A woman's right to choose whether or not to end a pregnancy continues to be a big issue in the US. A young woman in the Bay Area recently died of septic shock after taking RU-486, near the end of the recommended period in which one can safely use the so-called "abortion pill." Holly Patterson, the young woman in question, took RU-486 two weeks after her 18th birthday, and her father thinks that she waited until she turned 18 to seek treatment. Mr. Patterson is calling for a state constitutional amendment that requires parental notification when a woman under the age of 18 seeks an abortion. Many people are calling for the removal of RU-486, or mifepristone, from the FDA's list of allowable drugs. Many also question the non-FDA approved alternative treatment method Holly received. She was allowed to administer misoprostol, the second drug in the medical abortion regimen, at home instead of having a medical professional perform the procedure.

In happier news, the FDA may soon remove the prescription requirement for "Plan B", which is a form of emergency contraception. This would make possible over-the-counter purchase of Plan B.

The ban on so-called "Partial Birth Abortion" (late-term abortion), which President Bush signed into law on November 5, 2003, has led to concerns that women may lose the right to have abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy. On December 17th, 2003, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Ohio's partial-birth abortion ban law. One pregnant woman's view of the federal ban. On a slightly more positive note, Bush is promoting adoption of children who are in the foster care system. The President seems to think that women should suffer through over nine months of pregnancy, followed by childbirth- which has a higher risk of death for women than abortion does- and then put their unwanted offspring up for adoption. Will women lose more decision-making power and access to health care in the 2004 election year, as Bush panders to the right even more than he did in 2003?
April 25th in Washington, DC: National March for Women's Lives (formerly the National March for Choice)