Investigations Proving RU486's Lethal Dangers.

Because they took place less than a week apart, two separate discussions of the deaths associated with RU486 sometimes get confused. The first took place May 11 in Atlanta, and was hosted by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The second occurred May 17 in Washington, D.C., before the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, and Human Resources, chaired by Rep. Mark Souder (R-In.).

A typical headline that summarized the subcommittee hearing on the deaths linked to the abortifacient RU486 could have gone something like this: "Experts split on abortion pill's role in 4 deaths; Scientific panel disagrees on whether RU486 triggered deadly infections." As it happens that is an actual headline. However, it does not refer to the congressional subcommittee hearings but rather the joint scientific workshop in Atlanta.

But in either case the headline would be completely accurate and totally misleading. Explaining this is a bit complicated because there are various elements to the latest, very cunning pro-abortion ploy.

Some officials, whether in Atlanta or Washington, D.C., who either are or have been associated with the abortion drug's presence on the market, did argue it's all oh-so-fuzzy. Maybe something else, as yet undiscovered, triggered the deaths of not four, but what may be at least six women. And besides, other pregnant women had died from a bacterial infection, not just women who took RU486, they said.

But what about the scientists tapped for the Atlanta panel who have examined this bacterium at the molecular level and who have really studied the biological mechanisms involved? Nearly all agreed that there was evidence that RU486 suppresses the immune system, in effect, leaving open a door for bacteria to come in and wreak lethal havoc.

By contrast the deniers are very cunning at making it sound as if there is something else besides RU486 that plays a key role in the deaths of women.

It is quite true that no one is saying there are no other possible contributing factors. There is always the question of genetic predisposition, for example. Some women may be more susceptible to a particular problem than other women.