Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 23, 1995 TAG: 9509250035
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
A study published Aug. 31 in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that the two-drug combination is safe and effective in inducing abortions at home.
The study's author, Dr. Richard U. Hausknecht of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, said Friday that doctors as far away as Iran began calling to learn how to use the drugs.
Asked if there would be a surge in abortions, he said, ``Yes. It's already occurred. We just don't know about it.''
Doctors can simply tell their patients the procedure is available and begin performing abortions without ``a sign out front,'' Hausknecht said.
``It can be done very quietly,'' he said.
That's an important consideration because of the threats and violence against doctors who perform abortions, Hausknecht said.
In his case, abortion foes have targeted him since the publication of the journal study. He said that he received a call at an unlisted number Thursday night from a man who warned: ``We're going to get you no matter where you hide.''
Hausknecht spoke at a briefing in New York held by the Kaiser Family Foundation of Menlo Park, Calif., and the National Press Foundation of Washington.
The briefing was held to report evidence suggesting that the availability of abortions is dropping across the country, especially for young women, poor women and women outside large cities.
A Kaiser Family Foundation survey of 307 obstetricians and gynecologists found that 33 percent are performing abortions, compared with 42 percent in a 1983 survey.
The survey also showed that the younger the doctors were, the less likely they were to perform abortions. Half of all the abortions performed by obstetricians and gynecologists are done by those 50 or older, the survey found.
by CNB