Ru 486 Misconceptions Myths and Morals - ressourcesfeministes

RU 486reasons, controls the procedur e in the way that France,England, and others currently do.Likewise, the Fund for Feminist Majority, which hasconducted an international campaign to bring RU 486/PGto the United States, claims that the pill would divest antiabortiongroups of ‘one of their most effective tactics—openharassment and violence at abortion clinics. Because RU 486can be administered at any doctor’s office—not just at abortionclinics-picketing becomes meaningless!’ (The FeministMajority Foundation Communiqué, 1990). RU 486/ PG hasalso been represented in the feminist press as being availablefrom ‘the local pharmacy’ and thereby ‘technologicallybypassing’ the anti-abortion movement This claim is blatantlymisleading since nowhere is RU 486 administered at ‘anydoctor’s office.’ Nor do hospitals and other medical servicessimply dispense RU 486/PG. It is only administered as amulti-step, on-the-premise procedure. These medical services,among them many clinics, can be picketed just as easily asthe present conventional abortion clinics. Tony Seaton ofRoussel Uclaf UK deplores that the general public incorrectlybelieves that RU 486 will be available from GPs. Hereconfirmed that every pill will be numbered to ensure thestrictest possible control and total restriction to licensedabortion clinics (pers. comm. to RK, 26 June 1991).Doctors assert that the abortion pill will not be availableat the pharmacy because it requires strict medical supervision,at the same time that they proclaim that RU 486/PG is asafe, streamlined, and privatized means of abortion forwomen. In an interview in the Los Angeles Times, David Grimesadmitted that although he believes, ‘We’ve got to get doctorsand medical people out of the process,’ he likes the stringentcontrols that now surround the drug (Grimes, quoted in Krier,1990: E-12). But many feminists seem to believe that womenwill control the drug, and that the RU 486 abortionexperience relieves women of the burdens of interventionistmedicine and anti-abortion harassment There appears to be30