A bill in the Texas Senate could restrict the prescription of and distribution of the abortion drug RU-486.
The bill is being offered by Senator Dan Patrick (R-Houston). Patrick has made abortion restrictions a priority since his election in 2006. He passed a mandatory sonogram bill in 2011. And has filed a bill this session to restrict how late a woman can have an abortion. His bill on RU-486 was presented to members of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee Tuesday.
"This is a straight forward bill. This is not before pregnancy. This is terminating a pregnancy," Patrick told the committee. "And all we鈥檙e asking is that the abortion clinics follow the federal drug administration guidelines and the manufacturers guidelines.鈥�
Patrick invited three people to testify for the bill. Each focused on complications some women have encountered after taking it. Local OBGYN Mike Love cited a 2009 Finnish study.
鈥淭hey found a 20 percent rate of complication with medical abortion vs 5.6 with surgical abortions," Love said. "8-fold higher rate of hemorrhage. 5-fold higher rate of incomplete abortion.鈥�
The bill would also limit the pill鈥檚 use per FDA guidelines to within first 7 weeks of a pregnancy. The pill is commonly prescribed up to 9 weeks. Dr. Al Gross is with the American college of obstetrics and gynecologists. He told Senators FDA guidelines are 13 years old. And best practices no longer use them.
He also spoke against a provision in the bill that would require doctors prescribing RU486 to enter into a treatment contract with a separate physician who would help the patient in case of any adverse side-effects.
鈥淚 think this is a badly drafted bill and would be a dangerous precedent to set for other medical procedures," Gross said. "I have never heard of a cardiologist for example being required to have a contract with a cardiovascular surgeon in case he ruptures a coronary artery placing a stent.鈥�
