The abortion foes in Congress introduced legislation Wednesday to tighten standards for doctors administering RU-486, the abortion pill approved by the Food and Drug Administration for U.S. sale late last month. \nDrug opponents, including Rep. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Sen. Tim Hutchinson of Arkansas, claim Congress now must take on the task of "correcting the FDA's mistake" because the agency "caved in" to pro-choice pressures, according to The Associated Press. Critics of the drug, including state legislatures across the nation and presidential candidate George W. Bush, say the drug will make it too easy for women to get abortions.\nYet the so-called "abortion pill" has been available to women in Europe for more than 10 years, and CNN reported it has not caused an increase in the number of abortions performed there. According to CNN, it is used in only about 10 percent of abortions in France, and has not replaced surgery as the preferred method of terminating pregnancy. RU-486 has not caused an abortion epidemic of the kind critics of the drug imagine.\n Jane Henney, the commissioner of food and drugs, called the FDA's decision "the result of the FDA's careful evaluation of the scientific evidence related to the safe and effective use of this drug," according to CNN.\n In fact, the Food and Drug Administration has labored with this decision for years, researching and testing the drug numerous times. The organization has studied every aspect of the drug's side effects and possible consequences. The FDA, better than any other government body, is aware of what this drug can do, and what risks it poses to the women who use it. The FDA's approval of the drug is a result of much time and effort, and it is not Congress' place to override that decision.\nWomen who choose to have abortions will do so whether they must have a surgical procedure or can simply take a series of pills. RU-486, marketed in the United States as Mifeprex, makes the procedure more convenient, but it will not send women out in droves to terminate their pregnancies. It will simply be an alternative women did not previously have available.\nCongress is wrong to try to override the FDA's ruling on this issue. The decision should be left to those who have been in the trenches for years, studying and researching the drug. The FDA decision-makers know more than congressmen about this matter, and the congressmen need to respect the organization's decision. \nThis isn't about politics, and Congress needs to keep it that way.
Staff vote: 10 - 3 - 1\nOnline vote: 48 - 21 - 1
