PLATFORM : Political Medicine

My friend Cindy died five months ago of metastatic breast cancer. There is a new drug that provides hope for a lasting remission for the 1.6 million women in this country who, like Cindy, suffer from breast cancer that has not responded to other medical treatments. But these women cannot receive the drug in the United States.

Why? Because the drug is RU-486, the so-called abortion pill, and the pro-life movement opposes it. A modified version of RU-486 shows promise for women resistant to tamoxifen, widely used for treating advanced breast cancer. But even if the FDA approves RU-486 for this use, the manufacturer is unwilling to distribute it here because of promises of boycotts and harassment.

One evening, when Cindy could no longer walk and would cry from uncontrollable pain, she said to me, “I’m sorry. This is the best I can do.” I hope many more women do not have to die before our policymakers find the courage to say, “This is not the best we can do; we can do much more.”