- Shulamit Reinharz

Spinifex Press Pty Ltd, 504 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne, Vic. 3051 Australia

First published by Spinifex Press, 1991

This is a co-publication of Spinifex Press, Melbourne, Australia and The Institute on Women and Technology, MIT, Cambridge, USA.

Copyright @ Renate Klein, Janice G. Raymond, Lynette J. Dumble,

1991.

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without prior written permission of both die copyright owner and the above publisher of the book.

Typeset in 11/12.4 pt New Baskerville by Claire Warren, Melbourne Production by Sylvana Scannapiego, Island Graphics, Melbourne Made and Printed in Australia by The Book Printer, Victoria The contents of this book have been printed on 100% recycled paper

National library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry: CIP Klein, Renate.

RU 486: misconceptions, myths and morals.

Bibliography.

ISBN 1875559 019.

1. Mifepristone. 2. Abortion. 1. Raymond, Janice G.

11. Dumble, Lynette J. (Lynette Joyce), 1946- III.

Title.

363.46

Renate Klein. She is a biologist, member of FINRRAGE and author/editor of numerous books on reproductive technologies, Women's Studies and feminist theory. Her books include: Theories of Women's Studies (1983), TestTube Women (1984), Man-Made Women (1985), Infertility, (1989), The Exploitation of a Desire (1989), Radical Voices (1989), and Angels of Power (1991).

Janice G. Raymond is Professor of Women's Studies and Medical Ethics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Associate Director of the Institute on Women and Technology at MIT, Cambridge, USA. She has written extensively on the new reproductive technologies. Her most recent book is Technological Injustice: Women and the New Reproductive Medicine (1992).

Lynette J. Dumble is the Senior Research Fellow in the University of Melbourne's Department of Surgery at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and Visiting Professor of Surgery at the University of Texas, Houston, USA. She has published numerous articles in medical and scientific journals in the areas of transplantation, immunosuppression (including prostaglandins), and medical ethics.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 1

CHAPTER ONE
The History of RU 486 9
Events in France 13
International Affirmation and Criticism 14
The Role of the International Press 18
The Father of the Abortion Pill? 21

CHAPTER TWO
Claims for RU 486/PG Abortion
Privacy versus Control 25
Safety versus Contraindications/
Complications 31
Contraindications 34
Complications 37
Chemical Abortion versus Conventional
Abortion 48

CHAPTER THREE
What Is RU 486 and How Does It Work? 56
Hormonal Interaction 57
How RU 486 Works 61
Other Sites of Action and Applications
Of RU 486 67
The Effect of RU 486 on Women’s Menstrual
Cycles, Fertility, Eggs and Embryos 71

CHAPTER FOUR
The Role of Prostaglandins: Known
and Unknown Dangers 80
What are Prostaglandins?
Prostaglandins in the Treatment of Human
Health Disorders 83
The Role and Application of Prostaglandins
in Obstetrics and Gynecology 87
Prostaglandin/Antiprogesterone-Induced
Abortion 106

CONCLUSION 112

ENDNOTES
Chapter One 123
Chapter Three 126
Chapter Four 130

BIBLIOGRAPHY 132