Pressure to remove restrictions to abortion pill
Pressure on the Australian Government to remove the existing legislative barrier to the importation of RU-486', 'the abortion pill', continues.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration approved RU-486 for use in Australia in the mid 1980s, but in 1996 an amendment was passed requiring Federal Parliament approval for the importation of RU-486 or any similar drug that could be used as an abortifacient. Since then, no applications for importation have been received.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has allowed Americans access to the early abortion method already used in the UK, Ireland, Norway, Finland, Denmark, France, Germany, Sweden and China.
The pill contains the ingredient mifepristone which blocks a hormone vital to sustaining pregnancy, and the FDA has approved its use for the termination of early pregnancy, defined as 49 days or less from the beginning of the last menstrual period.
Last Reviewed: 16 October 2000
