Abstract
While pregnant women have sought abortifacients for thousands of years, they had no
success at finding one that both worked and did not jeopardize their lives in the
process. The discovery of mifepristone, with both anti-glucocorticoid and anti-progesterone
properties, has had a profound effect on women's lives while weaving the abortion-related
political hazards. Despite the controversies, millions of women around the world have
used mifepristone for medical abortion. This review describes how researchers addressed
the numerous barriers of a mifepristone abortion (i.e., gestational age limitation,
lengthy process, high costs, complex regimen, failures, side effects and complications)
and continue to improve upon the limited numbers and types of clinicians offering
mifepristone.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 05, 2009
Accepted:
August 11,
2009
Received in revised form:
July 19,
2009
Received:
May 17,
2009
Identification
Copyright
© 2010 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
