Friday, September 29, 2000
Abortion pill controversial
Decision is unlikely to change many minds
By Richelle Thompson
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Abortion pill RU-486 is a human pesticide or a tool for choice. Few Americans consider it anything in between.
The Food and Drug Administration's decision Thursday to approve the use in the United States of RU-486 — also known as mifepristone — is the latest saga in one of the nation's stickiest ethical dilemmas. The announcement particularly resonates in Cincinnati, the birthplace of the right-to-life movement and home to a significant Catholic population.
“The release of (RU-486) will probably change few people's viewpoints on abortion,” says Dr. Stanley Troup, chairman of University Hospital's ethics committee. “Those who are against abortion are going to remain against it, and those who support women's rights will champion this as simpler and less invasive.”
Nevertheless, the explosive issue of abortion can affect political careers, headline sermons and divide neighbors. Away from the public spotlight, abortion surfaces in the privacy of a woman's heart when she must decide what to do about an unwanted pregnancy.
The RU-486 pill adds another layer to the debate. An alternative to surgical abortions, the pill triggers a menstruation period in a woman and causes her to abort the embryo. It is to be used during the first seven weeks after conception.
If the product becomes widely available, RU-486 would be an option for most women who have abortions.
The majority of women seek abortions in the first two months of pregnancy. Considering the 36,950 abortions reported in 1995 to the Ohio Department of Health, 20,492 — or 51.3 percent — were performed at less than nine weeks' gestation.
“We definitely feel that the FDA has betrayed the trust of America,” says Brad Mattes, executive director of the Cincinnati-based Life Issues Institute. ""For the first time in American history, the FDA has approved a drug with the sole purpose of killing a human life.”
Mr. Mattes says his group is disappointed that the FDA did not impose stricter rules for doctors prescribing the abortion pill, such as mandatory training, informed-consent procedures, and mandatory follow-up exams of patients. Instead, the FDA mandated women receive “MedGuides” explaining the drug, its side effects and that women must make three trips to the doctor for the procedure.
“In France, if a woman doesn't show up for a follow-up exam, they find her and bring her in. In America, that will not be the case,” he says.
Pro-choice advocates say the decision makes abortions more accessible and private. Right-to-life supporters argue that's one of the pitfalls of the pill and could encourage more abortions.
“I think a woman has the right to do whatever she pleases with her body,“ says the Rev. Donald Jordan, pastor of Allen Temple African Methodist Episcopal Church in Roselawn.
The decision, he says, is a triumph for women's rights and choice.
Mary Wigger agrees the FDA decision was about choice — “a choice of which kind of abortion they want.”
The result's going to be the same, says the Fort Wright woman. “You end up with a dead baby.“
Despite the FDA decision, Mrs. Wigger on Saturday will help erect 4,200 white, wooden crosses on the lawn of a local church — just as she's done many times in the past four years. The crosses represent the number of abortions performed each day in the United States, she says.
She hopes the crosses raise awareness that each abortion “is the ongoing murder of little children, of potential citizens.”
Pat Conroy, president of Cincinnati Right-to-Life, suggests the pill may cause more emotional damage to a woman. It's not like going to a clinic where other people play a role in the abortion, he says.
“With this, you did it all by yourself. If you've got a guilt trip, this is going to make it worse,” Mr. Conroy says.
The local chapter has no plans to boycott all drug companies or doctor's offices to fight the release of the pill, he says. Instead, it will increase efforts to turn out the right-to-life vote in the November election, which could benefit Republican candidate George W. Bush.
“We refer to (RU-486) as a human pesticide,” Mr. Conroy says of RU-486. “It's chemical abortion versus surgical abortion. It's still the taking of life.”
The world's largest Christian denomination, the Roman Catholic church, vehemently opposes abortion. A 1998 statement by the U.S. Catholic bishops encourages followers to vote for candidates who oppose abortion.
“Laws that permit abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide are profoundly unjust, and we should work peacefully and tirelessly to oppose and change them,” the statement reads.
Abortion diminishes the sacredness of life, says the Rev. Tom Nevels of St. Ignatius of Loyola in North Bend.
It also perverts sexuality, he says. The church believes sex should be within the bond of marriage for the purpose of procreation and celebrating love and unity. The Rev. Nevels predicts the pill could encourage people “not to take their sexuality seriously.”
But Georgine Getty, vice president of the Cincinnati chapter of National Organization for Women, calls the decision “a great step forward.”
Even though she's received death threats for her views, Ms. Getty remains committed to the pro-choice cause. The alternative, she says, is frightening.
“Nobody wants to go to back-alley abortions.”
She considers abortion both a medical and ethical decision, one best left to the individual.
“We can't make decisions until we've walked in their shoes. We can't decide what's good or bad for someone else,” Ms. Getty says.
Increasing the number of options available for a woman helps her to make a choice that is right for her, Ms. Getty says.
RU-486 would not have made Lisa Ledwin's decision 12 years ago any easier.
She was pregnant, the baby a product of a vicious rape.
“I had always thought abortion was OK in some situations,” says the Blue Ash woman. The rape brought it closer to home. “I didn't feel like the fact somebody else had done something wrong gave me permission to also do something wrong.”
A childless couple from Wisconsin adopted her daughter.
“I think if that pill had been available, it still wouldn't have changed my decision,” Mrs. Ledwin says. “I still would have felt like it was killing a child.”
Tim Bonfield contributed to this report.
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