Sunday, September 09, 2007

New Study Wrongly Claims Dangerous Abortion Drug RU 486 is Safe

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
August 16, 2007

Copenhagen, Denmark (LifeNews.com) -- The dangerous abortion drug RU 486 has killed thirteen women worldwide and injured more than 1,100 in the United States alone. Yet, a new study in Denmark claims the abortion pill is safe, though it only studied whether the abortion drug caused problems in future pregnancies. The study did not appear to address any of the more immediate medical issues the abortion drug causes women -- such as the lethal infections that have claimed the lives of several American women. Danish and American researchers examined a Danish database of more than 12,000 women who had abortions there and published a paper on their findings in today's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. They looked at the number of tubal pregnancies that occurred in subsequent pregnancies after both a surgical abortion and one done with the mifepristone abortion pill. They found that about 300 women in the group suffered from tubal pregnancies in subsequent pregnancies -- a percentage of 2.5 percent that the researchers claimed is low enough that abortions don't cause problems. The rates of miscarriages, early deliveries, and babies born with low birth weights were similar for women with both types of abortions. According to an AP report, the researchers admitted they were not able to take into account a woman's history of smoking, a history of tubal pregnancies, or other factors which may have thrown off the results. But they said they didn't think those factors affected the conclusions of their report. Still, the abortion drug appears to pose significant medical problems for women, and could present a myriad of emotional and spiritual issues as well. According to FDA reports as of December, there have now been eight known deaths associated with RU 486 in the U.S., nine life-threatening incidents, 116 blood transfusions, and 232 hospitalizations. In total, more than 1,100 women have had medical problems after using the drug. The first victim of RU 486 was a Tennessee woman who died after using the abortion drug. She had an undetected ectopic pregnancy, and the drug is not supposed to be used in such situations. Following her death, four California women died from using the abortion drug and the FDA announced last year that a Colorado woman had died as well. Women have died from using the abortion drug in Canada, England, France and Sweden. Abortion advocates and others were quick to respond to the study and claim it proves the abortion drug is safe for women. Dr. Matthew Reeves, who studies reproductive medicine issues at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine but was not involved in the study, told AP "This kind of squashes any concerns." Currently, about 8 to 10 percent of the 1.3 million abortions done in the United States involved the RU 486 abortion drug.