Etienne-Emile Baulieu (1991) defines RU 486 as “…a chemical compound that, taken in pill form, can induce abortion in women up to nine weeks pregnant. This compound gets the first part of its name from French company, Roussel Uclaf, which first developed the abortion pill back in 1980. The “486” designation is the shortened version of the original “38486” compound number that the pill was assigned in the Roussel Uclaf laboratory.”

According to Daniel S. Levy (2000), mifepristone originated in France in 1980. In 1982, the Roussel Uclaf laboratory reported its first successful human testing of RU 486. In 1983, the population council received FDA approval to test RU 486 in the United States for six years, during which 300 women received the drug at the University of Southern California. The French Health Ministry went on to approve RU 486, combined with prostaglandin, in 1988, to use for medical abortion. (Gibbs 2000) The drug

In conclusion, RU 486 has both benefits, and consequences to its use. I believe that it is a woman’s right to choose whether or not to carry her unborn child to term. Although many antiabortion activists call this drug both “immoral and unsafe”, who are they to dictate what a woman should do with her body? I believe that if a woman is of age, both physical age and emotional age, then she should be allowed to excercise her right to choose her destiny.

Anti-abortionists call the drug “immoral and unsafe”, and “vowed to try to dissuade doctors from dispensing the drug and discourage women from taking it.” (Lisa Richwine Reuters) Antiabortion groups have also threatened to boycott any large chains (i.e. Wal Mart, Kmart) if they were to fill prescriptions containing the RU 486 drug. (Patricia Miller 1999)

In June of 1989, President George Bush issued an import ban against the drug. He cited that the drug could result in widespread health problems. Then, when President Clinton took office in 1993, he lifted the ban on RU 486 that was previously imposed by President Bush. Finally, seven years later, after many tests and trials, the FDA approved RU 486 in September 2000.

Some topics in this essay:
Lynette Dumble, Wellcome Trust, Roussel Uclaf, Al Gore, Health Mifepristone, ru 486, Etienne-Emile Baulieu, Considered NPR, Health Ministry, Patricia Miller, Bush Finally, roussel uclaf, call drug “immoral, population council, 2000 mifepristone, “immoral unsafe”, approve ru, drug “immoral, call drug, lisa richwine, drug “immoral unsafe”, approve ru 486, brain tumors,