Quite apart from the need to fight any attempts to make abortion seem as routine and unworthy of notice as taking a course of antibiotics,* I think that this is a victory for common sense. The horrendous consequences of taking this drug have been drastically downplayed by the media and the abortion providers.
Consider the following:
Firstly, the nature of the drug means that the woman must undergo her abortion over the course of a number of days. Even the president of the original makers of RU486 said “The woman must live with this for a full week. This is an appalling psychological ordeal” (Edouard Sakiz, chairman, Roussel-Uclaf, August 1990.)
Secondly, the woman would be likely to abort at home and suffer the distress of seeing the expelled embryo/foetus, which she would be required to keep and return to the hospital or clinic to help determine if the abortion is complete.
Furthermore, the side effects of misoprostol/RU486 include haemorrhages possibly requiring a blood transfusion, severe pain requiring strong pain killers, incomplete abortion, rupture of the uterus, vaginal bleeding, abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, headache, muscle weakness, dizziness, flushing, chills, backache, difficulty in breathing, chest pain, palpitations, rise in temperature and fall in blood pressure.
This is hardly the impression that was being conveyed to the public when the proposal was being put before the High Court. The convenience and privacy of taking the drug at home was all that was mentioned.
So, as I said, a real victory for common sense. It is also a victory for women, who shouldn't be tricked into thinking that abortion is a simple solution to contraceptive failure. Congratulations must go to SPUC who did so much to highlight the dangers inherent in the use of this drug.
*Actually, I suspect that the abortion pill would have been given out much more freely than a course of antibiotics. Bacteria can fight back against the drugs used to kill them. Babies can't!
I was just reading about this in the paper on the way home and came across the statistic that some 70,000 early (pre-9 weeks) medical abortions were performed in England and Wales in 2009.
ReplyDeleteThis led immediately to my contemplating what 70,000 souls at Mass would look like - try thinking of Hyde Park during the Holy Father's visit, which had an estimated attendance of 80,000.
When you think in these terms, it is enough to chill the blood!
Domine, miserere.
Doe Gratias indeed. What disturbed me was Ann Furedi describing women experiencing efffects on the journey home. Surely any responsible 'caring' service would ensure that a patient didn't leave the clinic until the drug had run its course?
ReplyDeleteOf course letting women go home immediately after administering the pill keeps the overheads down...
Common sense indeed. Thanks be to God!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, they'll try and try again. As Gerry Adams used to say "We only have to get lucky once - you have to stay lucky all the time".
ReplyDeleteWomen's bodies are mutilated, invaded, exploited. And where are the feminists in all this? Cheering it on.
ReplyDelete