationalize the fact that they are not disrupting a more advanced pregnancy," he said. "The emotional and ethical barriers are easier to cross." MORE**

[1] Spitz IM, et al. Early pregnancy termination with mifepristone and misoprostol in the United States. New England J of Medicine, 4/30/98.

In fact, a few such abortion opponents were at the helm of Roussel Uclaf, the very company that developed RU-486 back in 1980. (1980!) In late 1989, two years after the safety and efficacy of the drug were established in French clinical trials, these executives-as well as the Roussel's head of security, who was recruited into the effort because of his strong antiabortion beliefs-tried to overpower their pro-choice colleagues within the company and force Roussel to abandon the drug. The antiabortion faction of the company had already written a press release announcing the decision, when an 11th-hour countercampaign saved the first major abortion breakthrough from oblivion. A petition with more than 2000 signatures and a flurry of press coverage quashed the anti-RU-486 rebellion. Despite political opposition, the French minister of health declared RU-486 "the moral property of women." By April of 1990, the drug was on the French market.

many women report feeling "less guilty" about medical abortion. some even say it feels more like bringing on a late period or taking the morning-after pill than having an abortion.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Family Foundation, Roussel Uclaf, John Rockefeller, T Available, PILL OCTOBER, United RU-486, That's France, North Dakota, Medical Mifepristone, Obstetrics Gynecology, mifepristone approved, et al, safe effective, mifepristone safe effective, mifepristone safe, england medicine, pregnancy mifepristone, pregnancy woman, medical abortion, abortion pill, abortion method, mifepristone formerly ru-486,
Approximate Word count = 1705
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)