Last Friday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it had approved ella, a new abortion drug similar to RU-486 that is being marketed as an emergency contraceptive. “The FDA’s irresponsible approval of ella (Ulipristal), without adequate safety studies, places women’s health and lives at risk,” said Dr. Charmaine Yoest, President and CEO of Americans United for Life. “Furthermore, billing this abortion-causing drug as an ‘emergency contraceptive’ is misleading to the public.”

The announcement, made late on a Friday in the middle of August, was likely timed to avoid media attention and the public scrutiny that comes with it. But ella’s approval clearly places women at risk and should raise serious questions from the American people.

RU-486, which has a similar chemical make-up to ella, is known to cause serious adverse health risks such as severe bleeding, ruptured tubal pregnancies, serious infections, and even death. To ensure that ella is actually safe for women, particularly if it is used off-label, the drug needs further study.

In addition, ella has been falsely represented as just an emergency contraceptive, yet the FDA’s own labelling for ella acknowledges that the drug may cause abortions and is not just a contraceptive. Read more about ella on the AUL blog.