Another blow to the sanctity of human life was delivered Thursday, Sept. 28 by the FDA when it approved the use of RU486 as a method of abortion. Abortion advocates heralded the announcement as a victory for women. The Catholic Church and the CCT realize that nothing could be farther from the truth.
Economically, the FDA's approval of RU486 is a victory for the male dominated abortion industry. Surveys have shown that the number of abortionists will increase with next month's release of mifeprex, the commercial name for RU486, and with it the number of abortions a year will grow above the already staggering 1.3 million mark. Consequently, big abortion will have more money in its bank roll.
Physically and psychologically, RU486 is a defeat to women's health. Any mother who uses mifeprex to achieve an abortion will not only lose her unborn child, but will face a myriad of complications as well. Making use of RU486 is a multi-step process that involves 3 trips to the abortion facility and 3 pills. RU486, a synthetic steroid hormone that inhibits the action of progesterone, thereby starving the unborn baby of the nutrient rich womb, is given on the first visit. On the second visit to the clinic most women are given misoprostol, an anti-ulcer prostaglandin (PG) not meant for pregnant women. Misoprostol induces violent contractions that expel the dead baby from its mother's womb. As many as 96 percent of women complained of intense pain from the use of RU486/PG combination and 5 percent of women in a French study were administered narcotics. In the same French study, 45 percent of women reported nausea and 25 percent vomiting.
Another distressing side effect of the RU486/PG procedure is the bleeding that takes place. Women should expect nine to 16 days of bleeding according to the FDA. On average, women lose 70 mL of blood in a chemical abortion, 10 mL shy of what doctors consider an abnormal menstruation. During the US trials, four of 230 women in the Des Moines portion of the study experienced "excessive bleeding"; one of the 4 nearly bled to death.
At her third visit to the abortion facility, a woman may find that she has had an incomplete abortion or no abortion at all. In this case she will need a surgical abortion or a D&C to scrape out the remains of her child. If at any time before this point a mother decides to carry her baby to term, she faces the potential to have a deformed child.
Psychologically, women have to live with the decision to have a chemical abortion in an acute way in the days between when she takes RU486 and when she passes her child. When that takes place, she may actually see her partially grown baby. There is also the possibility that she will develop post abortion syndrome (PAS), a condition marked by depression and obsession over an aborted child, further complicated by the fact that she, in essence, performed the abortion on herself.
Long range physical health consequences from the use of RU486/PG have never been investigated. However, it is known that RU486 crosses the blood follicle barrier and can get into maturing eggs. Whether or not this will complicate future pregnancies is not known.
It may seem that, after the FDA's approval of RU486, the Culture of Death cannot be stopped. Through the approval of RU486 a human pesticide has been released to the American public under the guise of increased freedom. Pregnancy has been reduced to the level of a headache that can be eliminated simply by popping a pill
Those who support life and women cannot give up hope. The Catholic Church will continue to defend life in all its stages, and offer women in crisis pregnancies an alternative to abortion that allows them and their children to maintain their health, dignity, and happiness.
Jared R. Burdin, Spiritual Director for the Catholic Community at Tufts. He is a senior majoring in computer engineering.
