Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has banned imports of the abortion pill RU-486.
Although the drug is not licensed in Italy, it has been available on an “experimental” basis since 2002. Health Minister Francesco Storace said imports of the drug have “rocketed” in the past two years, in an interview with the UK Times.
“From now on doctors will have to justify every individual request on precise clinical and epidemiological grounds,” he said.
The abortion pill causes a woman up to seven weeks pregnant to abort her baby. The drug Mifepristone blocks the hormone progesterone, causing the uterine lining to break down and bleed.
The so-called “medical abortion” occurs with severe side effects including nausea, pain and bleeding. Hemorrhaging occurs in up to 5% of cases. In over 10% of cases, medical intervention, including a surgical abortion, is required to cope with the effects of the drug. Ten women have died from taking the drug, five in the US alone.
Last month, Pope Benedict XVI urged doctors not to give women the abortion pill, saying the Italian government should not “introduce pharmaceuticals that in one way or another hide the grave nature of abortion.”
(This article courtesy of LifeSiteNews.com.)
