decade after the approval of RU486 in France, and characteristically well behind most of Europe, the United States’ Federal Drug Adminstration (FDA) finally approved the medical abortion drug this September. This is, without a doubt, a victory for the pro-choice movement. In the face of conservative opposition and the possibility of an anti-choice Supreme Court, reproductive rights advocates have reaffirmed women’s sovereignty over their bodies.
According to Kate Michelman, president of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, "It may be the most important advance in reproductive technology since the birth control pill." Surely to the chagrin of abortion rights opponents, such as Governor George W. Bush, mifepristone (the name given to RU486 by its U.S. manufacturer) will make abortion safer and more widely available.
Contrary to the extreme right’s claim that mifepristone will make abortion more common, France and other European countries where the drug is already available have had no increase in the number of abortions performed. In fact, in France, where the drug has been legalized the longest, the abortion rate has actually dropped by 7 percent since RU486’s introduction. In the United States, the abortion pill’s arrival comes at a time when the number of abortions being performed has dropped to its lowest level in 20 years.
Feminist Majority Foundation President Eleanor Smeal called the FDA’s approval of mifepristone "a total victory for the U.S. women. At long last, science trumps anti-abortion politics and medical McCarthyism. If this medication was primarily for men, the French developers would already have received a Nobel Prize in medicine." Smeal identifies an interesting manifestation of sexism in the scientific and medical professions. Characteristically, drugs that directly impact women but not men are often ignored or downplayed. One of the last bastions of androcentric thought is the medical establishment, which makes the development of this drug even more remarkable and commendable.
It seems especially odd that the FDA would need ten years to approve a drug that is legal and easily accessible in the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Russia, China, and an expanding list of countries. The more than 10 million women who have used the medication have proven the pill safe. And tests have proven mifepristone to be 92 percent successful for women who have been pregnant 49 days or less. Perhaps the real reason for the delay was not concern for women’s safety, but rather the United States’ powerful and well-funded conservative and fundamentalist religious establishment.
Not only is medical abortion with mifepristone safe, but it also allows a woman to have an abortion very early into the pregnancy, unlike surgical abortions, which often cannot be performed until several weeks after a woman learns she is pregnant. Mifepristone, in contrast, is more effective the earlier in the pregnancy it is used. Mifepristone also offers the comfort of not leaving home for the majority of the process, although it does entail several visits to a doctor in order to ensure the health of the woman.
Yet another advantage of the pill is that it lowers the stigma of getting an abortion, and allows the process to be more private. Women do not have to brave fanatical, hostile and sometimes lethal anti-abortion protests when they exercise their legal rights. In addition, women who have used mifepristone speak of the greater psychological control they enjoyed throughout the abortion. Finally, the harassment and intimidation tactics of reactionary religious crusaders will be impossible. There are some on the far right who wish to suppress any sense of control women may have over themselves, their bodies, and their futures. In this instance, at least, women have won control.
Mifepristone blocks the action of progesterone, a hormone necessary to sustain pregnancy. The drug doesn’t just make abortion more accessible, but has also been shown to fight fibroid tumors, ovarian cancer, endometriosis, and some types of breast cancer, HIV, and meningioma. Breast cancer, which killed over 43,000 women in the U.S. in ’99, has been treated with Mifepristone. The drug was found to alleviate the pain of metastasizing cancer cells in bones, and is estimated to be effective in treating 40% of breast cancers.
The fact that the United States has been slow in legalizing a drug that could have helped save untold female lives is simply another indicator that American women are subject to the political concerns and conservative beliefs of a government dominated by men.
Abortion politics will play a pivotal role in this election. Al Gore has an impressive record concerning all women’s issues, but especially on RU486. This was demonstrated by his early and unpopular support of the abortion pill as far back as ’92 when he said that RU-486 "ought to be available in the United States." However, it is important to note that Gore has endorsed a ban on partial-birth abortions, with exceptions for health concerns or woman’s life.
Unfortunately, restrictions regarding parental consent and mandatory waiting periods will still apply to Mifepristone. There is also the specter of an anti-abortion Supreme Court, which could have dire consequences for women’s right to any abortion, medical or otherwise. For now, pro-choice supporters can rejoice, but there are battles still to be fought. As long as the extremists on the right refuse to see women as human beings, the debate will continue.
