Mifepristone Ru486 Abortion

Abortion is never an easy decision, but women have been making the choice for thousands of years. It has become a large dilemma since 1973, when the U.S. Supreme Court passed a law making the procedure legal, and an even larger controversial issue. The controversy is divided into “Pro-Choice” and Pro-Life” views. Pro-Choice supporters believe that the woman should have to choice whether to abort or not. Pro-Life supporters believe that it should be illegal to abort and preformed. However, there are many ways for this procedure to be performed. Abortion still remains today a controversial issue, by who should determine if it is the right thing to terminate a pregnancy or not and by how the procedure should be preformed.

In the United States today, 25% of all pregnancies end in abortion (Abortion: All Sides). With so many lives in the balance, one of the primary arguments has become the physical health of women who have abortions. Of the women that previously had a surgical abortion 90% said they would prefer the pill if they had another abortion and would recommend it to others (Robinson). However one of the side effects of RU 486 is bleeding up to 9 days, compared to a surgical abortion’s five day duration (Robinson). The recovery process is quicker with a surgical abortion but more traumatic. One death in 200,000 occur with a surgical abortion, compared to one in 500,000 with the abortion pill. Both of these alternatives are far safer for the mother than childbirth that claims one death in every 14,300 births (Robinson). These statistics prove that the safest alternative for the mother in the event of a pregnancy is an abortion using the abortion pill and the most dangerous is going through with childbirth. However the safest thing for the child is natural childbirth by far. The voice of the life in question is never heard and it has a one hundred percent chance of death in the first 2 cases.

Illegal abortions are unsafe and account for 13% of all the deaths of woman because of serious complications. The most common grounds which an abortion is allowed is to save a woman’s life, in situations of rape or incest, and for economic or social reasons. In many circumstances where a safe abortion is legal, women risk their lives and many die because the obligation had not been met. In many areas unsupervised uses of misoprostol is being taken by those who cannot access services. Misoprostol is a drug used for early abortions, to treat missed abortions, and to induce labor. Every women of every social class seek terminations, typically a woman who ends her pregnancy is young, white, unmarried, poor, or over the age of 40. More than half of six million pregnancies each year are unplanned and, about half of them end up in abortions.

A quick history of abortion pills and how they came to be comes from WebMD. The top drug used for abortions is mifepristone also known as RU-486. Testing of the drug began in 1983 when the FDA issued a permit. Jan. 1993 President Clinton asked for the FDA to reconsider their import ban. In 1994-1995 the Population Council the U.S. patent rights for mifepristone, and clinical trials began. In September 1996 the FDA issued an approval for RU-486 to be used as a safe alternative to surgical abortion, but they also said, they wanted more information on how the drug was manufactured and labeled before they could make their final decision. On September 28, 2000 the FDA approved RU-486 as a method for early medical abortion.

Abortion, the termination of pregnancy before the fetus is capable of independent life, has been practiced since ancient times. With records dating to 1550 BC, it’s no question that abortion techniques have been used throughout the ages as an effective form of birth control. Pregnancies were terminated through a number of methods, including the use of herbs, sharpened instruments, the application of abdominal pressure, and other techniques. In the 19th century, the English Parliament and the American state legislatures prohibited induced abortion to protect women from surgical procedures that were deemed unsafe. However, in 1973, abortion was legalized as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court rule in Roe v. Wade. This ruling made it possible

The issue of abortion is very complex since it raises many issues. People not only have to consider the legal aspect of abortion, but also its medical, ethical, social, biological, and religious aspects, which are still widely debated. First of all, when considering abortion, it is imperative to make sure the mother is safe, which is why people advocate medical procedures over surgical procedures due to the former having less health risks. The drug mifepristone is highly effective and is commonly used to block the production of the hormone that is responsible for proper fetal development and is usually used up to sixty-three days after the beginning of the last menstrual period. In regards to ethical issues, there are the two extremes, the pro-life supporters and the pro-choice supporters, and the individuals with various moderate views justifying abortion depending on the status of the fetus, the rights of both the woman and the fetus,

Methotrexate has been used in the US since 1953, when it was approved by the FDA to treat certain types of cancer. Since that time, “medical researchers have discovered other important uses for the drug” (Ankerberg and Weldon 4). One of these uses is to end unintended pregnancies. Although the “FDA did not consider methotrexate for this specific purpose, clinicians may prescribe and are now prescribing methotrexate for early abortion”(Ankerberg and Weldon 4). Methotrexate is usually given to a pregnant woman in the form of an injection or shot, although it can be taken orally. “Methotrexate stops the ongoing implantation process that occurs during the first several weeks after conception. Another medication that might be used is mifepristone”(Ankerberg and Weldon 4). Mifepristone is a newer medication that was developed and tested specifically as an abortion inducing agent. It works by blocking the hormone progesterone, which is necessary to sustain pregnancy. Without this hormone, “the lining of the uterus breaks down, the cervix opening of the uterus or womb softens, and bleeding begins”(Ankerberg and Weldon 5). A few days after taking either methotrexate or mifepristone, a second drug, misoprostol, is taken. “Misoprostol tablets cause the uterus to contract and empty”(Ankerberg and Weldon 5).

In July of 2015, Canada became the fifty-eighth country to legalize RU-486 (a.k.a. mifepristone or “the abortion pill”). Using a social feminist method and taking an informational/qualitative approach, I will ask and attempt to answer open-ended questions regarding the legalization of the drug in Canada from a feminist perspective. Why did it take so long for Canada to legalize the drug when it’s been available since the 80’s, the same decade in which Canada decriminalized abortion? What medical and ethical objections to RU-486 exist and who is raising them? What are the potential implications of introducing RU-486 into Canada? What other examples of the government stonewalling of women’s issues (pertaining to reproductive health and legal

The Female Reproductive System parts are gametes, which is a mature haploid male or female germ cell that is able to unite with another of the opposite sex in several reproductions to form a zygote. Egg is a person possessing a specified quantity. Ovum is a mature female reproductive cell especially of a human or other animal that van divide to give rise to an embryo usually only after fertilization by a male cell. Vaginal is a muscular tube leading from the external genitals to the cervix of the uterus in women and most female mammals. Labia is the inner and outer folds of the vulva, at either side of the vagina. Clitoris is a small sensitive and erectile part of the female genitals at the anterior end of the vulva. Urethra is a duct by

Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US); [updated 2006 Feb 24]. Abortion; [updated 2006 Feb 21; reviewed 2006 Feb 21; cited 2006 Feb 24]. Available from: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/abortion.html

Statement of Problem: Abortion is defined as the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed during the first 28 weeks of pregnancy. Today, especially here in the United States of America, there is a growing issue and debate around the idea of abortion. There is a stigma against abortion because of the possibility of negative religious, political, medical, emotional, and mental consequences it may cause. Each year, worldwide there is an estimated 42 billion abortions that take place. This number does not include abortions that are not performed by professionals. The big issue alongside with abortion itself, is the affects it has on the mental health of females who undergo the procedure.

The female reproductive system is an important part of the female body. As seen in drawing 1, the female reproductive system consists of the the cervix, the uterus, the vagina, the ovaries, the fallopian tubes and an endometrium layer.

The system is comprised of a variety of different parts. The first part is the ovaries. The ovaries contain thousands of immature ova at first that eventually mature during puberty. The ovaries produce estrogen and progesterone which allow the ova to mature. Next are the fallopian tubes. They are tubes that carry the ova from the ovaries to the uterus. The uterus is a pear shaped organ. It shelters and nourishes a developing baby, or fetus. The endometrial lines the uterus. It thickens during pregnancy. The opening of the uterus is the cervix. The vagina is the muscular passage from the uterus to the outside of the body. It serves as a passing place for menstrual fluid and other discharge.

Waiting eagerly for a decision from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), pro-choice and pro-life activists rallied to voice their opinions on the drug mifepristone, also known as RU-486. However, the battle has just begun because RU-486, otherwise known as the abortion pill, was just approved for use in the United States on September 28, 2000. This controversial drug, first used in France, has been sparking debates in the U.S. ever since it was discovered in 1980. Now that it has been approved, many argue that this drug will make abortion more prevalent; however, others believe the approval of RU-486 is a positive decision and can greatly benefit women in the future.

Abortion is a very tedious act to remove a fetus out of the womb before it has the chance to live on its own. There are two different types of abortions, medical abortion and surgical abortion. Medical abortion is the act of taking “methotrexate or mifepristone, which may be followed by another drug called misoprostol within the first forty-nine days”(pamf.org, “abortion”). Surgical abortion is a procedure done by vacuuming out the uterine lining during pregnancy typically in the first trimester.(pamf.org,”abortion”). There have been problems with abortion for centuries. The most known case concerning abortion is a case called Roe V. Wade in 1973. The case ruled a Texas law banning abortions other than those to save a mother unconstitutional because it violated the right to privacy. A woman named Norma L. McCorvey (“Jane Roe”) “claimed that although her life was not endangered, she could