Ru 486 Misconceptions Myths and Morals - ressourcesfeministes

RU 486transpires in the clinic or hospital and is extremelymedicalized. What actually happens at home can be anexcruciatingly long wait for the embryo to be expelledfrom the uterus, accompanied by pain, bleeding,vomiting, nausea, and other complications that are drawnout over a substantially lengthy period of time, comparedwith a conventional abortion.5. Finally, a woman must return several days later for aphysician’s examination to make sure abortion is complete.(Some studies mention as many as three follow-upappointments, e.g. Hill et al., 1990a: 415). Again, vaginalultrasound and/or a determination of ß-hCG is used toascertain whether the pregnancy has been terminated andwhether the embryonic tissue has been totally expelled.At this point the woman receives another pelvicexamination, the third within a time period of usually eightdays. The pelvic examination, vaginal ultrasound, andother instruments used internally in chemical abortion areimportant to emphasize, because women have been led tobelieve that an RU 486/PG abortion is free of medicalinstruments inserted into the body. This misrepresentationsingles out only suction curettage as an invasive internalor instrumental procedure. In actual fact, chemical abortioninvolves the use of more interventionist instrumentationthan conventional abortion.6. If abortion is not complete, then a conventional abortionis performed. Between two and 13.4 per cent of womenundergoing RU 486/PG terminations endure doubleabortion jeopardy (Gao et al., 1988).How does the claim that RU 486 is a private means of abortionsquare with the claim that it needs close medical supervision?It doesn’t Physicians have been very explicit that RU 486will never be available over the counter for do-it-yourselfabortions. Allan Templeton, professor of obstetrics andgynecology at the University of Aberdeen, who is leading28