John Whitehead's Commentary
The Silent Abortion Pill Makes Some Noise
told a reporter that drug-induced abortions would revolutionize the abortion issue. Abortion pills could be taken privately, making obsolete the public - and thus political - visit to an abortion clinic. Since protests would no longer be a viable option, the pro-life movement would lose steam and Roe v. Wade would settle solidly into the core of American society. As an added bonus, abortion-related violence would also supposedly disappear.
Although that conversation took place four years ago, the revolution has yet
to materialize. New revelations about the Food and Drug Administration's
plans for the abortion pill RU-486 suggest that it may not turn out as
predicted by the NOW executive.
According to recent reports, the FDA plans to place tight restrictions on
the distribution of RU-486. Proposals are said to include a national
registry of doctors prescribing the drug, follow-up studies of all women who
opt for the drug-induced abortions and allowing only the doctors who are
experienced in surgical abortions to prescribe the pill.
Pro-abortion activists are incensed at the news. Gloria Feldt, president of
Planned Parenthood, said the FDA proposals would "so violate physicians'
privacy and security concerns that [RU-486] could be approved by the agency
but never really be on the market." Others, including Paul Blumenthal of
Planned Parenthood in Maryland, accuse the FDA of applying a different
standard because of the intense lobbying by pro-life groups against the
drug.
But the truth is that the FDA's proposals make sense. To the extent that
there are safety issues such as unnatural bleeding, access to the abortion pill should be carefully regulated to protect women. And it certainly has to be assumed that an agency operating under the purview of one of the most pro-abortion administrations in history will not be biased in favor of the pro-life lobby. If FDA officials say there are safety issues, then there surely are safety issues--the tenuous hold of pro-life Republicans on Congress notwithstanding.
In addition, even if the FDA were to approve RU-486 without restrictions,
there's no guarantee that the vision of a pro-abortion future would become a
reality. Consider the violence issue. The pro-abortion lobby is convinced
that violence would virtually disappear if medical abortions become the
norm. The problem, however, is that violence doesn't erupt because an issue
is public or private. Violence erupts, especially in the abortion context,
when other outlets of protest are closed off.
One simply has to look at the passage of the Freedom of Access to Clinic
Entrances Act, or FACE, to see this phenomenon in action. Before the act was
passed, abortion protests were a regular feature of American life. Almost
all of them were peaceful. But the passage of FACE chilled the free speech
expression of abortion protesters. As a result, dissent boiled beneath the
surface. Unable to find a peaceful outlet, it erupted in clinic bombings and the shooting of doctors.
Unrestricted approval of RU-486 could have the same effect. Simply making
abortion a private act will not change the deeply held views of those who
believe that abortion involves the taking of a human life. And the
obsolescence of abortion clinics would leave even fewer protest options than
under the FACE legislation. Instead of de-politicizing the issue, drug-induced abortions could force protesters to make even more noise in an
effort to be heard.
It will probably be years before we know the true effects of the FDA's
decision on RU-486. One thing is certain, though. Even restricted approval will have a monumental impact on the abortion debate in America. And forthose opposed to abortion, strict restrictions are the next thing to no
approval at all. And while they can't see it now, restricted approval is the
best medicine for the pro-abortion activists as well.
ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His most recent books are the best-selling Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the award-winning A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, and a debut dystopian fiction novel, The Erik Blair Diaries. Whitehead can be contacted at staff@rutherford.org. Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.
Publication Guidelines / Reprint Permission
John W. Whitehead’s weekly commentaries are available for publication to newspapers and web publications at no charge. Please contact staff@rutherford.org to obtain reprint permission.
