Randall K. O'Bannon, Ph.D., NRL-ETF Director of Education & Research
November 11, 2009/National Right to Life --
Planned Parenthood says "Our monitoring shows that mifepristone medication abortion continues to be a safe abortion option." The distributor of Mifeprex (the trade name for RU486) says that "Mifeprex is 92-95% effective for safely ending early pregnancy."
But a new study from Finland says that 20% of the women using the abortion pill suffer at least one significant complication. Nearly 4% reported two or more complications or "adverse events."
The study, "Immediate Complications After Medical Compared with Surgical Termination of Pregnancy," appeared in the October 2009 issue of the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology. A team of Finnish Researchers headed by Maarit Niinimäki of the Oulu University Hospital looked at all abortions, surgical and chemical, performed up to 63 days after gestation, in Finland between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2006.
To identify and tally the complications, researchers looked at all abortion patient inpatient and outpatient visits occurring within 42 days after the abortion. A national health records system enables researchers to track the medical outcomes with individual patients over time.
Researchers found that 15.6 % percent of those undergoing chemical abortions hemorrhaged, 1.7% encountered infection, and 6.7% had incomplete abortions.
