More RU-486 deaths revealed

The British government has revealed two more women have died after taking the abortion pill RU-486, reports the Daily Telegraph newspaper.

Under questioning from Labour MP Jim Dobbin, chairman of an all-party, parliamentary pro-life group, Public Health Minister Melanie Johnson admitted in the House of Commons that since 1991, when the drug first became available in Britain, the Committee on Safety of Medicines had received two reports of "suspected fatal reactions in association with the use of Mifegyne (RU-486)."

But Johnson dismissed concerns about the pill's safety, saying that the deaths may have had other causes. However, she provided no evidence that something other than the RU-486 regimen was responsible.

Reacting to the surprising admission, Jack Scarisbrick, national chairman of Life, a British pro-life group, told the Telegraph that, "I hope this serves as a warning to women on just how dangerous these powerful drugs are."

Scarisbrick also wondered, "Why haven't we been told of this before, though?" He said that the silence over the deaths, which may have happened more than a decade ago, may be a sign of "another cover-up." He also cast doubt on the idea that only two women have died after using RU-486. "There's a good chance that if these two women had not taken RU-486, they would not have died, and given how unreliable the reporting system is, if two deaths have been reported, then there are probably 20 others that went unreported."

The news of the deaths comes only four months after the British Pregnancy Advisory Service and the Family Planning Association had asked the Department of Health to ease restrictions on the use of RU-486, including a decrease in the number of visits a woman is required to make to her doctor to complete the procedure.

Dr. Gordon Stirrat, emeritus professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Bristol University, claimed the two maternal deaths are not a cause for worry, and he implied that plans to ease restrictions on RU-486 need not be curtailed because of one or two deaths. "The small number of deaths," he said, "have to be taken in the context of the very large number of people who take the drugs."

Still, Stirrat admitted the dangers of the drug. "The greatest risk comes from bleeding, from miscarriage induced by the drug. There is also the risk of infection if some of the fetus remains in the womb."

For obvious reasons, not everyone is convinced of RU-486's safety. American gynecologist Donna Harrison said, "Regardless of their views on abortion, there are many doctors who are concerned about the safety of RU-486. There are so many things that can go wrong."

Last fall, Holly Marie Patterson of California died days after taking the RU-486 abortion pill at a San Francisco-area Planned Parenthood facility.

Four other deaths have been reported in France and the United States and one woman died during clinical trials in Canada in 2001.

Mary Ellen Douglas, national organizer for Campaign Life Coalition, said, "Any pharmaceutical powerful enough to kill and dislodge a growing child within the womb of his mother can hardly be a harmless drug, free from serious adverse reactions."

She added, "At least seven women are known to have died, yet doctors and governments continue to prescribe and support a noxious mixture of chemicals that kills children before their birth and their mothers afterwards from shock, bleeding and infection."