Changing the course of abortion practice in the United States, women will soon be able to terminate an early pregnancy with the pill RU-486, or Mifeprex, now that the Food and Drug Administration has approved its use today. The pill has been used by more than a half-million women in Europe for the past decade, but has not been been available for the 1 million American women who have a surgical abortion annually. It is expected to be available here within four weeks. Today's approval is a victory for all American women.
American women have a safe and effective early option for ending pregnancy.
Anti-abortion groups denounced the decision. The approval is widely expected to bring the drug out of abortion clinics and into the offices of family physicians and gynecologists, as many doctors who do not provide surgical abortions say they plan to prescribe the medication. How Mifeprex Will Work Doctors will give women a guide explaining how the drug works and will give them all their dosages of the pill in their offices. Women will sign a consent form to ensure they understand what may happen when they take the pill. The pill, mifepristone, which must be taken within seven weeks of a woman's last period, blocks progesterone, a hormone needed to sustain pregnancy.