Pro-Life Groups Petition FDA to Shelve RU-486 Pending “Full and Objective” Review
Pull the Abortion Pill!
Pro-Life Groups Petition FDA to Shelve RU-486 Pending “Full and Objective” Review
Calling on the government to protect the health of American women, groups representing women and medical professionals have petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to suspend distribution of the abortion pill RU-486–also known as Mifeprex–pending a full review of the drug’s safety.
Representatives from Concerned Women for America, the Christian Medical Association, and the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists filed a 90-page “citizen’s petition” asking for “a full and objective” review of the abortion drug. The petition, based on 22 months of research, outlined the groups’ concerns about health and safety risks associated with RU-486, including severe hemorrhaging, heart attacks, and serious bacterial infections. RU-486 has been blamed in the deaths of at least two women since the drug was licensed by the FDA in Sept. 2000.
Using information obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the petition also documented corruption in the review process for RU-486 at the FDA due to political pressure to approve the drug. The FDA approved RU-486 through a fast-track process that is normally used only for experimental treatments for fatal illnesses such as cancer or AIDS, even when those treatments have not been thoroughly tested.
“This document outlines the significant health and safety concerns that have emerged after several years’ experience with RU-486,” said Dr. David Hager, a Kentucky obstetrician who assisted with the petition. “Women deserve a full and objective accounting of a drug’s dangers based on sound and complete medical evidence.”
The FDA said it would review the petition. Pro-life groups have called on Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson to make good on a statement he made early last year that he intended to review the abortion drug’s safety. The White House had also said at the same time that it would conduct a review of the FDA approval process for RU-486.
