reality check - true facts and statistics about abortion

RU-486: chemical abortion

One year ago the Food and Drug Administration officially approved the abortion drug RU-486 for use in the United States. Supporters of abortion quickly applauded the decision as a great advance in women's rights, but what is the real track record of RU-486?

First, it's important to understand that the RU-486 abortion method isn't some sort of magical pill that makes a baby go away with no pain or effort. The woman having an RU-486 abortion faces a long, bloody abortion that is takes days or even weeks to complete while exacting an enormous physical and emotional toll. The RU-486 abortion method involves a minimum of three visits to an abortionist over a two week period of time, all the while keeping the abortionist's phone number or the number of the nearest emergency room handy in the event that the RU-486 procedure goes wrong.

Even after all of that, the RU-486 abortion may not work and the woman will need to have a surgical abortion. This is hardly what we've been told by women's magazines like Ms. And Mademoiselle.

How does RU-486 work? RU-486 kills an unborn baby after his or her heart starts to beat by blocking a nutrient hormone called Progesterone. The baby, now implanted into the nutrient lining of the mother's womb, is basically starved and dies. This is the action of the RU-486 drug.

A second drug, called Prostaglandin, in then used to cause contractions of the mother' uterus which eventually expels the lifeless tiny baby. If this doesn't work and an ultrasound reveals the baby is still in the uterus, the woman will undergo a surgical abortion to remove the baby.

According to the New England Journal of Medicine, complications include severe bleeding, substantial pain, incomplete abortion, tubal pregnancies, and uterine rupture.

An advance in women's rights? Not hardly.