FDA approved abortion pill

Group, Jan/Feb 2001 by Roller, Julia

ROCKVILLE, Maryland-After a long-standing controversy, the Food and Drug Administration has approved RU-486, also known as mifepristone or the abortion pill. Mifepristone blocks a nutrient needed to sustain the fetus. A second drug, misoprostol, which is administered later, causes uterine contractions that expel the fetus. Pro-choicers hail the approval of the pill as a breakthrough in women's rights. Because many more doctors are willing to prescribe this pill than are willing to perform a surgical abortion, pregnant women choosing the abortion pill can protect their privacy by going to a regular doctor rather than gh abortion clinic. Pro-choicers also assert that because the pill must be taken within the first nine weeks of pregnancy, it presents less of a moral problem. "It is an almost universal conviction that abortion becomes steadily more problematic morally as a fetus develops toward infanthood," wrote legal scholar Ronald Dworkin.

But Pope John Paul II calls RU-486 the "pill of Cain-the monster that cynically kills its brothers." Pro-life advocates, including President-elect George W Bush, are wary of potential side effects that may have yet to show up and fear that the rate of abortions will increase if the procedure is easier. "I'm worried that the pill... will cause more people to have abortion[s]," says Bush, although he also says he will not challenge the FDA's decision.

Do you think the abortion pill will cause more women to have abortions? Why or why not?

What are some of the reasons that might lead a woman to have an abortion? What are some of the potential consequences?

Does the availability of the abortion pill have any influence on your stance toward abortion? Explain. Is an early abortion more ethical than a late-term abortion? Why or why not? Are there any circumstances in which abortion is morally acceptable? Should it be up to each woman to decide for herself? Why or why not?

When do you think life begins? at conception? birth? some point in between? What does the Bible say about when life begins? Do Christians have freedom of choice about whether or not to have an abortion? Why or why not?

Scripture links: Psalms 139:13-16; Isaiah 46:3-4; Jeremiah 1:5; and Luke 1:39-45 (sanctity of life). Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Psalm 119:29-32; James 1:25; 2:10-12; and 1 Peter 2:16 (freedom and the law).

Julia Roller was group's summer intern. She earned her master's degree in journalism last year and is now back in school in California finishing work on a master's degree in theology.