Residents of the 7th Senate District recently received Senator Balboni's Legislative Questionnaire. This questionnaire includes a question regarding whether his constituents support "over the counter distribution of "the day after" abortion drug RU-486." He is confusing "The Morning After Pill" (Emergency Contraception) and "The Abortion Pill" (RU-486 or Mifepristone). Unfortunately, this confusion is quite common.

To be clear: there is no such thing as a "day after abortion pill." Emergency contraception prevents pregnancy from occurring. RU-486/Mifepristone terminates an established pregnancy. There are different drugs with different purposes.

Emergency contraceptives (EC) or "The Morning-After Pill" is simply a high-dose of birth control pills. Although this therapy is commonly known as the "Morning-After Pill," this term is misleading; EC may be initiated any time from immediately after until 72 hours after unprotected intercourse, or intercourse in which protection is used but is believed to have failed. When used within this time period, EC reduces the risk of pregnancy by about 75 percent. Again, EC prevents conception, it does not abort.

RU-486/Mifepristone is an early abortion pill that is used to terminate a pregnancy up to 49 days after a woman's last normal menstrual period. Mifepristone must be followed by another drug, Misoprostol, to complete the termination of the pregnancy. If a woman chooses this form of medical abortion, she must make 2-3 visits to her doctor. There is no move to sell this over the counter.

In addition to working as an early abortion pill, Mifepristone may have potential for a variety of non-pregnancy-related conditions including endometriosis, benign brain tumors, uterine fibroid tumors and ovarian and uterine cancers.

Sima Weinsaft,

Director of Public Affairs

Planned Parenthood of Nassau County