Doctors have a lot of questions to ponder. Remember, these drugs were made to kill, and something meant to kill is likely to maim. Ironically, patients who do not receive this allegedly safe drug, and are turned away by doctors, may also find some basis to sue. And no matter what the basis for the lawsuit may be, the line of potential defendants will begin with the doctors. State regulations will lead to litigation States have a compelling interest in protecting the welfare of the mother during an abortion.
Many state laws concentrate on second and third trimester abortions.
But RU486 and its companion drug Misoprostol should force states to revisit the question of how to protect women during the early trimester, when these drugs will be used. Laws currently on the books will have to be reviewed, to see if they apply to the new drugs. Kansas says that the use of drugs that inhibit or prevent implantation of an embryo cannot be outlawed. Several states limit how abortion drugs can be sold and advertised. Especially since the FDA waived the pediatric study for the abortion drugs, states will have to grope in the dark to redefine parental consent requirements for abortions effected through these drugs.