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Swallowing the pill

Many people expect mifepristone, or RU 486, the abortion-inducing drug just approved by the Federal Drug Administration (it will be marketed as Mifeprex), to usher in a new era in abortion history. By making abortion more accessible (mifepristone can be prescribed by almost any family practitioner) and more private (the drug can possibly be taken at home), the abortion pill will—so it’s thought—drastically alter and defuse the abortion debate.