The pill was greeted by family-planning proponents with great enthusiasm. They believe that this new pill offers a crucial alternative for birth control. However, critics have condemned the move as deceptive and misleading, because the drug could be used to induce an abortion.
Although it is just being marketed in the U.S, the drug has been available in Europe and 22 other countries since May 2009. The Ella drug distributor Watson Pharmaceuticals, announced in a press release earlier today that it intends to begin marketing the in the fourth quarter of 2010. The drug which comes in the form of a 30gram tablet prevents pregnancy by inhibiting progesterone and by doing so consequently delays ovulation.
Critics argue that ella also known as ulipristal acetate acts in a way similar to RU-486 an abortion drug. They feel that in the long run the drug will be abused. They believe that women who are do not know that they are pregnant can unknowingly take the drug and abort a fetus. They also claim that men can slip ella into drinks of unsuspecting women to avoid pregnancy.
Advocates of the drug argue that Ella will only be available to women as a prescription drug. They also argue that proof that ella induces abortion is not substantial as the drug has never been tested that way. Whatever the case is the new drug is bound to worsen long-running debate as to whether doctors have an obligation to write prescriptions for medication they oppose on moral grounds.
