Christian Wire: "Concerned Women" say RU-486 kills women, want it banned

[Bluebear]

To: National Desk

Contact: Rebecca S. Jones of Concerned Women for America, 202-488-7000 ext. 126

WASHINGTON, July 28 /Christian Wire Service/ -- Concerned Women for America (CWA) called "insufficient" the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) recent decision to strengthen the language on RU-486's warning label after reports that two more women have died after taking the abortion pill. Five women in the United States and Canada have died from septic shock after taking RU-486, or mifepristone.

"The FDA allows the death toll to mount and confesses to being ‘baffled' by the deaths," said Wendy Wright, CWA's senior policy director. "Thanks to the hard work of Brown University professor Ralph P. Miech, MD, PhD, we may have the answer to why RU-486 causes harm to women as well as their babies."

The Annals of Pharmacotherapy will publish Dr. Miech's study in the September issue, which shows:

During an abortion, mifepristone works by blocking the effects of progesterone, shutting off nutrition to the placenta and fetus. However, Miech points out, the anti-progesterone effects of mifepristone also cause changes in the cervix that allow C. sordellii, a common vaginal bacteria, to enter the cervical canal. C. sordellii thrives in this low-oxygen environment and derives nutrition from the decaying fetal tissue.

Mifepristone also disrupts the immune system, which "impairs the body's ability to fight off C. sordellii and may help spread the bacteria's toxic by-products, a combination that sometimes results in widespread septic shock." The women don't exhibit the usual warning signs of an infection, mainly, a fever.

"Last week's FDA announcement on RU-486 mentioned the deaths linked to RU-486, but neglected to release information about near-fatal adverse events," said Wright. Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), CWA received public documents listing over 600 adverse events. Two OB/GYNs who assessed the reports found they included 220 cases of hemorrhage that were either life-threatening or extremely serious, 71 of which required transfusions. Also, 392 reports indicate that a surgical procedure was done, many under emergency conditions.

"Women trust that the FDA is doing its job to protect our health," said Wright. "To continue this trust, the FDA should withdraw its approval of RU-486 before more women die."


http://www.earnedmedia.org/cwfa0728.htm

[Modem Butterfly]

1. More women are killed by aspirin

What a non-issue.

[Bluebear]

2. As if they care about the mother. nt

[Modem Butterfly]

4. If this were about women's health...

...they would demand better contraception. If this were about ending abortion, they would demand better access to contraception. But it's not about either of those, it's simply about controlling women.

[FreedomAngel82]

8. Exactly

I get so sick and tired of it. Why don't they control their own lives and leave me the fuck a lone?

[redqueen]

10. Beautifully said.

I'm so tired of this BS.

[redqueen]

5. Hah... seriously?

That group is such a joke!

[Modem Butterfly]

9. Seriously.

Aspirin kills nearly 10,000 Americans each year.

http://www.drugwarfacts.org/causes.htm#nsaid

[HockeyMom]

6. Smoke screen

The want to ban ANYTHING, including plain old birth control pills, that MIGHT, and I do mean MIGHT, prevent either a fertilized egg from implanting, OR even prevent conception FROM OCCURRING. Go on their website. They are even against condoms or sterilization. The purpose of sex is in marriage to make babies. They advocate Natural Family Planing in marriage, and if that fails? Well, then that is "God's will" that you have more children.

They want to PAY for these unplanned children? Of course, not. GOD will provide. Yeah, right.

[izzie]

15. But they do think it is OK to get help to have children, Right?

Even if it is "Rent" a place to have one. And God only knows what else they do when you can not have a child by natural means.I find the whole thing crazy. And I lived at a time when I had to sign a paper saying I was mentally unfit to have more children to get birth control information. Yes in my life time in the state of Conn. Good luck you young ladies. You will have to re-fight the same old thing.

[The Magistrate]

17. Even Beyond That, Ma'am

A much greater risk occurs when a pregnancy is carried to term....

[redqueen]

3. That the risks should be clearly stated to the user is a valid point.

But saying it should be banned is just stupid. Then again, consider the source.

:eyes:

[Touchdown]

7. It's true. If these whack jobs see RU-486 in your purse...

They can't be held responsible for what their trigger fingers will do.:eyes:

[Kraklen]

11. With the SC nomination...

I'd expect that RU-486 will soon be illegal any way. There will be RU-486 trafficking. The silver lining will be that back alley abortions can be performed with illegal narcotics, as opposed to coathangers.

[gollygee]

12. It is safer than the alternative - pregnancy and birth

No medication is without risk, but using this medication is safer than not using it and proceeding with a pregnancy and birth and their related risks.

[sinkingfeeling]

13. Bull! How many die in child birth?

[blogslut]

14. Are these women concerned

..about the effectivenesss of RU496 in treating all these female ills?

In addition to its anti-progestin and anti-glucocoritcoid properties, RU-486 is a non-competitive anti-estrogen. As such, RU-486 blocks the capacity of the endometrial tissue to grow in response to estrogen, making Mifepristone a possible hormonal treatment for Endometriosis.(4)

Other uses for RU-486 include:

Meningiomas: Meningiomas account for 15% of all primary brain tumors and 12% of all spinal cord tumors. Meningiomas occur two times more frequently in women than men.(5)

Leiomyomas: Researchers believe RU-486 is a promising treatment option for fibroid tumors.(6) In one clinical study, researchers found that Mifepristone reduced the average size of uterine fibroid tumors and that the drug was well tolerated by the women who participated in the study.(7)

Breast & Ovarian Cancer: Experts estimate that Mifepristone may be an effective treatment in 40% of breast cancer tumors. In animal studies in the Netherlands, Mifepristone reduced breast cancer tumors as effectively as tamoxifen. In that research, the administration of both tamoxifen and Mifepristone reduced tumors size more than each drug alone.(8)

Laboratory trials conducted in New Jersey suggest that RU-486 may inhibit the proliferation of ovarian cancer cells.(9)

Cushing's Syndrome: Cushing's Syndrome is a potentially fatal over-production of the cortisol hormone. The vast majority of Cushing's Syndrome victims are women, primarily in their 20s to 40s.(10) Some forms of the deadly Cushing's Syndrome can be treated with RU-486.

HIV: Some studies indicate that the cortisol hormone plays a key role in the replication of the HIV virus. Elevated serum cortisol has been found at all stages of HIV-infection, particularly in late-stage HIV (AIDS) patients.(11) One in vitro study showed that by blocking cortisol, Mifepristone lessened the infectivity of HIV and reduced the production of HIV by the already infected cells by 70%.(12)

As an anti-glucocorticoid, RU-486 may prove effective in treating several additional conditions and diseases that are caused by elevated levels of cortisol. These health problems include depression, alcoholism, substance abuse, anorexia nervosa, ulcers, diabetes, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, and Alzheimer's.(13)

http://www.hcgresources.com/RU486.htm

[indepat]

16. Note to Christian Wire Service: bullets, bombs, shells, DU and napalm

are indiscriminate in whom they kill, but do you give an effing shit?

[Mz Pip]

18. Ever take the time to read one of those

inserts that are put in with prescription medications? Just about any drug out there has a small (very small) percentage of people who have serious side effects from taking it.

Women who take this should do so under doctor's careful supervision, not just pop the pill and disappear for a long weekend.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[Warren DeMontague]

19. It stops the absorption of Vitamin Jesus. n/t