Boston University will not administer the abortion drug RU-486, based on Food and Drug Administration regulation, which limits distribution to health agencies that are already providing surgical abortion services.
“Doctors must also be qualified to provide any necessary surgery, or have made arrangements for any necessary surgery,” said the Food and Drug Administration in a written statement posted on its website Sept. 28, when the drug was approved.
BU does not provide abortion services to students, and thus RU-486 will not be offered by the University, a decision many students support.
“I support the concept of the pill because abortion is a tough enough decision,” said College of Communication freshman Carrie Ridgeway. “If there’s a way to simplify that and make it easier on a woman making the choice, then it’s a good thing. As far as BU not distributing it, I think that’s viable.
“Abortion is a serious matter. It’s not like going and getting a strep test. It’s a serious issue that needs to be dealt with in a place that specializes in that. As long as there is a Planned Parenthood facility available, there’s no need for BU to be involved.”
Student Health Services declined comment on RU-486, but many students said the University is doing the right thing by leaving the pill’s distribution to qualified organizations.
“I’ve heard that BU doesn’t provide it because it’s only available where abortions are performed,” said COM sophomore Jorie Zlotnik. “I think BU is doing a good job of knowing its limits in this case. If a woman needs the abortion pill, she should go to a place where the doctors are experts on abortion and there are people there for counseling. That way, it’s safer for the woman.”
According to a Planned Parenthood employee who spoke on the basis of anonymity, RU-486 will not be available until January 2001. She said women who are interested in obtaining the medication should call the Commonwealth Avenue location and make an appointment, although at this time, there is no specific protocol, but she said “a lot of people have called already.”
In the United States, RU-486, also known as Mifeprestone, will be distributed by Danco Laboratories, LLC, out of New York City.
Mifeprestone is a steroid hormone, much like progesterone, that binds to the progesterone receptors, thereby forcing the woman to shed the lining of the uterus and consequently the embryo, within the first seven weeks of pregnancy.
The first three tablets are administered in the presence of a nurse or doctor after an initial physical examination and pregnancy test, and within 48 hours the woman must return for a dose of prostaglandin in order to induce contractions. About 2 – 3 percent of patients experience the need for surgical accompaniment, but RU-486 is between 92-95 percent effective.
Costing about $300, about the same as a traditional vacuum aspiration procedure, the pill’s advantages and disadvantages are being heavily debated. Some argue that RU-486 is less physically invasive, while some women do not know they are pregnant within the first few weeks in time to obtain the pill. After seven weeks, RU-486 is ineffective.
“I’d have to say, all the pill does is make it easier, and less traumatic,” said Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitative Sciences junior Jerry St. Jacques. “Without it, people are going to get abortions anyway, in still taxing, possibly illegal ways. It doesn’t make anyone have one who wouldn’t already.”
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