By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities voiced “grave concern” to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over its move toward approving a new drug that may induce early abortions as an “emergency contraceptive.”
The Metro Catholic of Dallas-Fort Worth is reporting that Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, sent a letter on June 17 to FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg criticizing the agency for holding an advisory committee meeting on the drug Ulipristal, marketed as “Ella” in Europe, “without broad public input or a full record on the drug’s safety for women or their unborn children.”
The new drug, which is being sold in Europe under the name “EllaOne,” is said to prevent pregnancy for up to five days after unprotected sex, rather than the 48-72 hours promised by the currently approved pill known as Plan B.
In the letter, Cardinal DiNardo says Ella is more like the controversial abortion drug known as RU-486 than “Plan B.”
“Ulipristal is a close analogue to the abortion drug RU-486, with the same biological effect – that is, it can disrupt an established pregnancy weeks after conception has taken place,” he writes.
Even though its proposed use is targeted at women who may have already conceived, “no existing pregnancy test can exclude the possibility that a new life has been conceived in this time frame. Indeed, advocates praise this drug as an advance precisely because it seems to retain its full efficacy five days after intercourse – that is, after the opportunity to prevent fertilization has passed.”
He goes on to say that millions of American women, even those willing to use a contraceptive to prevent fertilization in various circumstances, would personally never choose to have an abortion.
These women “would be ill served by a misleading campaign to present Ulipristal simply as a ‘contraceptive,’” the Cardinal says.
“In fact, FDA approval for that purpose would likely make the drug available for ‘off-label’ use simply as an abortion drug – including its use by unscrupulous men with the intent of causing an early abortion without a woman’s knowledge or consent. Such abuses have already occurred in the case of RU-486, despite its warning labels and limited distribution.”
He goes on to say that Congress has acted for many years to ensure that the federal government does not fund abortion, and that the current Administration has voiced support for these laws.
However, he adds, “Plans for approving a known abortion-causing drug as a ‘contraceptive’ for American women is not consistent with the stated policy of the Administration on these matters.”
He concluded his letter by promising to follow further discussion and action on Ulpristal with “great interest.”
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