Responding to yet another woman's reported death and a new FDA warning about the abortion drug Mifeprex, or RU-486, a 17,000-member medical association today again called for the FDA to pull the drug for a safety review.
David Stevens, M.D., Executive Director of the Christian Medical Association, noted, "With every death of another woman due to RU-486, the FDA's mandate grows clearer--to pull this drug for an objective safety review. This drug was initially approved in 2000 through a scientifically deficient and politically corrupted process. We documented that corrupt and deficient process in a 90-page brief submitted three years ago, calling on the FDA to pull the drug for review. The FDA has all the information it needs to get this dangerous drug off the shelves to protect the lives and health of American women.
"Doubtless some will say that many oppose RU-486 who also oppose abortion. And we do lament the tragic loss of lives of thousands of unborn babies killed by this drug. As physicians who care for women on a daily basis, we equally deeply lament the tragic toll of lives this drug has taken on women."
Gene Rudd, MD, an obstetrician and CMA Associate Executive Director, said, "Besides the preventable loss of the lives of these women, many more women have suffered in other ways after using this pill to abort their babies. Abortion not only kills a baby--it also creates in women a dark chasm of pain, guilt and the ever-echoing question, 'What if�?' That's why a growing number of women who have experienced abortion are saying that women deserve better.
"Women in crisis pregnancies need to know there are alternatives--including adoption and support from churches and crisis pregnancy centers for mothers from pregnancy through childbirth and beyond. There is help available, and we encourage mothers to protect the lives of their children, who are a gift from God, and to protect their own lives and health at the same time. We encourage women to contact their local crisis pregnancy center, easily found under Abortion Alternatives in their phone book or by contacting the Care-Net help line at 800-395-HELP."
On July 19, the FDA issued a public health advisory highlighting the risk of sepsis or blood infection when undergoing medical abortion using Mifeprex and misoprostol (http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/mifepristone/default.htm).
Source: CMDA Press Release
Updates:
Despite U.S. health officials' warning that the so-called "abortion pill," or RU-486, may be linked to rare but potentially fatal blood infections, heath experts say the drug regimen appears to be safe.
Judie Brown, president of the American Life League, reacted to the reports of recent RU-486 related deaths by calling for the government to withdraw it from the market.
"This drug has no beneficial qualities," said Brown. "Its one and only purpose is to end the life of a preborn child. As we are seeing more and more, this deadly concoction not only kills the baby, but can kill the mother as well. The abortion industry seems to consider these women's lives meaningless and irrelevant in its quest for greater profits and more dead babies."
