Oklahoma Senator Plans Sneak Attack on RU 486
By Lee Russ
Thursday, April 19, 2007 at 09:45 AM
Anti-abortion forces have been after the abortifacient drug RU-486 (Mifepristone) since it won FDA approval. Now an anti-abortion web site reports that Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma plans to submit an amendment to an FDA-related bill that would provide for suspending "the availability of any drug approved under FDA's subpart H category that has resulted in more deaths than lives saved."
Subpart H is the set of regulations governing FDA "Accelerated Approval of New Drugs for Serious or Life-Threatening Illnesses" which appears as Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations, sections 314.500 et seq.In the view of the web site, "While the abortion pill has taken the lives of six women, it is not responsible for saving anyone."
Potentially, of course, the same could be said for any drug which treats a condition that is not fatal, or even not always fatal. How could you ever prove that taking a drug "saved" anyone from a condition which won't always kill you?
And of course the proposed amendment would automatically apply to any abortion agent approved under the accelerated FDA program, if it ever took a single life. Clever, huh?
Chances of the amendment succeeding are slim, since the relevant committee is controlled by Democrats who appear to be pro-choice. But I'd bet a lot of money that Coburn becomes the instant hero of the anti-abortion crowd simply for offering it, and the defeat of the amendment by the Democrat-controlled committee will certainly be used to fan the flames of anti-abortionists everywhere against Democratic candidates.
Correction: RU-486 is not a "morning-after pill," as it was originally described in this article. Those pills prevent conception, while RU-486 induces an abortion after conception.
Comments
The anti-abortion crowd plays too many games like this, and it goes all the way up to the new conservative jurists on the Supreme Court. Instead of declaring abortion illegal, which will spur a backlash against Republicans for a generation or more, they will chip away at the right so that Roe v. Wade remains a potent campaign issue to rally against.
This stunt makes me question whether Coburn's really the straight-shooter I thought he was. I disagree with his politics, but I thought he was at least honest with his views and agenda in Washington. If he wants to make RU 486 illegal, he should introduce a bill attempting to do that directly.
It's hard to take you seriously when you confuse the morning after pill with the abrotion drug RU 486. They are two different things.
Thanks for the correction. I've made that mistake before myself, but it's an important distinction to make, since morning-after pills are contraceptives.
The mistake in the original post was mine---relying on memory again.
Sorry.
But, the point remains the same....
Lee in desperation, "But, the point remains the same...."
NO! It does NOT!
What kind of cretins do you take your audience to be? You describe how the FDA literally tricked this drug onto the market, by classifying it as a potential treatment for 'Serious or Life Threatening Illnesses," but then turn around and whine about tricks being played by Republicans!!!???
What trick? The 'trick' that this drug has caused the death of six (6) people!!!???
Might as well make russian roulette legal as a cure for ILLNESS.
Seriously, publisher, do you consider pregnancy to be a serious or life threatening illness? Can you be just that honest?
According to the FDA's most recent pronouncement (2006) on RU486:
Of the two most recent deaths (reported to FDA in March 2006) one has been determined to be unrelated to an abortion or to the use of Mifeprex and misoprostol and the other, with symptoms of infection, continues to be under investigation.
As previously reported by the agency four women in the United States died from sepsis (severe illness caused by infection of the bloodstream) after medical abortion with Mifeprex and misoprostol. All four women were infected by the same type of bacteria. Sepsis is a known risk related to any type of abortion. The symptoms in the four cases of infection were not the usual symptoms of sepsis. We do not know whether using Mifeprex or misoprostol caused these deaths. FDA has tested batches of Mifeprex and misoprostol and has not found any contamination with the type of bacteria involved in the four cases.
Unreal!
It is *inevitable* that any point made in contradiction will be completely ignored!
Pregnancy is not an 'illness.' It is obvious the FDA 'played politics' in so defining the drug and the 'illness,' it supposedly avoided safety testing to 'legitimize.'
Of course, that chicanery didn't bother you one bit! Only when you consider yourself 'bothered' do you whine about such tactics. Now, the drug, if the public insists on something like it, will be tested and its safety for release determined without the political machinations of the Left to acquire more abortion tools; perhaps other poisons to end the life you are too stupid, lazy and ignorant to protect against . . . those who may be allergic should die for your convenience . . .
The Teddy Kennedy's of life . . .