RU-486 abortion pill unavailable at CSULB

By Ryan May
Daily Forty-Niner

Campus officials at Cal State Long Beach announced earlier this month that the drug mifepristone, commonly known as RU-486 or the abortion pill, will not be available to students through Student Heath Services.

"After careful consideration, it has been determined that RU-486 will not be prescribed at the CSULB Student Health Center, as it is clear the clinical requirements for doing so exceed the scope of services the Student Health Center provides," said Renee Twigg, director of Student Health Services, in a memorandum released Oct. 12.

Also referred to as the "early option pill," mifepristone is a drug that blocks the hormones needed to sustain a pregnancy. When taken in conjunction with another drug, called misoprostol, mifepristone induces a spontaneous abortion that resembles a miscarriage, according to Planned Parenthood.

The requirements for administering the drug include an ultrasound, to determine if the patient is within 49 days of becoming pregnant before prescribing the drug, a minimum of three follow-up visits after the drug is administered and the ability to verify if the abortion process was complete, Twigg said.

"With RU-486 you can get significant bleeding so you have to have the capability to handle [that], which we don't have here," said Dr. Rebecca Wills, chief staff physician of the health center.

Additionally, Wills said, the Food and Drug Administration requires facilities to have the capability to perform a procedure known as dilitation and curettage, in which the uterus is enlarged and any residual tissue scraped out.

Although the center will not prescribe the controversial drug, Twigg said the health center would refer patients to outside clinics when a list of providers becomes available.

"What we're trying to do is give the students the facts about what their choices are," Twigg said.  "If a student comes in pregnant, she has the choice of several options and she should be presented with those options."

Now that mifepristone has received FDA approval, Maria Cosmelli, a representative of Planned Parenthood in Los Angeles, said they hope to offer the drug within the next few months.

However, the cost has yet to be established by the drug's manufacturer, Danco Laboratories, with estimates ranging anywhere from $300 to as much as $1,000 for a single procedure.

In a summary released about the drug, Danco reported that mifepristone is 92 to 95 percent effective, describing their product as "a non-invasive early option for ending pregnancy".