RU-486 will be available at Medical Center

By Barbara Ortutay Daily Bruin Senior Staff
About 200 pregnant students visit the Arthur Ashe Student Health
and Wellness Center each year, and, according to Director Edward
Wiesmeier, most of them choose to terminate their pregnancy. While
the Food and Drug Administration’s recent approval of
mifepristone may not make this decision any easier, hospitals and
clinics across the country are now deciding whether and how to
implement the “abortion pill’s” use. At the UCLA
Medical Center, the pill, also known as RU-486, will be available
to women, but the Ashe Center is not equipped to prescribe it,
according to Wiesmeier. Students interested in using the pill will
be referred to the Medical Center. “There are some rigid
restrictions placed on who can prescribe it,” Wiesmeier said.
“We would still like to see any women students who think they
might be pregnant,” he continued, adding that the center has
counseling available for students. Only doctors who can provide
surgical intervention in cases of incomplete abortion or severe
bleeding may prescribe mifepristone, according to FDA regulations.
This is because about 10 percent of women who take the drug will
require some surgical intervention, according to Alan DeCherney,
professor and chair of the Obstetrics & Gynecology Department
at the Medical Center. In U.S. clinical trials of the pill, 7.9
percent of the 827 women who participated received surgical
intervention ““ mostly for excessive bleeding, according to
the FDA. Mifepristone is an antiprogesterone drug ““ which
means it blocks receptors of progesterone, a hormone that aids in
the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy, according to the
FDA. The FDA requires that women who choose to take mifepristone
sign an informed consent, provided by the drug’s
manufacturer, before they can begin treatment. To start treatment,
the patient swallows a dose of 600 milligrams of mifepristone and,
three days later, returns for a dose of 400 micrograms of
misoprostol. Misoprostol induces contractions of the uterus, and
the pre-embryo, embryo or other tissue that develops during
pregnancy is passed out through the vagina. “This isn’t
going to change things quite as much as people think,”
Wiesmeier said. He added there might still be women who prefer
surgical abortions, which may be done within hours, while using the
pill can take about 2-3 days. Women should return for a follow-up
visit to their physicians whether they use the pill or undergo
surgical abortion. Mifepristone was first approved for use in
France in 1988. Since then, more than 620,000 European women have
used it to terminate pregnancy, according to the FDA. In the U.S.,
it has taken more than a decade and heated political debate to
approve its use. In 1999, the House passed a bill that prevented
the FDA from using government funds to approve drugs, including
mifepristone, that induce abortion. The Senate version of the bill
didn’t include the ban, known as the Coburn amendment, and it
was later removed from the bill’s language. Because it is
restricted by the FDA, mifepristone will not be available through
pharmacies; it is directly supplied to physicians who are
authorized to prescribe it.

ABORTION PILL IN THE U.S. The FDA approved
Mifepristone, formerly RU-486 on Sept. 28. The pill induces
abortion when administered in early pregnancy. Abortion using
mifepristone requires three visits to the clinician. 1. At the 1st
visit, a woman receives a mandated medication guide provided by the
manufacturer, Danco. The guide will provide information about how
the medication woks, as well as information about possible side
effects. 2. After signing an informed consent, she then swallows a
dose of 600 milligrams of mifepristone under the guidance of her
clinician. 3. Three days later, she returns for a dose of 400
micrograms of misoprostol. The misoprostol induces uterine
contractions, and the pre-embryo or embryo and other tissue that
develops during pregnancy are passed out through the vagina. 4.
Fourteen days later, she must visit her clinician for a follow-up.
SOURCE: Planned Parenthood Original Graphic by ADAM BROWN/Daily
Bruin Web Adaptation by NICK IFURUNG