Ohio Safety Guidelines for RU 486 Abortion Drug Face Legal Challenge

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Aug 6, 2004   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Ohio Safety Guidelines for RU 486 Abortion Drug Face Legal Challenge

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
August 6, 2004

Columbus, OH (LifeNews.com) — Abortion advocates have filed a legal challenge to a law that requires abortion practitioners to adhere to safety guidelines issued by the Food and Drug Administration when dispensing the dangerous RU 486 abortion drug.

Four abortion businesses challenged the measure, scheduled to take effect on September 23, with a suit filed in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati.

They are seeking a temporarily injunction to block the law until the lawsuit is resolved.

The abortion businesses, including Planned Parenthood of Cincinnati, claim the law is unconstitutional by limiting access to the abortion drug, that it is too vague, and exposes abortion practitioners to criminal prosecution.

But pro-life advocates say the abortion advocates are ignoring dangers associated with the abortion drug — including death of a California teenager who died from an infection as a result of using the two-part drug and another teen in Sweden.

"It is appalling that Planned Parenthood claims to be interested in protecting women’s health, but is trying to avoid complying with basic health and safety requirements for RU-486 that were adopted under the pro-abortion Clinton administration," Denise Mackura, Executive Director of Ohio Right to Life told LifeNews.com.

"Planned Parenthood should certainly be aware of the risks of RU-486, since California teenager Holly Patterson died last year after an RU-486 abortion at a Planned Parenthood facility that did not follow all the FDA guidelines." Mackura said.

In April, an Ohio woman filed a lawsuit against an Akron abortion business saying that the chemical abortion she was given has left her unable to become pregnant.

Dana Powell, 30, says she had cramping and bleeding associated with an October 2002 pregnancy and went to the abortion business. Staff there told her the pregnancy was not problematic.

Powell opted to have an abortion and was given the RU 486 abortion drug. Powell took the first drug to kill the baby and then suffered severe cramping after taking the Cytotec drugs to expel the dead baby from her uterus. The abortion facility told her to take a second Cytotec pill and call back the next day.

The newspaper reports that Powell’s condition grew worse over the next month until she was forced to go to Akron City Hospital. Hospital staff diagnosed her with a ruptured ectopic pregnancy in the left fallopian tube, leaving her unable to conceive.

Powell’s lawsuit says the abortion business failed to properly detect the ectopic pregnancy.

Powell is lucky to be alive.

Danco Laboratories, the maker of RU 486 says the abortion drug should not be taken by women who have such pregnancies. The company points to an abortion of an undetected ectopic pregnancy that led to the death of Brenda Vise in 2001.

In fact, the FDA requires those administering the RU 486 abortion drug to have been trained at performing ultrasounds and be able to detect ectopic pregnancies.

Related web sites:
Ohio Right to Life – https://www.ohiolife.org