Year In Review: Deaths Rekindle Call for Feds to Revoke Approval of Abortion Drug
December 20, 2006
(AgapePress) - - "How many more deaths?" That's the question that pro-lifers are asking following the latest reports of more deaths that may be attributable to the abortion pill known as RU 486, which the federal government approved for distribution amidst political accusations shortly before Bill Clinton left office. Danco Laboratories, which markets RU 486 (a.k.a. "Mifepristone") in the United States, announced to the Food and Drug Administration on Friday that two more women died recently after taking RU 486, the first of two drugs taken to abort an unborn child chemically. That brings the number of deaths in the U.S. to at least seven women after taking the two-step regimen since it was approved by the FDA in September 2000.
The federal agency's response following these latest reports? Convene a workshop for early May to discuss research on the infection that killed four of the women last July.
And instead of yanking the drug it approved in the waning days of the Clinton administration, the FDA has issued a statement saying it is investigating the circumstances of the deaths. "All providers of medical abortion and their patients need to be aware of the specific circumstances and directions for use of this drug and all risks including sepsis when considering treatment," states the agency website. "In particular, physicians and their patients should fully discuss early potential signs and symptoms that may warrant immediate medical evaluation."
The FDA's response has triggered outrage from the halls of Congress to the offices of pro-life groups, with criticism beginning with variations on the phrase: "How many more deaths will it take before ...."
- Republican Congressman Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland: "How many more women must die or be injured before Congress acts to protect American women's lives and health from an irresponsible company and a timid FDA?"
- Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America: "How many women must die before the FDA will act? Are their lives less important than making abortion convenient?"
- American Life League president Judie Brown: "How much longer must we tolerate such insanity? Two more deaths of women who used RU 486 signal massive problems with [the] abortion pill."
- Dr. Randall K. O'Bannon of National Right to Life: "How many women will have to die after taking this drug? There is no doubt that RU 486 is extremely dangerous to women and it kills babies."
Representative Bartlett is one of 79 House members sponsoring HR 1079, the "RU 486 Suspension and Review Act." In a Baptist Press report, he calls the FDA's workshop "too little and too late." Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina, who is sponsoring the Senate version of the Bartlett bill (S 511), is equally critical of how the federal agency is dealing with the situation.
"A workshop to talk about ways to study this problem will only delay action," says DeMint. "This drug should never have been approved, and it must be suspended immediately."
Wendy Wright | |
CWA's Wendy Wright could not agree more. By doing anything less than removing the drug from the market, the CWA leader says the FDA is participating in the "deception that RU 486 is 'safe.'" She notes that in the past the FDA has pulled drugs that have been accused of causing fewer deaths and less severe complications. That, Wright contends, is inconsistent. "Why the double-standard for an abortion drug that is now linked to the deaths of seven healthy women and over 800 other reported complications?" she asks. And after noting several examples of drugs yanked by the agency following reported complications, she asks: "Why is that same caution not exercised with a drug that only women use, and it's only purpose is to abort a baby?
ALL's Judie Brown may have an answer to that question. "[T]he powerful abortion lobby rules the day when it comes to RU 486," says Brown. "It doesn't matter to the abortion industry that mothers have died from using this drug; the 'procedure' was successful because the drug killed the baby. The mother's well-being is apparently of no concern."
Planned Parenthood claims that the "health and safety" of its patients are its top priorities -- but apparently will not voluntarily suspend the use of RU 486. In light of last week's two reported deaths, the federally funded abortion provider has agreed to stop using unapproved measures in administering the chemical abortion regimen. But PP says it has no plans to stop dispensing the drug at its abortion clinics.
According to the ALL president, the FDA has the authority to suspend distribution of any drug item when safety issues arise. That is why she says the FDA needs to put aside any "political" considerations and stop distribution -- immediately. "This is non-negotiable," says Brown.
