Major Gain in Contraception

Government approval Wednesday of a “morning-after pill” to prevent pregnancy is a major advance in contraceptive protection. No less important, the green light from the Food and Drug Administration to market the formula could signal welcome new attention by federal regulators and pharmaceutical makers to women’s reproductive needs.

The “pill” is actually a kit, which will be available by prescription by the end of this month. It contains four pills with higher-than-usual doses of regular birth control medication. They should be taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex. The formula works by preventing ovulation, rather than by disrupting the process after an egg has been fertilized. For that reason, women’s groups and the kit’s manufacturer expect it to generate little opposition from abortion foes.

Reproductive experts say widespread use of emergency contraception, like the new pill, could prevent up to 3 million unintended pregnancies and 800,000 abortions annually. That includes half of all abortions and unwanted pregnancies now occurring in this country, according to one estimate. Clearly this formula could represent a major public health advance.

The new formulation came about when the FDA and several women’s health groups approached Gynetics Inc. urging the company to develop the product. A similar approach resulted in the FDA’s tentative approval in 1996 of RU-486, the French abortion pill, for use in the United States. But final FDA approval for the French pill will depend on decisions by drug firms to make it for the American market in the face of the inevitable protests and boycott threats. That wait continues.