Mifepristone is the first and only FDA-approved medication providing women with a safe and effective nonsurgical option for early pregnancy termination. Mifepristone has been tested extensively and used safely and effectively worldwide since 1981, and in the United States since 2000. Despite its proven safety and its promise for scientific research, continued political attacks on mifepristone provide a prime example of how opposition to a woman's right to privacy and choice impairs medical advances and contradicts scientific research, compromising public health.
Mifepristone is Safe and Effective
Mifepristone, also known by its original name RU 486 and its trade name, Mifeprex®, has undergone rigorous testing and has been used safely and effectively for almost 25 years.
- Millions of women worldwide have safely used mifepristone as an early option for nonsurgical abortion.
- Since the FDA approved mifepristone in 2000, more than 800,000 U.S. women have used the drug for safe and effective nonsurgical abortion care. The rate of reported adverse events for mifepristone is very low: approximately 0.28 percent.
- Mifepristone was not "fast-tracked" through the FDA approval process as anti-choice activists claim; the drug underwent the standard, rigorous review process and clinical trials required for new medications.
- A 1998 study based on the clinical trials reports very high patient satisfaction with the regimen: 95.7 percent of women who have used mifepristone would recommend the method to others.
- Studies of women using mifepristone suggest that when given a choice between nonsurgical and surgical abortion care, 57 to 70 percent choose the nonsurgical option.
- Mifepristone is as safe or safer than other commonly used medications. The number of adverse events associated with mifepristone is less, for example, than for such medications as Viagra and Tylenol.
Mifepristone Has Other Potential Uses
Access to mifepristone enhances the ability of researchers to study other beneficial uses of the medication. However, persistent efforts by anti-choice lawmakers to hinder access to the drug will not only block reproductive choices for some women but will also impinge upon the potential advancement of research into its various uses.
Anti-Choice Attacks on Mifepristone
Despite FDA approval and worldwide acceptance of mifepristone, opponents of women's reproductive freedom continue their longstanding efforts to restrict access to the drug. These political assaults threaten to undo the promise of this important scientific and medical advancement.
