FDA Approves Dangerous 'Ella' Abortion Drug as Contraception

Another disastrous and dangerous drug has been released by the FDA, driven by politics.

LifeSiteNews reports: The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved Friday afternoon HRA Pharma’s “ella,” a new drug billed as an advanced form of "emergency contraception," for sale and distribution in the United States. However, pro-life advocates have raised the alarm on the drug’s safety and testing, and say ella is little more than a chemical abortion drug similar to RU-486, remarketed to the public as contraception.

The FDA’s unanimous decision allows the drug to be marketed in the United States as an “occasional” emergency contraception, taken by a woman up to five days after sexual intercourse. The FDA warned, however, that it was unsafe for women to use ella more than occasionally, as they had no data on its safety over the long term. They also warned that women should be ruled out as pregnant before being prescribed ella, and women experiencing lower abdominal pain or who become pregnant after taking ella should be checked by their health care providers for ectopic pregnancy. (see release)

Pro-life leaders, however, were upset with the federal regulatory agency’s decision to approve the drug, pointing out that ella chemically works the same as RU-486. Therefore it not only can cause an abortion, but may also pose a risk to a woman’s health and life, and even have an adverse effect on later pregnancies.

"The FDA underscored the point that this decision was driven by politics by releasing it late on a Friday when people are not paying attention,” said Wendy Wright, President of Concerned Women for America. "The meager trials done on ella indicate it may cause miscarriages and birth defects. Yet the FDA allowed the HRA Pharma to avoid fully testing the drug so women will be kept in the dark on what kind of serious complications it may cause to her and her baby."


Read the entire story.

Related:

Cardinal DiNardo warns against FDA plans to approve abortifacient Ulipristal

Jill Stanek: On the path to over-the-counter abortions
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