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The treatment, as administered in France, consists of three 200 milligram pills of RU 486 taken in a single dose, followed forty-eight hours later by a small amount of prostaglandin either as an injection or a vaginal suppository. Approximately 96% of women receiving the two drugs within the first nine weeks of a pregnancy have a complete abortion within a day of receiving the prostaglandin. In about one case in a thousand bleeding is sufficient to require a transfusion. Minor pain, cramps, and nausea are occasionally-reported side effects, but these are indistinguishable from heavy menstruation. In one study, the effects "were so slight ... that the patients didn't require any medication or follow-up care, except for one percent of the women who needed a mild painkiller for their cramps." 9
In France, the pills must be administered within forty-nine days of the last period if a woman wants an RU 486 abortion. It is also important to note that — regardless of imposed regulation — after about nine weeks, RU 486 loses much of its effectiveness, because at that point the placenta takes over the manufacture of progesterone from the corpus luteum and keeps the level of the hormone high. 5
In fact, RU 486 by itself is never more than 80% effective; it is only in combination with the prostaglandin that the 96% figure is regularly achieved. 3 The prostaglandin causes contractions of the uterus, helping to expel the lining and its contents — including the embryo if there is one — just like an ordinary menstrual period.