Extensive RU486 Info Now Available on NRLC Web Site

If you're a woman between the ages of 18 and 35, chances are you've heard or read a lot about RU486, the abortion pill that's been on the American market since late 2000. And chances are, what you've heard or read is dead wrong.

Early on, women's magazines heralded RU486 as some new kind of safe, simple, nearly magical potion that simply makes the baby disappear. Mademoiselle explicitly referred to it as the "miracle pill" in November 1988, and Sue Halpern in the April 1987 issue of Ms. magazine wrote, "Imagine being pregnant, swallowing a pill, and - - presto! - - not being pregnant any longer." Susan Lang, in the August 1988 issue of Vogue, wrote "It's a breakthrough - - not only less painful but safer than surgical abortions."

Recent ads by the National Abortion Federation appearing this summer, not only in some of those same women's magazines but also in high profile medical journals, have touted the drug as a "breakthrough" and "another safe abortion choice."

But is the drug safe? Is it simple? Is it effective? Are the pill's promoters in the publishing field and the pro-abortion lobby being up front about the pill's problems? And was it politics or science that drove RU486's approval in the waning days of the Clinton Administration?

You might not find out much about that from the abortion lobby or from the major media outlets, but you will find that info and much more on the National Right to Life web site at www.nrlc.org/ RU486/RU486info.html.

Spanning nearly 30 printed pages with 250 footnotes, the NRL Educational Trust Fund's "Extensive Background Information on RU486" provides what may be - - outside official government documents - - the most thorough, comprehensive, detailed, and yet accessible presentation of information on RU486 found anywhere on the Internet.

In a simple, easy-to-understand question and answer format, this "backgrounder" offers basic information on what RU486 is, how it works, how this chemical abortion technique got here, and why it poses such a threat to unborn children and their mothers.

Those who visit the site will see more than a few myths and mistakes about mifepristone (RU486) demolished. Is this a "simple" abortion "option"? Not unless you call ingesting two powerful drugs, making three visits to the doctor over a two-week period with multiple medications and a host of side effects like vomiting, diarrhea, and painful cramping "simple." Is it "safe"? Not unless you consider heavy bleeding, the distinct possibility of hemorrhage, hospitalization, and transfusion "safe."

In the Trust Fund's RU486 backgrounder, pregnant women will find information they won't find on government-approved packaging, RU486 advertisements, or in most newspapers. For example, that during the time frame RU486 is used, their child's heart is already likely to have begun its first beats, their baby's nervous system has already begun to form, and their little one's arms, legs, and face are already taking shape.

Researchers who visit the web site will find a detailed history of the Clinton Administration's unstinting efforts to push the abortion drug through the approval process, shelve safeguards, and get the drug onto the market before the 2000 presidential election. And only on the NRLC web site is a researcher likely to be able to find a complete list of the elaborate network of companies and subcompanies set up by the U.S. licensee (the Population Council of New York) to produce, market, and distribute the drug and all their tangled connections.

While many people know that RU486 was developed in France, fewer people are probably aware that the pill sold in the U.S. is actually manufactured in Communist China. The Trust Fund backgrounder not only documents this, but also presents troubling information about the Chinese firm's manufacturing and shipping practices and its efforts to fudge paperwork required in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's 1999 inspection of the plant.

Efforts of the pill's promoters to use U.S. approval as a stepping stone for use in other nations and especially those in the Third World are laid out in the backgrounder as well. An attempt to "expand access" to abortion is often cited as one of the major motivations of those pushing the pill, but our document here demonstrates that a larger effort to change the image of abortion and abortionists is also in play.

Modern technology, such as ultrasound machines and fetal heartbeat stethoscopes, have hurt the pro-abortion cause, as has the campaign to ban partial-birth abortion, because they have shown the falsity of the "blob of tissue" arguments. By changing the focus to smaller, younger babies, by exchanging scalpels for more innocent-looking pills, the pro-abortion crowd once again seeks to use ignorance to its advantage.

The Trust Fund backgrounder reasserts the humanity of the unborn child at every stage of development, and shows that the pro-abortion lobby is exposing women to a whole new set of risks and dangers to further its own radical agenda.

It is for such women, and for anyone else who might be deceived, that the Trust Fund has made this information available on the web. Women facing crisis pregnancies, tempted by the false promises of the abortion industry and its media shills; students doing research for sex ed classes taught by their local Planned Parenthood counselors; or even local newspaper reporters trying to get up to speed on the new pill

coming to the abortion clinic downtown, should be able to gain comprehensive, accurate, up-to-date information this will provide a much needed corrective to a lot of the misinformation and disinformation currently running rampant.

The document has been formatted in such a way as to make it easy to find and easy to use. The page can be accessed through National Right to Life's homepage (www.nrlc.org). It is also set up so that anyone typing in one of RU486's many different names or descriptions - - RU486, mifepristone, mifeprex, "medical" or "non-surgical abortion," "chemical," etc. - - into a standard Internet search engine should be directed to the Trust Fund backgrounder.

Once there, they're able to choose from a number of general headings that address their particular area of concern or interest - - "The Pill, The Process, The Problems"; "Available Under What Conditions"; "The Companies Involved"; etc.

We have information that addresses many specific inquiries, such as "How does RU486 work?"; "Are there any long term physical consequences?"; "What about psychological after effects?"; and so forth. Clicking on this heading or query will take the investigator directly to the relevant portion of the document. Footnote numbers are also "clickable," so that researchers can access the documentation that backs up the Trust Fund's claims.

The Trust Fund realizes that many of those in today's modern generation use the Internet to help them make decisions that could forever impact their lives and the lives of their children. When that young woman goes online to find out information about the new chemical abortion method she's heard about, we want to make sure she has a chance to find out the truth.