Ru 486 Misconceptions Myths and Morals - ressourcesfeministes

CHAPTER FOURThe Role of Prostaglandins:Known and Unknown DangersDiscussion of the abortion pill solely in terms of RU 486 isno longer possible. In what we see as a contrived protocol,RU 486 advocates now prescribe a prostaglandin (PG)medication, two to three days after the RU 486 pills havebeen swallowed, to reduce its abortion failures from 40 percent to the present figure of five per cent. While PGs partlysalvage the reputation of RU 486 as an ‘effective’ abortionpill, they subtract from any claim that RU 486 is ‘safe’. PGsare by no means new to chemical abortion, having a dubioushistory that spans more than 20 years. As early as 1972, aProstaglandin Task Force was established by the World HealthOrganization’s (WHO) Expanded Programme of Research,Development and Research Training in HumanReproduction. The investigations of the Task Force werethe initial, wide-scale venture into chemical abortion. Notunexpectedly, the agenda that justified the Task Force’sexistence, together with its funding, was population controlvia the application of PG to the post-conceptional regulationof fertility. Not unexpectedly either, it was women fromvarious Asian countries who were the specified ‘targets’.The following sections contain information about PGs,first to acknowledge the complexities of these powerful80