RU-486

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RU- 486

“Mifepristone, The French Abortion Pill, The “anti-pregnancy” pill, Mifeprex, Abortion by Pill, RU- 486, ru486, mifegyne, M&M, RU-486, Miracle Pill, The Abortion Pill, non-surgical abortion, the “easy” abortion, Makes-the-baby-go-away pill, Unpregnancy, Contragestion Chemical Abortion, RU-28486, Medical Abortion, Mf.” (RU486: The Pill, The Process, and The Problems). Call if what you want, but on September 28, 2000 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a drug known as RU-486, which will now be known by trade name as Mifeprex. Basically, what this drug does is cease early pregnancy. A woman may take this drug 49 days or less from the beginning of the last menstrual period. By using this method, three steps need to be taken. The first step includes a dose of three 200 milligrams of Mifepristone orally. The next step occurs two days later taking two 200 micrograms of Misoprostol orally. After completing those two dosages the woman has to go back to the doctor for a “follow-up” visit about 14 days later, to make sure that the procedure was successful, and the pregnancy was indeed terminated. Even though the procedure sounds easy, there are many set backs that make the drug not “the easy way” out. A woman will experience about 9-16 days of bleeding or spotting, other side effects may be nausea, diarrhea, vomiting and painful cramping. Unlike an abortion the procedure is indeed a process, it isn’t a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am type of ordeal. There are very serious and cautious steps a woman needs to take in order for the abortion pill to complete itself.
Looking back at the history of RU-486, we need to take a trip to Europe back in 1980, which is when it was invented. Years later it was approved in France in 1988, and manufactured by a French industry called Roussel-Uclaf, hence the name RU. The 486 came from the shortened version of the first compound number the pill had, or 38486. After the drug started to spread throughout Europe, many other non-Europe countries such as Russia, United Kingdom, China, Israel, and South Africa approved the pill as well. Although the drug was becoming “popular” across seas, the United States delayed permission to allow the drug. The main reason for this delay was that President George Bush was a strong pro-life advocate, but that all changed in 1993 when President Bill Clinton came into office. In 1996, tests were being done with the FDA to approve the RU-486 pill.

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