France Becomes First Western Nation to Approve Abortion Pill

The French government on Friday became the first Western government to approve the use of an abortion pill.

Health Minister Claude Evin announced the decision after a government health commission said that problems with the drug--known as RU 486--had been ironed out by the manufacturer, Roussel Uclaf Laboratories.

In France, the pill will be administered by doctors in specialized family planning centers.

Prof. Jean-Michel Alexandre, president of the Medical Sales Commission, said that China is the only other country to have so far approved use of the pill, which induces abortion in women at an early stage of pregnancy.

Alexandre told a news conference that experiments showed a more than 95% success rate in women using the drug, which will go on sale in France under the name Mifegyne.

The manufacturer has tested the drug in the United States but has not announced plans to seek approval for its sale in America because of the anticipated objections of anti-abortion groups.

Medical experts say the new drug could reduce the 150,000 abortions carried out annually in France by more than half.

Women could ask for the pill up to 49 days after the first day of their last period, Alexandre said.

He said that women would take three abortion pills. After waiting two days, they would be given an injection or suppository of prostaglandin, a hormone-like substance that promotes contractions. The fertilized egg should then be expelled.

The pills work by blocking the action of the sex hormone progesterone, which is necessary for the development of the fetus and its attachment to the uterus.

Alexandre stressed that the drug is not a “day-after” pill that could be used as a contraceptive. “This product is not a panacea. We haven’t discovered the day-after pill.”

The main drawback to the new drug is that it could cause malformations to a baby that survives, and all women who take it would be virtually obliged to have an abortion if the pregnancy is not terminated the first time, he added.

French officials said the Netherlands, Britain, Spain and the Scandinavian countries will probably put Mifegyne on sale soon.