Father of Teenager Who Died From Abortion Drug Will Meet with FDA 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
August 19, 2004
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — The father of California teenager Holly Patterson, who died last year after using an abortion drug obtained from a Planned Parenthood office, will meet with FDA officials next month. He will express his concern about the lack of enforcement of safety guidelines associated with the RU 486 abortion drug.
According to the Contra Costa Times newspaper, Monty Patterson is slated to meet with Food and Drug Administration officials on September 16. He will then speak at the Concerned Women for America national conference two days later.
Patterson told the newspaper that his goal is not to enter into the larger debate over abortion, but to focus on the need for strong safety measures to make sure women are not harmed or killed by the abortion drug.
"My discussion has always been the same, and it’s a pro-women’s message," Patterson said. "I’m not out to present scare tactics but to tell our story, and what happened to Holly. It’s real and it could be any other parent out there."
Patterson told the Times he wants RU 486 to be banned in the United States, though he understands that’s not likely to happen.
"I think big changes have to be made certainly with consumer awareness and education. There has to be more accountability in how it’s administered," Patterson told the Contra Costa paper.
Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America told LifeNews.com that her organization has helped the Pattersons "in their journey to learn what can be done to protect other women from this deadly drug."
"We hope that by speaking at our convention others will learn, in a very personal way, of Holly’s story," Wright added.
The meeting comes just over one year after the anniversary of Holly’s death on September 17. An autopsy report shows Holly died of an infection brought on by the abortion.
In February, the California Department of Health Services determined that Planned Parenthood failed to follow its own internal policies for informing women on how to use the RU 486 abortion drug that was responsible for Holly’s death.
The state health agency said Planned Parenthood of Hayward did not have Patterson sign one of the three forms the abortion business says it normally requires women obtaining chemical abortions to sign.
In response to Holly’s death, her parents, Monty and Helen Patterson endorsed legislation that would suspend the FDA’s approval of the drug pending a Congressional review.
The wrote a letter to Congress urging that the measure be approved. It has not yet received a vote.
Related web sites:
Monty and Helen Pattersons’ letter – https://www.LifeNews.com/nat192b.html
