Researcher confirms abortion drug can cause women’s death

Providence, R.I., Jul 27, 2005 / 22:00 pm

A Brown University researcher has concluded that the abortion drug RU 486 causes rare bacterial infections in women that can lead to death, reports LifeNews.com. Dr. Ralph Miech is expected to have his research published in the September issue of The Annals of Pharmacotherapy.

The two-part drug-induced abortion uses mifepristone to block the effects of progesterone and shut off nutrition to the placenta and the baby. The woman then ingests misoprostol, which is a cancer drug that is used to cause contractions and expel the now-dead baby.

Miech writes that the effects of mifepristone cause changes in the cervix that allow C. sordellii, a common vaginal bacteria, to enter the cervical canal.

"C. sordellii thrives in this low-oxygen environment and derives nutrition from the decaying fetal tissue," explains the professor of molecular pharmacology, physiology, and biotechnology at Brown. Meanwhile, mifepristone produces other hormonal effects.

In combination, these hormonal effects prevent the woman's immune system from fighting off the bacteria and may even help it spread. This can lead to septic shock, which leads to death, Miech says.
Septic shock was cited as the cause of death in the five women who took the Mifeprix abortion pills. Three of the women were known to have the C. sordellii bacteria in their bodies when they died.

According to Miech, C. sordellii infections are "rare outside of mifepristone use" and are particularly dangerous because women do not show any typical signs of infection or fever and tenderness upon examination.