The RU-486 Pill

757 Words2 Pages

The RU-486 Pill In today's world, the subject of abortion is a very controversial issue. Some people are totally decided on pro-life or pro-choice, but most are somewhere in between and have mixed feelings. Abortion has been a very important issue since the early 1980's when the topic started to gain popularity. Since then, horrible things have happened to put abortions in the hot seat. There have been bombings on clinics, murders of abortion doctors, and protests that have turned violent. There should be a more discrete and private way to have an abortion without all those hassles. There has been development of a new pill that can help to cool down some heated abortion issues. The new pill is called the RU-486, or commonly referred to as the morning after pill. If the new pill is made legal, it can create a private way for women to have an abortion without having a surgical procedure done, and the pressures of the surrounding world would not be there influencing their decisions. The Russell-Uflad Company developed the RU-486 pill in France in 1980. The women of France greatly hailed the development of this pill. It was said to be safer, easier, and more private since the pill can be taken at home, or in a doctor's office instead of a hospital. The pill has proven to be very effective and has found its way to the United States, but is only tentatively approved. Why should it not be approved if it could be an easier, more private way to have an abortion? Over half a million women in France have used the RU-486 pill and there have been very few cases reported with serious side effects. (Banwell 82) The side effects have only occurred in 4 percent of the women who have already used the pill. The side effects have been so minor that most of the women did not need medical attention. People who are pro-life see abortions as gruesome since they are surgical procedures that take lives by scrapping or sucking the fetus out of the uterus of the woman's body. Others see abortions as a necessity. For example, if a woman is raped, the chances are she wouldn't want to take the child to term. She wouldn't want an everyday reminder of being a rape victim.

Open Document