Two Women Die After Using Abortion Pill

By ANDREW BRIDGES
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON

Two more women have died after using the abortion pill RU-486, regulators said Friday in a warning that brought renewed calls for pulling the controversial drug from the market.

The organization that provided the pill to the two women said it would immediately stop disregarding the approved instructions for the pill's use.

The Food and Drug Administration warned doctors to watch for a rare but deadly infection previously implicated in four deaths of women who had taken the drug. The drug, also called Mifeprex or mifepristone, has not been proved to be the cause in any of those cases.

Nor has the FDA confirmed the cause of the latest two deaths. However, in one of them, the woman's symptoms appeared to resemble those in the cluster of four cases in California where the women died from an infection of the bloodstream, or sepsis. Those women did not follow FDA-approved instructions for the pill-triggered abortion, which requires swallowing three tablets of one drug, followed by two of another two days later.

Instead of swallowing the final two tablets, the second course of pills was inserted vaginally in the four women, an "off-label" use that studies have shown effective and that has been recommended by a majority of the nation's abortion clinics. That use does not have federal approval though studies have indicated it produces fewer side effects.

It was not immediately known if the second course of pills had been inserted vaginally in the two latest women to die, an FDA spokeswoman said. She declined to be identified, saying she was not authorized to speak publicly about the issue.

Two Senate abortion foes, Republicans Jim DeMint of South Carolina and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, urged passage of legislation that would suspend sales of RU-486 until the Government Accountability Office reviews how the FDA approved the pill.

"RU-486 is a deadly drug that is killing pregnant women," DeMint said. "This drug should never have been approved, and it must be suspended immediately."

Monty Patterson, a California man whose 18-year-old daughter, Holly, died in 2003 after taking the abortion pill, also said the drug should be pulled from the market. The Senate bill is informally called "Holly's Law."

"The bottom line is that this is not about the abortion debate. This is about the safety, health and welfare of women," Patterson said.

Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc. said it would immediately stop recommending vaginal insertion of the final course of pills. Four of the women who died, including the latest two, received the pills at Planned Parenthood-affiliated clinics, said Dr. Vanessa Cullins, the organization's vice president for medical affairs. Planned Parenthood estimates RU-486 has been used 560,000 times in the U.S. since it was approved.

RU-486 is sold by Danco Laboratories and is approved to terminate pregnancy up to 49 days after the beginning of the latest menstrual cycle. It blocks a hormone required to sustain a pregnancy. When followed two days later by another medicine, misoprostol, to induce contractions, the pregnancy is terminated.

Danco said it was reviewing information about the cases as it becomes available.

The FDA previously has said the abortion pill remains safe enough to stay on the market. The rate of sepsis is about one in 100,000 uses, comparable to infection risks with surgical abortions and childbirth.

At least seven U.S. women have died after taking the pill, sold since The other U.S. death associated with Mifeprex was the 2001 case of a ruptured ectopic, or tubal, pregnancy. The drug is not to be used in those cases, in which the fertilized egg implants outside the uterus.

In the California cases, all four women tested positive for Clostridium sordellii, a common but rarely fatal bacterium.

Federal health officials plan a May 11 workshop in Atlanta to discuss emerging cases of disease involving the germ, which also have included infections in patients who have received skin grafts

Tennessee senate wades into abortion fight

By LUCAS L. JOHNSON II
Associated Press Writer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The state Senate on Thursday passed a proposal to amend the Tennessee Constitution so that it doesn't guarantee a woman's right to an abortion.

The 24-9 vote was the first step of many toward officially amending the state constitution. The measure would go before voters if the General Assembly approves it twice over the next two years.

The state Supreme Court has ruled that the Tennessee Constitution grants women a greater right to abortion than the U.S. Constitution.

Abortion rights supporters are attacking the measure as a stepping stone to prohibiting all abortions in Tennessee if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the landmark abortion decision in Roe v. Wade.

"The resolution is an all-out attack on the women of Tennessee and seeks to rob women of their right to make choices about their own health, safety and personal welfare," said Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee.

Sen. David Fowler, a Republican sponsor of the bill, proposed a similar resolution last year that cleared the Senate but stalled in a House committee.

"I regret this will cast me as being hardhearted, unsympathetic and unkind but that's not who I am," Fowler said.

Tennessee has a long process for amending its constitution, requiring approval by both chambers in session of the General Assembly, two-thirds approval by both chambers in the next session, and then approval by voters.

Several states are considering restrictions on abortion that eventually could end up before the U.S. Supreme Court. South Dakota's governor signed a law Monday that would prohibit all abortions except those necessary to save a mother's life.

Some opponents of abortion rights hope the additions of Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito will make the court more likely to overturn Roe v. Wade, although a majority of the court still appears to support the 1973 ruling.

Barbour says he'd likely sign bill to ban most abortions in Miss.

EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. - Republican Gov. Haley Barbour said Wednesday that he likely would sign a bill to ban most abortions in Mississippi if it's approved by lawmakers.

The state already has some of the strictest abortion laws in the nation. The bill that passed the House Public Health Committee on Tuesday would allow abortion only to save the pregnant woman's life. It would make no exception in cases of rape or incest.

South Dakota lawmakers passed a similar bill last week that was intended to provoke a court showdown over the legality of abortion.

Responding to questions about whether he'd sign a bill with no exceptions for rape or incest, Barbour said: "It hasn't gotten to my desk yet. When one gets there, we'll find out, and I suspect I'll sign it. But I would certainly rather it come to my desk with an exception for rape and incest. I think that's consistent with the opinion of the vast majority of Mississippians and Americans."

The bill goes to the full House, which could vote next week. Speaker Billy McCoy, D-Rienzi, said he believes it will pass the House and move to the Senate.

McCoy told The Associated Press that although he opposes abortion, he always has been willing to make an exception for pregnancies caused by rape or incest.

"As I live longer and longer, the harder and harder it has become for me to accept abortion, period," McCoy said.

He said he'll listen to arguments on both sides of the issue. He said not allowing exceptions for rape or incest would be "pretty tough."

"It's also for those of us who don't believe in abortion to think about the taking of a human life, regardless of how it got started to be on this earth," McCoy said.

Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck, a Republican, said she hasn't had a chance to read the House proposal.

"I think this body will look very strongly on pro-life issues," said Tuck, who presides over the Senate.

The lawmaker who introduced the near-ban, House Public Health Committee Chairman Steve Holland said he acted because he was tired of piecemeal attempts to add new abortion restrictions each year.

Holland, D-Plantersville, said he has voted for some abortion restrictions and against others in the past.

Mississippi already requires a 24-hour waiting period and counseling for all abortions, plus the consent of both parents for minors who seek the procedure.

The state has one abortion clinic, in Jackson, and its leaders plan to fight if more restrictions are imposed.

Also, Nsombi Lambright, executive director of the American Civil Liberties in Mississippi, said her office had been contacted Wednesday by other abortion-rights groups that might sue Mississippi if the new restrictions become law.

"That's more of the state's legal resources going to something that didn't' have to happen," Lambright said.

Terri Herring, president of Pro-Life Mississippi, said she hopes the state will outlaw abortion, but she's not certain whether there's a majority on the U.S. Supreme Court willing to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling establishing the right to an abortion.

"We feel like we are still one justice short of being able to overturn Roe," Herring said.

The South Dakota legislation went to Republican Gov. Mike Rounds on Tuesday, and he has 15 days to act. Rounds has said he's inclined to sign the bill into law.

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The bill is Senate Bill 2922.