University health officials have no plans to make the recently approved "abortion pill" available to students at McCosh Health Center in the near future, Director of University Health Services Dr. Pamela Bowen said yesterday.
In a landmark decision certain to reshape the abortion debate, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved for sale mifepristone, also known as the abortion pill or RU-486 in Europe.
Now that a decision has been made regarding the drug on a national level, the choice lies in the hands of local doctors and health centers across the country — including McCosh — to determine whether to provide mifepristone.
Bowen said because it has been less than a week since the FDA's approval, no timetable has been set for determining whether the drug will be administered at McCosh.
But she said the health center staff will be gathering information and learning more about RU-486 in the months ahead.
"Just because a drug is approved by the FDA doesn't mean that it is safe," she said. "I think this will prove to be a very complicated issue, and it's not a drug we have any experience with."
Government officials say the drug will become available in the United States in the coming months.
Bowen said that for the time being, if University students come into the health center seeking the abortion pill, infirmary staff will try to help them by referring them to a specialist who could administer the drug.
Precedent
She emphasized the difference between RU-486 and the "morning-after pill," which McCosh has been administering to students for more than 25 years.
"From a safety standpoint, there are a lot of differences, physical considerations. This is aborting a pregnancy that is already in progress," Bowen said. "It's not like we're talking about the latest blood pressure pill."
Even if McCosh medical staff members decide that RU-486 is safe and appropriate to administer to students, Bowen said they will still have to consider the objections the decision might draw from abortion critics.
"In America, there are not too many physicians performing abortions right now, for fear of their lives," she said. "There are a lot of aspects to this that we still need to discuss."
Vanessa Bartram '02, president of Princeton Pro-Choice, said she hopes that McCosh will decide to offer mifepristone to University students.
"It's a huge breakthrough for women in this country," she said. "Our overall goal, however, is still to reduce the number of abortions. My only concern is that people will take advantage of this pill as if it were birth control."
Chris Nodes '02, president of Princeton Pro-Life, could not be reached for comment.
Princeton Medical Center officials will be reviewing RU-486 to determine whether they will administer the drug. Nurse supervisor Carol Schleisier said that all new drugs, including the abortion pill, "have to go through a pharmacy and therapeutics board" before being made available to patients.
Dr. David S. Rosenthal, director of health services at Harvard University, said Harvard will consider offering the pill to its students. Like Bowen, he emphasized the recent nature of the FDA's decision.
"We've got time to do this," he said. "We've got time to think about this."
The FDA's decision Thursday ended a 12-year process to get mifepristone on the American market, where it will now be sold under the brand name mifeprex.
Studies show that RU-486 is 92-percent effective when used in the first seven weeks of pregnancy, according to the FDA.
The abortion pill has already been used by millions of women in 13 countries, mainly in Europe.
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