Religious Right Doctor Weighs in on RU486

It’s not easy to to set the record straight on the RU486 pill. The pro-life folks have a very effective media blitz at their disposal. But we keep trying. The drug was approved by the FDA as an abortion inducer in September 2000 and is marketed under the Mifeprex name. The pro-life folks tried to keep it from coming to the US after it was developed in France. Failing that, they’ve been on a mission to get it banned using the reports that women have died who have used the pill as the focus of their outrage. The FDA just strengthened the label language on Mifeprex after the most recent death was reported in January. One big problem with the pill(s) is that the procedure has two stages. It’s potentially dangerous not to take the second pill after having taken the first one. Donna J. Harrison, a pro-life OB/Gyn doctor and Mifeprex foe voiced her adamant disapproval of the drug in an article in the New York Times this morning. She is chairman of the subcommittee on Mifeprex of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists. It is not clear why Dr. Harrison has not mounted a campaign against drugs routinely advertised on network and cable TV whose fast-talker caveats make one’s hair stand on end. We are advised that liver failure, kidney failure and death may occur from taking these advertised drugs. But the ads go on to say, ask your doctor to prescribe them anyway. Apparently the dangers in taking pharmaceuticals advertised on television are of no interest to pro-life doctors. The facts are: Since Mifeprex was approved, six women have died who took the drug. The deaths were caused by infection, hemorrhage, pregnancies in the fallopian tubes and heart failure and could have been caused by many factors. I don’t say that the deaths or illness of women who have taken Mifeprex shouldn’t be investigated. But I also would like to see serious investigations into the deaths and illness of women who have carried unwanted pregnancies to term because of beliefs of pro-life doctors.