Word: pilling
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...When the pill finds a maker, how will it reach the taker? Its proponents, especially those hoping to make the clinic protesters vanish, agree that France's tightly controlled distribution method was devised, as a New England Journal of Medicine editorial put it, "for political rather than scientific reasons." One common yet radical suggestion is that RU 486 and prostaglandin could be sold to women as prescription drugs and taken at home. "To even suggest that you could do that is ridiculous," protests Judie Brown, president of the American Life League. That sentiment finds some support even from Baulieu...
Baulieu does, however, believe the pill could be administered by gynecologists outside of a clinic environment. He supports the "two-visit" plan: the woman is examined, takes the first set of pills, goes home, takes the second two days later, and returns to the doctor to make sure the process has been completely effective. Advocates of this method make two assumptions about the woman: that she will have the emotional fortitude to go through an experience on her own, and that she will get to a hospital if she becomes one of the rare cases where there is excess bleeding...
...result, the abortion pill could become available through a testing program later this year. The Oregon and New Hampshire legislatures have already volunteered their states as test sites, and the FDA is enthusiastic. Says commissioner David Kessler: "If there is a safe and effective medical alternative to a surgical procedure, then we believe it should be available in this country." Although testing a new drug generally takes seven to 10 years, RU 486 has been so widely used in France that U.S. approval could come in as little as two to three years. In the meantime, the testing will enable...
...abortion clinics and hospitals in France. The results proved encouraging, save for a freak incident in 1991 when a woman who was an avid smoker suffered a heart attack while trying to use RU 486 to abort her 13th pregnancy. After that mishap, the government banned use of the pill by heavy smokers and women age 35 and older, who have a greater than usual risk of complications...
...less painful, carried less risk of infection and gave women greater control over the process than a surgical procedure. Over the next 3 1/ 2 years, 100,000 Frenchwomen used it successfully. Of those who made the decision early enough, about 85% chose RU 486 over surgery. (The pill is currently used in France only within seven weeks of the first day of a woman's last menstrual period; there is now talk of extending usage to a 10-week interval.) Almost all judged the method satisfactory...