RU-486 Banned on Campuses. Do you agree?

RU-486 Debate Replaying at Colleges Tuesday, April 17, 2001 Washington — The debate over the abortion pill on college campuses is not just an academic exercise. Seven months after the Food and Drug Administration approved the abortion pill RU-486 (mifepristone) for use in the United States, many universities have decided not to offer it, saying conditions for dispensing it are too onerous. It's also apparent that some want to avoid the attention that distributing RU-486 might bring. But when it comes to abortion, there's no escaping controversy entirely, and some students say the hands-off policy violates their rights. ``If this is a legal, medical procedure then it should be just as available to students as to the general public,'' said Mike Ehlers, a Michigan State student representative. A survey of about 30 schools found one, Yale, offering RU-486. Many colleges outside of that survey, done by an anti-abortion group, also do not offer RU-486, abortion-rights advocates say. ``There's absolutely no reason women shouldn't have access,'' said Caroline Barber, a junior and president of the Reproductive Rights Action League of Yale College. Michigan State University's student assembly passed a resolution in February criticizing the school's decision not to offer RU-486 as ``an abridgment of students' civil rights.'' Campus officials prefer the clinical debate to the political one, focusing on the repeat doctor's visits and potential complications and costs associated with administering the drug. A woman choosing this alternative to surgical abortion must see the doctor at least three times during a two-week period — to take the abortion pill, to be given a second drug that causes contractions that expel the embryo, and to check that the pregnancy has ended. Sold as Mifeprex, the drug must be taken within 49 days after the start of the last menstrual period and is only distributed to doctors who can accurately date a pregnancy. Doctors must also be able to operate in cases of severe bleeding or when the medical option fails — or arrange in advance for the services of another physician. ``It was really a no-brainer that we would not provide the RU-486,'' said Stephen Blom, health services director at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. ``We're doing minor surgeries, lacerations, mole removal. We are not doing any kind of surgery beyond that.'' Utah's publicly financed universities say they don't provide abortion of any sort. ``There is a lot of controversy surrounding RU-486 and we do not offer it,'' said Laura Davenport, medical director for the University of Utah's student health services. But at Yale, after the drug won FDA approval ``it simply was added to the list of options. That's it,'' said Gila Reinstein, assistant director of public affairs. The latest debate echoes the battle that led to the drug's U.S. approval 12 years after women first used it in France, where it was developed. It has been approved for use by 20 other countries, according to the Population Council, a research group. President Bush opposes abortion but said during the campaign there is probably little he can do about the pill. Still, he says his administration will review the pill's approval, and some Republicans in Congress hope to limit the number of doctors who can prescribe it. In a survey by the anti-abortion American Life League, Yale was the only school of about 30 questioned to say it will supply RU-486 on campus. ``Almost all of them unequivocally cited the controversies and the complications and the danger,'' of RU-486, said Scott Weinberg, the league's spokesman. Women ages 20-24 obtained about one-third of the nearly 1.2 million abortions in the United States in 1997, the most recent statistics show. But abortions generally aren't performed at the skeleton-staffed health centers serving most colleges, officials say. Abortion-rights advocates want schools to make an exception for RU-486, since it must be taken soon after the pregnancy is discovered. Also, women will be closer to their doctors on campus and can avoid going to abortion clinics that are often targeted by protesters. ``Every campus health center has some provision for backup medical services,'' said Elizabeth Cavendish, the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League's legal director, rejecting the claims of some schools that they are ill-equipped to handle the abortion pill. As with abortions generally, schools not offering the pill will refer students to sources off campus. Some students don't want their school fees used to fund abortions. Harvard University helps students pay for abortions under its health plan, but will refund a portion of the health fee to student objectors upon request, said Dr. David S. Rosenthal, the university's health services director. ``I don't want my money going to something like that,'' said Theresa McKenna, a sophomore and leader of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Respect Life Committee. The school does not provide RU-486. ``If you become pregnant, it's not the worst thing in the world.'' FOX NEWS

Well, should it be offered? Or not?

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