WASHINGTON, January 24, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – As tens of thousands of Americans gather in Washington Monday for the annual March for Life, Concerned Women for America (CWA) posted on its Web site public documents revealing approximately 600 serious complications suffered by women who used the abortion drug RU-486.
“Abortion proponents claim that RU-486 is safe. These documents prove otherwise,” said Wendy Wright, CWA’s senior policy director.
“When the FDA [Food and Drug Administration] approved RU-486 under intense political pressure in the waning days of the Clinton administration, the extent of the damage was anyone’s guess. Now evidence is available through Adverse Events Reports filed by doctors, Danco (the drug’s distributor) and women themselves,” Wright said.
“Healthy women who take RU-486 can end up with life-threatening, even fatal, complications. These reports show case upon case of women being rushed to hospital emergency rooms after taking RU-486,” she said.
The FDA produced these documents in response to CWA’s lawful request for records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The FDA ensured the women’s medical privacy by redacting personal-identifying medical information.
“While not all adverse events are reported, these reports confirm three deaths caused by RU-486, including 18-year-old Holly Patterson, who died after taking the drug in September 2003,” said Wright.
Patterson’s parents were unaware of her pregnancy until after her death, and have since filed a lawsuit against Danco, Planned Parenthood of Golden Gate and other parties allegedly involved.
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