Ru 486 Misconceptions Myths and Morals - ressourcesfeministes

RU 486report one case of marked thirst sensation. They thusconclude that the findings in their study demonstrate thatRU 486 ‘affected the various functions of the hypothalamus’(Li et al., 1988; see also Chapter Three).Finally, Sitruk-Ware et al. cite the use of antibiotics bothbefore and after vacuum aspiration with women who hadincomplete abortions. They report that 25 per cent of the 28women in their study who had incomplete abortions alsodeveloped a fever (Sitruk-Ware et al., 1990). The questionneeds to be asked how many women who had incompleteabortions in other studies developed infections and feverand required antibiotics.Promoters of RU 486/PG abortions emphasize their lowpercentage of complications. As we have demonstrated, thisis not true. However, even where complications are of lowincidence, in terms of percentages, it is important to ask howmany women we are talking about. One percent of 579women—the percent of women receiving blood transfusionin the UK Multicentre Trial—does in fact mean five women.Although too few women to acquire statistical significance,there is another standard we should employ here. Five womenis five too many women. More critically, the number ofwomen who might require transfusions in places where thereis no medical backup to stop the bleeding and administer atransfusion could be significantly larger.Ultimately, we must highlight the number of drugs thatare now part of the chemical abortion treatment regimenbecause we view this as another complication. Nowhere hasthis melange of drugs been acknowledged. In light of theclaims made that RU 486 is a simple, pill-popping methodof abortion, we highlight the complexity, in cumulativefashion, of what has now become a drug cocktail.In the beginning, there was:46