To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what studies his Department has conducted or is aware of concerning the effect on the mental health of the mother of the RU 486 abortion pill;(2) in what percentage of cases the use of the RU 486 abortion pill caused abortion without recourse to any further methods of abortion;
(3) if he will list known short-term side effects on the mother of the RU 486 abortion pill;
(4) in what percentage of cases the use of the RU 486 abortion pill is supplemented by the use of (a) prostaglandins, (b) surgical methods and (c) both of these;
(5) what information he has on the effects on the unborn child of the RU 486 abortion pill in those cases where abortion does not occur;
(6) if he will list the known long-term side-effects on the mother of the RU 486 abortion pill.
I understand that the manufacturer of RU 486 has applied for a product licence under the Medicines Act. Section 118 of that Act precludes the disclosure of any information relating to a produce licence application. However, studies in the use of RU 486 are well documented in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, June 1990,' Vol. 97, pp 480–486 and in The New England Journal of Medicine, March 8 1990, Vol. 322, No. 10 pp 645–648, copies of which have been placed in the Library.