Daylight for RU-486

With questions about the medical effectiveness and safety of RU-486 now largely answered, abortion politics should no longer block the use of the drug by American women.

A scientific advisory committee, convened by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, last week recommended final FDA approval of the French abortion pill. In three separate votes, the eight-member panel held that the drug’s benefits outweigh its risks, that the drug is safe and that data from a French study are sufficient to support American use of the drug.

Although the panel’s recommendation is not binding, the FDA generally heeds the advice of its advisory committees. FDA Commissioner Dr. David A. Kessler said he considers the committee’s vote to be a “very strong signal” in favor of approval, and he said the agency hopes to take action by mid-September. We count on him to keep his word.

French, British and Swedish women have safely used RU-486 for the past decade, but anti-abortion groups have successfully blocked its approval in this country. The stakes in the battle are high: availability of the drug promises to radically change not only the typical procedure of abortion itself but the politics of abortion as well.

RU-486, known as mefipristone in the United States, induces miscarriage. If approved, the drug will be administered only by a doctor. It is given in combination with a second drug, misoprostol; these cause the embryo to be expelled from a woman’s body. During this process, the patient would be observed for possible adverse side effects, including excessive bleeding, cramping and nausea.

This pharmacological alternative to a surgical abortion would make the procedure far more accessible and, importantly, more private, diminishing the profile of doctors who perform abortions and the clinics where they work. Violence and intimidation have forced clinics across the country to close their doors in recent years, stranding countless women in need of a range of reproductive health services, including abortion. A clinic that has been shut down serves no one.

There has been enough study and more than enough debate over RU-486. It is time for the final go-ahead that will permit its responsible use.