[ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 9/22/03 ]

Pregnant teen dies after taking abortion pill

Associated Press


SAN FRANCISCO --Holly Marie Patterson went to a Planned Parenthood clinic
two weeks ago to quietly consider ways to handle a life change she wasn't
ready for. One week later, the 18-year-old lay dying on an emergency room
table, the victim of complications after she took the abortion pill.

Patterson's death is likely to reignite the debate surrounding RU-486, the
pill approved by the Food and Drug Administration two years ago as a way for
women to end pregnancies themselves.

Her father is hoping the tragedy will encourage other women considering
abortion to seek support, especially from their families.

"Every time I think about it, I think, 'She suffered in silence,"' said
Monty Patterson, who said he did not know his daughter was pregnant or
taking abortion drugs. "She felt she would disappoint everyone around her,
and then she had to carry that whole load. I wish she could have told me so
I could have helped her."

Holly Patterson, who lived in the San Francisco suburb of Livermore, visited
a Planned Parenthood clinic Sept. 10 to take the pill. She followed the
prescribed procedure for using RU-486, taking two more pills at home three
days later.

After experiencing bleeding and cramps so severe that she was unable to
walk, her boyfriend rushed her to the hospital the following evening, where
she was given painkillers and sent home. Three nights later, she was back in
the hospital. She died the following day.

An autopsy has been scheduled to determine the cause of Holly's death. But
Monty Patterson said he learned from an attending physician at the hospital
that she had died after a massive infection caused by fragments of the fetus
left inside her uterus caused her to go into septic shock. Planned
Parenthood also said it is investigating Patterson's death.

A spokeswoman for Danco Laboratories, which makes RU-486, estimated that
200,000 women in the United States and more than 1 million worldwide have
used the pill since it was invented in France in the 1980s.

Two women who took it in the United States have died, although the FDA says
it is unclear if their deaths were directly related to the pill's use.

Patients who take RU-486 take the first pill under the care of a physician.
A second medication called misoprostol, taken three days later, induces
labor so the embryo can be expelled. In 5 to 8 percent of cases, surgery is
required to stop the patient's bleeding.

Planned Parenthood's website compares the process to having a miscarriage.
Five to eight percent of cases require surgery, either to stop a patient's
bleeding or to complete the abortion.

Eric Schaff, chair of the National Abortion Federation, which promotes
non-surgical abortion, said aspirin causes more deaths than RU-486.

But anti-abortion groups such as the National Right to Life Committee insist
that the pills "offer a whole new set of significant risks," and makes
abortion seem too simple. A report on the group's Web site says the pill
gives "supporters of abortion a chance to change the image of abortion,
making it seem as simple as taking a pill."

Although he said he did not blame the pill for his daughter's death, Monty
Patterson regretted that she and her boyfriend hadn't received more
information and support from family members, counselors and physicians.

"What's disturbing is these young couples, they are relying upon what they
think is good, solid info, and relying on what they think is a supportive
network telling them everything is OK," he said. "I would have said, 'You
know what, they don't know everything. Let's get more information."'

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