Talking Points on Ella: (ulipristal) the abortion drug The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will deliberately mislead women if it mislabels Ella as a contraceptive and not an abortion drug. While women may be comfortable using contraception, many would object to taking an abortion drug. Mislabeling Ella would deceptively skirt federal laws on abortion, keeping those laws from being applied to Ella. Unless defined as an abortion drug, it is likely that federal funds will pay for it. Ella is chemically similar to the abortion drug RU-486 (mifepristone) and operates the same way. Ella blocks progesterone receptors, interfering with the uterine lining. Thus, embryos cannot implant or, if already implanted, die from lack of nutrition. Advocates for Ella claim it only delays ovulation, but they refuse to acknowledge that the drug is – and acts – like RU-486. Trials indicate that Ella may cause miscarriages or birth defects in babies that survive. Incredibly, FDA Advisory Committee members specifically recommended that long-term studies not be undertaken to investigate the outcome of existing pregnancies (i.e. if the drug causes birth defects) because negative reports would likely outweigh positive. The FDA panel put the drug company’s interests above the interest of patients. RU-486 was approved without adequate trials and resulted in several women dying from a bacterial infection. Over 1,000 adverse events have been reported, including seven deaths. The FDA is treating Ella in the same careless manner, putting women at risk. Even though the FDA placed restrictions on RU-486, abortion providers flagrantly violate them. It is fully expected that abortionists will give Ella to women beyond the five-day approved usage period, taking advantage of its deadly capabilities to cause an abortion. Trials indicate that frequent use of Ella may lead to high levels of toxicity. Yet, proper trials to discover what kind of complications could occur were not performed. Ella was tested only on women above 16-years-old. If approved, Ella will likely be given to girls younger than 16. If Ella is easy to obtain, women will become victims to it being slipped to them without their knowledge or consent by boyfriends who do not want the woman to have a baby. This abuse has already occurred numerous times with other abortion-inducing drugs.