NEW ZEALAND DOCTORS WARN ABORTION PILL ‘NOT A QUICK FIX’

CHRISTCHURCH, April 14, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – New Zealand doctors have issued a surprising warning about the abortifacient morning after pill. Mifepristone or RU-486, has been touted by its advocates as a “quicker, easier, safer” alternative to surgical abortion. The country’s High Court ruled last week that women who take Mifepristone do not have to stay in an authorized clinic until the baby is expelled—meaning that women will experience a chemically-induced miscarriage, possibly alone, at home, at work, or in a public washroom.  But Dr. Rob Aitken, medical director at Lyndhurst Hospital in Christchurch, said: “It’s certainly not a quick fix. I think the way it has been made out is that it will be a simple swallow of a pill, and that’s it. But time-wise it will be a much lengthier process, and expense-wise it won’t be much different from the surgical procedure. … Even after you take [the abortion pill], you can’t be assured it’s going to work, and a percentage of women will end up having to have the surgical, suction procedure anyway.”“The [High Court] judgment is a sad and historic day for unborn children and their mothers,” lamented New Zealand Right for Life spokesman Ken Orr said. “Many women undergoing a chemical abortion will now be faced with the trauma of delivering a dead baby possibly alone away from a hospital,” Orr said. “Women undergoing a chemical abortion should remain in hospital with emergency facilities and counselling readily available until the abortion is complete.”  For local coverage:  https://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2401491a7144,00.html and https://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2399263a7144,00.html