One year after federal regulators approved a pill that can be used to trigger abortions without surgery, most doctors who could prescribe it still do not offer the medication.

        Mifepristone, also known as RU-486, was approved Sept. 28, 2000, by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as an alternative to surgical abortion during early pregnancy.

        In theory, the pill allows women who want an abortion to get one without going to a clinic and risking an encounter with abortion protesters.

SURVEY FINDINGS

Highlights from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation survey released Monday, a year after the FDA approved mifepristone to be used as an abortion pill:    • Six percent of gynecologists have prescribed the pill, compared with 27 percent who have provided surgical abortions.    • Forty percent of gynecologists cite personal objections as their reason for not prescribing the drug.    • Of those who do not cite personal objections, 62 percent cite lack of patient demand; 51 percent cite concerns about protest or violence; 48 percent say their offices are not set up to provide medical abortions.    Source: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

        However, it hasn't worked out that way.

        A nationwide survey released Monday by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation reported that 6 percent of gynecologists and 1 percent of general-practice doctors have prescribed the pill. That compares with 27 percent of gynecologists and 1 percent of general practitioners who have performed surgical abortions.

        The reasons doctors cite for the low participation rates range from lack of patient demand to concerns about facing protesters to personal objections to providing abortions.

        “These results do not surprise me,” said Pat Conroy, president of Right to Life of Cincinnati. “We don't expect RU-486 to really take hold in this country.”

        “I'm not sure I ever expected this to be widely used,” said Susan Momeyer, chief executive of Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky. “Some people have fantasized that this method would be so easy that it would become widespread. But it's not just a pill.”

        To be effective, the pill must be used in the first seven weeks of pregnancy. It also requires a woman to make repeated office visits. These factors limit how frequently the pill might be used.

        Some doctors are chased away by regulatory requirements. Doctors who prescribe mifepristone must be capable of performing surgical abortions or be able to promptly refer a woman to another doctor who can.

        In Greater Cincinnati, Planned Parenthood began offering medical abortions in June. Its affiliated doctors remain among the few in town providing the medication.

        At the national level, 40 percent of gynecologists and 37 percent of general practitioners said they refuse to prescribe the medication because of personal objections to performing abortions.

        Of those who do not cite personal objections, several other reasons for not prescribing mifepristone emerged:

        • 62 percent cited lack of patient demand as a very important or somewhat important factor.

        • 51 percent cited concerns about protest or violence.

        • 48 percent said their offices were not set up to offer medical abortions.

        The Kaiser survey was based on a random sample of 595 gynecologists and 195 family practitioners, internists and general practitioners. The survey was conducted between May 15 and Aug. 28. Its margin of error was plus or minus 3 percent.

        When the pill was approved, Right to Life was among the anti-abortion groups that vowed to put pressure on any doctor who prescribed it.

        However, fear of retribution does not fully explain why the pill has failed to become popular, Mr. Conroy said.

        Instead, Mr. Conroy contends that women have realized how difficult it can be to go through a medical abortion and doctors have realized there isn't much profit in providing the service.

        “Doctors face a lot of logistic problems and liability concerns for little or no financial benefit,” Mr. Conroy said.

        Ms. Momeyer agreed that mifepristone has not caught on in the United States. But she cites different factors.

        “I certainly think there's an organized attempt to intimidate doctors, but I think it's more complicated than that,” Ms. Momeyer said.

        Meanwhile, unlike other medications entering the U.S. market, no organization is aggressively promoting mifepristone with television ads or awareness campaigns.

        “That's not a role for Planned Parenthood. We're happy to provide information, but we don't see our role as promoting any particular method,” Ms. Momeyer said.

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