Medical ethicist Dr Megan Best says RU486 is a ‘totally unsafe drug’ and much of the media reporting around the current Senate debate on its availability has been ‘very misleading’.

“I have great concerns for the welfare of women considering abortion if this drug is approved,” says Dr Best.

Last year the New England Journal of Medicine published a paper that found that four Californian women had died of toxic shock after taking the drug.

One of the problems with RU 486 is that sometimes the foetus is not completely expelled and the woman gets prolonged bleeding.

Even in ‘successful’ abortions, the typical symptoms women experience when they take RU 486 are nausea, vomiting, significant abdominal cramping and vaginal bleeding.

“It is not safe or easy,” says Dr Best. “It is a life threatening option.”

Meanwhile, Dr Peter Jensen, Anglican Archbishop of Sydney has written to Senators urging them not to take approvals of the drug away from the Health Minister and ‘place them in the hands of unaccountable officials as in the Therapeutic Goods Administration’.

Speaking today, Archbishop Jensen said, "I understand that there is informed opinion from some medical experts that there is evidence that the lives of some women who have taken this drug have been placed at risk.

“For this reason I believe that easy access to the drug is ill advised and that we need to maintain the present policy that is based on a far more cautious approach."

Dr Jensen says the matter is a one of great interest and importance to the Australian public.

"I call on the Senators therefore to ensure that there is reasoned and civilised debate on the Bill and that they refrain from cheap political point scoring and hectoring of others as they debate this matter that is so immediately germane to the lives and health of many women."

Go to Media Releases to read the Archbishop’s full statement…