Description

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A classic text for health activists and feminists interested in the complexities of how drugs are developed, marketed, and sold to women around the world, this book reviews the unusual history of the French abortion pill RU-486. Critical of the positive claims made for RU-486, it argues that its promotion is filled with myths and misconceptions. Scrutinizing the science and politics behind RU-486, this account examines how the pill benefits the medical profession, drug companies, and government health economies and offers no advantage to women. Topics include the safety and effectiveness of RU-486, whether or not RU-486 privatizes and de-medicalizes abortion, and the dangerous effects of prostaglandins. This updated edition includes a new introduction.

About the Author

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A longtime feminist scholar-activist on violence against women and sexual exploitation, Janice Raymond has been a leader in the campaign to get prostitution recognized as violence against women and as one of the most misunderstood forms of gender inequality. Organizing projects and testifying in many different parts of the world opposing legalization of the sex industry, Raymond has encouraged governments instead to provide services and alternatives for women in prostitution and to legislate against the buying of women and children for sexual activities. In 2007, Dr. Raymond was awarded the International Woman Award from the Zero Tolerance Trust in the UK for her work to establish the legal recognition of prostitution as violence against women. Renate Klein is the cofounder and the director of Spinifex Press. She is a former associate professor of women's studies at Deakin University and the author of several books, including Australia for Women, Cat Tales, and Girl's Best Friend. Janice G. Raymond is a longtime feminist scholar-activist on violence against women and sexual exploitation. She is the recipient of the International Woman Award from the Zero Tolerance Trust in the UK and the author of Passion for Friends, Sexual Liberals and the Attack on Feminism, and Transsexual Empire. She lives in Montague, Massachusetts. Lynette Dumble is the founder and the international director of the Global Sisterhood Network. She is a former senior research fellow in the University of Melbourne's department of surgery at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and a former visiting professor of surgery at the University of Texas–Houston. Renate Klein is the cofounder and the director of Spinifex Press. She is a former associate professor of women's studies at Deakin University and the author of several books, including Australia for Women, Cat Tales, and Girl's Best Friend. Janice G. Raymond is a longtime feminist scholar-activist on violence against women and sexual exploitation. She is the recipient of the International Woman Award from the Zero Tolerance Trust in the UK and the author of Passion for Friends, Sexual Liberals and the Attack on Feminism, and Transsexual Empire. She lives in Montague, Massachusetts. Lynette Dumble is the founder and the international director of the Global Sisterhood Network. She is a former senior research fellow in the University of Melbourne's department of surgery at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and a former visiting professor of surgery at the University of Texas–Houston. Swiss-born Renate Klein is the co-founder and director of Spinifex Press. She has a MA in Natural Sciences from Zurich University, a BA in Women's Studies from the University of California (Berkeley) and a PhD in Sociology of Education from the University of London, and was Associate Professor of Women's Studies at Deakin University until 2006. She is renowned internationally for her work on feminist theory and reprogenetic engineering. She has written critiques of cloning, drugs used in in-vitro fertilisation, surrogacy, the (un)ethics of population control and the so-called cervical cancer vaccines. Renate Klein is the cofounder and the director of Spinifex Press. She is a former associate professor of women's studies at Deakin University and the author of several books, including Australia for Women, Cat Tales, and Girl's Best Friend. Janice G. Raymond is a longtime feminist scholar-activist on violence against women and sexual exploitation. She is the recipient of the International Woman Award from the Zero Tolerance Trust in the UK and the author of Passion for Friends, Sexual Liberals and the Attack on Feminism, and Transsexual Empire. She lives in Montague, Massachusetts. Lynette Dumble is the founder and the international director of the Global Sisterhood Network. She is a former senior research fellow in the University of Melbourne's department of surgery at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and a former visiting prof

Praise For…

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"This book makes an important contribution to the debate surrounding RU 486, a debate which the tragedies of history – those associated with other reproductive technologies – tell us, we have every need to involve ourselves in, to acquaint ourselves with and above all, to have our say in. RU 486 Misconceptions, Myths and Morals is, as the authors themselves point out, unique even in a feminist scholarship (since many feminists have given the drug their support), for its resounding criticism of RU 486." —Kim Webster, Australian Women’s Book Review, Vol 4

"This is an eminently readable and thought-provoking book. The authors’ concern for the rights and welfare of women is evident throughout … RU 486 Misconceptions, Myths and Morals was [first] published in 1991, and it still provides the most up-to-date, independent analysis of information available to us." —Anna Fitzpatrick, The Women’s Library Newsletter Vol 3, No. 4

"RU 486: Misconceptions, Myths and Morals is an important contribution to a discussion which until recently has been dominated by drug company press releases." —Claudine Holt, Green Left