ABSTRACT
The advent of medical abortion methods, using either methotrexate or mifepristone (RU 486) combined with misoprostol, represents the first new abortion option for women in twenty years. Medical abortion, a procedure during which abortion is induced by a medication rather than through surgery, has the potential to change the terms in which abortion debates are fought. In comparison to surgical procedures, such as suction curettage, medical abortions can be performed earlier (at four to seven weeks’ gestation as opposed to seven weeks and later), will allow women to avoid surgery and anesthetics, will eliminate the risk of cervical laceration or perforation, and can be managed in the privacy of a physician’s office and a woman’s home, thus making direct intervention by anti-abortionists less likely. Though both mifepristone and methotrexate share these assets, methotrexate is more difficult for anti-abortionists to track; while mifepristone is primarily employed to induce abortion, methotrexate is indispensable for other applications, including the treatment of psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, Crohn’s disease, a variety of cancerous tumors, and ectopic pregnancies (Schaff et al. 1996: 198). In the US, this advantage represents a significant political and practical consideration in relation to current anti-abortion tactics in that, though its use may be regulated, methotrexate will not be taken off the market.
