New morning-after pill prompts abortion row
A new morning after pill serves its purpose for five days after sex
Friday, 29, Jan 2010 11:51
By Anisa Kadri.
A new morning-after drug has been accused by some groups of being an 'abortion pill'.
The drug, ulipristal acetate (UA), serves its purpose up to five days after sex, whilst the pill most women use, levonorgestrel, works for a maximum of three days.
Anti-abortion groups have termed the new drug an "abortion pill", as results in the UK medical journal The Lancet show it reduces the chances of pregnancy over two times as effectively as the conventional pill.
The research on the new pill combined two trials, with the more recent of these involving 1,694 women randomly being given one of the two pills.
Whilst 22 women out of the sample fell pregnant after taking the conventional pill, there were only 15 pregnancies in the group that used the new drug.
The earlier pilot involved 1,500 women being given one of the two pills each, with seven pregnancies amongst those who took the new drug and 13 pregnancies amongst those that took the established pill.
Josephine Quintavalle, of the ProLife Alliance criticised the new pill, saying: "Five days is the time it takes for the egg to travel down the fallopian tubes where it is fertilised... This is like an abortion pill."
Meanwhile, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service said the new pill was an exciting advancement but noted that the cost made it inaccessible as it is three times the price of the conventional pill.
Although it was licensed in Europe last year, the new pill is yet to be sold in pharmacies in the UK as it is unknown whether it is as safe as levonorgestrel.
Dizziness has been cited as its most serious side effect so far.