What is the abortion pill named RU-486?
A. For a decade around the world, several million women have used a pill to end pregnancy in its earliest weeks. Since the end of the year 2000, mifepristone–also known as RU-486 or the French abortion pill–has crossed U.S. borders. Like all abortion methods, mifepristone has been the subject of controversy, in part because it promises to make abortion even safer, more effective and more accessible, especially to rape victims. Mifepristone was first developed as an early-abortion drug in France in 1988, under the name RU-486. Shortly after being developed the company producing RU-486 suspended its distribution, citing anti-abortion protests in the United States, France, and Germany. The French minister of health, acting in “the interests of the public health,” ordered the company to resume its distribution only two days later. After years of controversy, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the drug mifepristone for use in the United States. The approval may generate si
