Women in the United States will finally have access to RU-486, a drug that should have been made legal years ago.
On Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration approved what is commonly known as the abortion pill. The pill will be available in about a month and marketed under the name Mifeprex.
RU-486 is only a different form of a procedure that the government already declares legal. The FDA has no right to decide the morality of using a certain drug, only if it is safe.
Once the FDA determined the drug’s safety, women should have had access to the pill. It was declared safe in 1996, but the company choosing to market the drug was slow to meet federal requirements for marketing and labeling.
RU-486 can be used only for the first 49 days after the woman’s last period, and can only be prescribed by doctors trained to diagnose the duration of the pregnancy and perform a surgical abortion in case of a complication. The drug is 90 percent effective. RU-486 will have a tremendous impact on women’s health.
The controversy surrounding this drug should have had no effect on how soon it was available, but most likely slowed the process down.
Millions of women in 13 countries have used the pill in the early stages of pregnancy. The pill was first introduced in France in 1988, but anti-abortion organizations have fought to keep the pill out of the United States.
The pill simply makes a legal medical procedure more convenient and less expensive. The primary reason opponents of the pill fought its release to the public stems from moral arguments.
While it may be more convenient, RU-486 is not a painless or quick process. Users will have to make a total of three trips to the doctor, and will likely experience painful side effects such as bleeding or cramps.
RU-486 will not make people more careless or irresponsible. Abstinence or protection is a safer alternative to the abortion pill or surgical abortion. Women are still under the supervision of a physician, so the pill will not be abused.
The pill offers a good alternative to surgery and also makes abortion a more private experience. The pill also will make it more convenient for women who have lesser incomes, and those who want to avoid abortion clinics, which are so often surrounded with protesters.
Considering the controversy surrounding the pill, its availability will add fuel to the abortion debate as the election approaches. The Clinton administration has continuously rallied for the drug after it was highly criticized during former President George Bush’s presidency.
The next president will likely have the power to appoint up to three Supreme Court justices and the future legality of abortion could depend on the decision of those appointed. The availability of the drug prescribes politicians to address abortion once again in another election.
