Abortion pill is rarely used by U.S. women, report says
Posted on 01/21/2003 4:16:59 AM PST by MeekOneGOP
Abortion pill is rarely used by U.S. women, report says
01/21/2003
American women seeking to end a pregnancy have been slow to use the so-called abortion pill, according to the first report issued since the drug's approval more than two years ago.
About 37,000 women used mifepristone, or RU-486, to end a pregnancy in the first half of 2001, said Lawrence B. Finer, assistant director of research for the Alan Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit company that tracks U.S. abortion trends.
"It represents about 6 percent of the total abortions in that period, which is a small but not negligible trend," he said recently. Although total figures are not available for abortion procedures in 2001, the institute reported that 1.3 million abortions were performed the previous year.
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However, it is still not clear how many doctors will be willing to offer it or even to inform their patients of its availability. In Dallas, the abortion pill is getting mixed reviews.
"When women learn that it actually involves more than just taking a pill, they choose a surgical abortion," says Lisa Gerard, executive director of The Fairmount Center, a Dallas abortion clinic. Fewer than 5 percent of the center's 4,500 abortions last year involved Mifeprex, she adds.
Mifeprex can be used only in the first 49 days of a pregnancy and requires that a second drug, misoprostol, be taken within two days to complete the abortion. A woman usually must visit a doctor twice then abort the fetus at home. The average cost of this procedure, which is considered a medical abortion, was $490 in 2001. Surgical abortions are completed in a single visit, except in states that require a 24-hour waiting period, and cost $225 or more, depending on the location of the clinic, timing and type of procedure.
Mifeprex blocks progesterone, a naturally produced hormone that prepares the lining of the uterus for a fertilized egg and helps maintain a pregnancy. Without progesterone, the lining of the uterus softens, breaks down and bleeding begins. The second drug causes the uterus to contract, which completes the process.
"We've been surprised at the demand, because I wasn't sure on a consumer level if women would be interested in it," says Kathryn Allen, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of North Texas, which performed 336 medical abortions last year instead of the expected 200. They accounted for about 8 percent of the agency's total of 4,400 abortions in Dallas.
About 600 abortion providers, a third of the U.S. total, offered their patients the choice of a medical abortion in 2001. The drug's manufacturer, Danco Industries, says more than 130,000 women in the United States have used the pill since doctors have been able to distribute it.
Still, "the brief U.S. experience with mifepristone leaves many questions unanswered about its ultimate level of acceptance," noted a report issued last summer by the Guttmacher Institute.
In three European countries where the abortion pill has been available for more than a decade, it is used for more than half of abortions within the approved limits. In Scotland, the drug combination was used for 61 percent of early abortions compared with 56 percent in France and 51 percent in Sweden.
The growing acceptance of the drug in Europe has resulted in a higher percentage of abortions occurring early in pregnancy in recent years, as high as 20 percent in France in 1997, notes the Guttmacher study, published in May in its publication, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health.
However, overall abortion rates have remained mostly stable in European countries since the abortion pill went on the market. Only Scotland's abortion rate went up, from nine to 11 abortions per 1,000 women of childbearing age between 1990 and 2000.
RU-486: The So-Called Miracle Drug
... and in so much physical and emotional pain, be called "wonderful" or "miraculous."
Given the truth about RU 486, it's really not worth it. Are you for "86"?? ...
Here is an excerpt from it (warning - content may make you uncomfortable):
I heard once that 86 is a slang word for death. Sometimes the kitchen staff in a restaurant will use this word to mean that something is gone, or there is no more of it. Interesting, right? And right now you're wondering what this has to do with the abortion pill, right? Nothing really, except that this pill is called RU-486, and if you wanted to, you could interpret that as "Are You For Death?"
Well, you've probably already heard something about RU 486. Maybe you've heard it called the "Wonder Drug," or a "Miracle Pill." What you've heard may sound very enticing. You pop the pill, and "poof!" your worries and your baby are gone. No hassles. It's all done in the privacy of your home. It's painless, and it's the perfect way to get out of your sticky situation.
If you're thinking that, or if you've ever thought that about RU 486, you didn't hear all the facts.
RU 486 has to be taken within the first 49 days of pregnancy. During this time, the baby's heart is beating, five fingers have been formed on each hand, the baby begins to move his arms and legs, and his eyes and ears are easy to distinguish.
You don't just take one pill, you take a series of pills that will eventually induce a chemical abortion. This is all followed by several visits to a clinic for cervical exams.
Wow, they get to go to the abortion mill save money and don’t have to look at the baby they just slaughtered.
Our brave American women, bring the trapped baby to the butcher and have him do all the work.
My congratulations goes out to those who can find it in their hearts to pray for the scum that have and do abortions. May the Lord one day soften my heart so that I can do likewise.
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