2005-2006 Regular Session 1st House HR 1079 & Senate S 511
Summary: This bill would suspend the sale of RU-486 while the Government Accounting Office, an investigative branch of Congress, performs a six-month investigation of the safety and effectiveness of the drug.
What You Should Know: RU-486 is the popular name for mifepristone, a drug women can take to induce an abortion. When used in combination with the prostaglandin misoprostol in the first 49 days of pregnancy, mifepristone can safely and effectively end an unwanted pregnancy by blocking progesterone, a hormone necessary to sustain a pregnancy. This is known as a "medical abortion," and must be prescribed by a physician. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved RU-486 in 2000, after it had already been available to women in France, the United Kingdom, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Israel, Spain, and the Netherlands. Despite global evidence to the contrary, proponents of the RU-486 Suspension and Review Act maintain that RU-486 is unsafe.
Primary Sponsor(s): Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett (R-MD) & Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC)
Introduction Date: 3/3/2005 (House) & 3/3/2005 (Senate)
Last Major Action:
House: 3/14/2005. Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Senate: 3/3/2005. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text of measure as introduced: CR S2020-2021)
