Msg # 410   
Date: 30 Sep 91  11:55:59
From: William Bowles
  To: All
Subj: 1. NOW Article on RU 486
____________________________________________________________________________


EID:6763 173e5ee0
12:45 pm  Sep 27, 1991
Source: Peacenet
(Fido:250/222) igc:bcclark
Conf:gen.women
The following is the text of an article published in the September
1991 issue of _California NOW News_.

RU-486: THE BATTLE RAGES ON

By Kerry Flynn
California NOW Staff

The so-called ethical debate over RU-486 continues to rage as the
factions of oppression remain successful in preventing the
distribution of the French "abortion pill" within the United States.

RU-486, developed in France by Dr. Etienne-Emile Baulieu and
manufactured by the Roussel Uclaf Company, has created a
maelstrom of controversy since it was first introduced in 1982.

The breakthrough discovery of RU-486 offers hope for a day when
abortion in the United States can be a safer, more dignified
procedure and when it can prevent the deaths of almost 200,000
women in the Third World who perish from botched illegal abortions
every year. But almost ten years after its development, RU-486 is
being used only in France, though it was recently approved for use in
England.

Although anti-choice activists are in the minority, one particular
organization headed by a small town midwestern preacher
threatened to boycott products manufactured by Hoechst A.G., the
parent company of Roussel Uclaf, if it released RU-486. According to
the company's distribution rules, not only must abortion be legal, but
"any nation seeking RU-486 must have a peaceful atmosphere." This
is one of the reasons RU-486 is not available in this country, even
for research purposes, although _Roe v. Wade_ continues to be the
law of the land - for now.

Molly Yard, President of the National Organization for Women, and
Eleanor Smeal of the Feminist Majority Foundation, met with
officials for Roussel Uclaf and Hoechst A.G. in 1990 to urge import
into the United States. But the powers that be within these two
companies were more moved by the opposition to RU-486 than by any
concern for the health and safety of millions of women.

The biggest fear for critics of RU-486 is that the pill will make it
"easier" for a woman to terminate a pregnancy. This assumes that
abortions should not only be emotionally painful, but physically
difficult as well - women should have to suffer punitive
consequences for their "bad" behavior by being subjected to invasive
surgical procedures. Such assumptions fail to consider the agony
most women experience when deciding whether or not to have an
abortion.

However, using RU-486 will not be just a matter of "opening the
medicine chest and gulping down a pill." RU-486 is administered
during the 5th or 6th week of pregnancy, much earlier than a
surgical abortion. It works to block the production of progesterone, a
hormone that maintains pregnancy. Without progesterone, the lining
of the uterine wall is sloughed off as in a normal menstrual cycle.
As the lining is shed, the fertilized egg is discharged. However, this
process takes several steps. After a pregnancy test is administered,
and a woman decides to abort, the drug must be administered by her
physician. At this point in the procedure, the success rate of RU-486
is only 82%, therefore the patient must return for another visit for
an injection or suppository of prostaglandin for a fully effective
abortion. She then must see her doctor one more time for a final
examination .

According to reports, thousands of French women are using RU-486.
Spokespersons from the anti-choice movement claim that RU-486
causes complications and leads to death. By April 1991, there were
reports that two women developed heart problems and one woman
died as a result of the drug. As Dr. Baulieu has noted, while "one
death is always one too many," it is important to realize that in each
of these cases the women were over the age of 35 and heavy
smokers. Since then, RU-486 has not been advised for patients who
are in these risk groups. The two women who developed the heart
problems have since recovered.

RU-486 has a number of potentially important uses in addition to
abortion. However, because of pressure from anti-choice
organizations and the Bush Administration, the Food and Drug
Administration issued an import alert, banning RU-486 from
personal use and for research purposes. Prior to the ban in this
country, the National Institutes of Health found that RU-486's anti-
progestin properties seemed to block the stimulus for growth of
cancerous breast tumors, endometriosis, and non-cancerous tumors
in the brain. In high doses, RU-486 showed promise of arresting
hormonal excesses associated with Cushing's syndrome, a disease of
the adrenal gland, and it was also being studied as a treatment for
glaucoma.

Despite the resistance, the fight to get RU-486 into the United
States continues. In California, a group of researchers in the San
Francisco Bay Area are attempting to acquire the pill. The only
abortion research on RU-486 that has actually taken place within
the United States was conducted by Dr. David Grimes at the
University of Southern California School of Medicine. Under research
protocols at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, hundreds of
women took part in early trials from 1984 to 1990. Most of these
volunteers had previously experienced a suction-curettage abortion.
It was reported that RU-486 was "'two thousand times better and
far less violent than the surgical alternative. Dr.Grimes has long
been involved in abortion research and believes that abortion will
always be with us. According to Grimes, "since abortion is a
fundamental part of women's health care, our societal responsibility
is to make it as safe, inexpensive and compassionate as possible."
[CONTD. IN NEXT MSG.]

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Msg # 411   
Date: 30 Sep 91  11:56:09
From: William Bowles
  To: All
Subj: 2. NOW Article on RU 486
____________________________________________________________________________


EID:9887 173e5f00
12:45 pm  Sep 27, 1991
[CONTD. FROM PREVIOUS MSG.]

Lawrence Lader, the author of the recent book _RU-486: The Pill that
Could End the Abortion Wars and Why American Women Don't Have It_
(Addison-Wesley Publishing Company), has pointed out that the
World Health Organization had a contract with Roussel Uclaf for
world wide testing of RU-486 and could have initiated new tests at
numerous prestigious American medical schools. However, WHO
opted to avoid a confrontation with the Bush Administration, which
is rabidly anti-choice, and backed down fearing it would lose
American money.

For Dr. Grimes, the opposition to RU-486 reminds him "of the Roman
Catholic Church's attempt to deny the Copernican revolution."

In California, Assemblymember Jackie Speier (D-South San
Francisco) has introduced Assembly Joint Resolution 40 to
memorialize the President and Congress to support the availability
of RU-486 for appropriate research, and possible use. The measure
also urges the State Department of Health Services to use its
statutory authority to approve the use of RU-486 in clinical practice
and encourages all qualified investors, companies, and businesses
which decide to test RU-486 to choose California as the site for
clinical trials. AJR 40 is pending a final vote in the Senate with five
days remaining in the legislative session.

Speier has also authored Assembly Bill 2005, which requires the
inclusion of women and minorities in medical studies conducted by
state facilities, and it also encourages research on RU-486. On the
national level, Representative Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) has authored
House Resolution 875 which calls for a repeal of the import alert
put in place by the Bush Administration.

Throughout the centuries, science has been a revolutionary force
having a major effect upon the human condition. Although the anti-
choice forces have been the "winners" so far, we shall see if they
can continue to hold back medical research. Then we will know if
20th century science is indeed above "politics" and big business.

Theories of conspiracy aside, it is also important to recognize that
contraceptive development has been crippled in the United States
because there has been very little commitment or money at the
federal level for research. Only one U.S. company, Ortho
Pharmaceutical, is still researching human reproduction and
contraceptive use. In 1970 there were seven companies doing such
research. Since the distribution of "The Pill" in the 1960's, only one
innovative contraceptive, Norplant, has been developed and approved
for use in this country.

Anti-choice activists claim that women who have abortions are
"irresponsible" and do not use contraceptives. However,
contraceptives do not always work. In 1987, the Alan Guttmacher
Institute revealed that 51.3% of women who had abortions had been
using a contraceptive method during the month in which they became
pregnant. Probably, the anti-abortion movement will not be too
moved by such a statistic. Sex, as they see it, is for procreation
purposes between a male and female married couple only. Randall
Terry, Executive Director of Operation Rescue (otherwise known as
"Operation Oppress-You"), has stated that he doesn't think Christians
should use birth control. "You consummate your marriage as often as
you like Q and if you have babies, you have babies."

The ban on RU-486 and the lack of advanced contraceptive research
has nothing to do with ''unborn babies," but everything to do with the
control and subjugation of women. The 1991-92 Supreme Court term
will most likely bring an end to legal abortion as we know it in this
country regardless of who is finally confirmed to fill the vacancy
left by Thurgood Marshall's retirement from the bench.

If _Roe v. Wade_ is overturned or further weakened, the prospects
for getting RU-486 into the United States certainly won't be
improved in the short term.

In _Griswold v. Connecticut_, the Supreme Court "guaranteed" the
right of married couples to use contraceptives based on a 14th
amendment "right to privacy." In _Roe v. Wade_, that right was
extended to include a woman's right to an abortion. Over the years
we have celebrated these decisions and with good cause. Now, to be
denied access to RU-486, more contraceptive choices, and a safe and
legal abortion, means women will lose autonomy over their lives as
productive human beings.

Power is often merely a perception. We have to realize that we do
have power and it is time for all women to claim this power. If
abortion is to remain safe, legal and accessible throughout this
country - we are the only ones that can make it happen.


--- Tabby 2.2
 * Origin: NY On-Line "The Best of Peacenet" 718-852-2662 (1:278/607)
SEEN-BY: 13/13 135/41 151/100 122 143 223 501 606 1000 1003 373/2
SEEN-BY: 374/1 14 15 3603/120

PATH: 278/607 3 109/25 396/1 13/13 151/1003 374/1 14