It isn't a contraceptive. Used at 5 to 7 weeks, RU 486 kills an unborn baby whose heart has already begun to beat. This is the only purpose for which the sponsor ever sought U.S. government approval.
It isn't safe or easy.
Heavy bleeding, nausea, vomiting, and painful uterine contractions
are common features of a process TIME magazine calls A painful, messy,
and protracted." About 2% hemorrhage and more than 1 in a 100 require
hospitalization. An Iowa woman took RU486 and lost nearly 3/4 of her blood
and likely would have died without emergency surgery.
It isn't simple or convenient.
At a minimum, the RU486 procedure involves two drugs and three trips
to the doctor's office over a two week period. For 4-5% of women, the pills
don't work, making them return for surgical abortions.
It won't make abortion rare.
The pill's promoters have reason to believe RU486 will help them increase
the number of doctors willing to perform abortions. Since there has always
been a corrolary between the number of abortions and the number of abortionists,
RU 486 is likely to increase the number of abortions in the U.S. beyond
the already appalling 1. 5 million a year.