Report reveals fourteenth known abortion drug death

London, England, Jun 14, 2008 / 18:21 pm

A new report reveals that a British teenager died in 2005 after a mifepristone abortion caused abnormal bleeding. She becomes the third known UK resident to die after taking RU-486 and the fourteenth worldwide.

Manon Jones, an 18-year-old student from Caernarfon in Gwynedd, reportedly had decided to have an abortion to avoid a conflict with her boyfriend’s Muslim family.

Jones’ mother Llywela responded to questions about her daughter’s death in a court hearing on Thursday.

“Manon found it very hard to make a decision to terminate the pregnancy," she said, according to Welsh newspapers. "She wanted to keep the child but there were difficult circumstances which she had to consider with her boyfriend’s family and their Muslim religion.”

Mrs. Jones said she traveled to Bristol to be with her daughter after she took the mifepristone pill, also known as RU-486, in June 2005 six weeks into her pregnancy.

“She was scared and I tried to reassure her. It was a very emotional experience for us both to witness her pass her baby and my grandchild into the bedpan," she said.

After the abortion, Manon Jones’ mother said they both went to a hospital where a scan showed no sign of problems. Jones then decided to go on a trip with friends.

“On June 19 I reluctantly packed her suitcase and took her to the train station. I was very worried about her. She said she was cold again and a bit light headed," Mrs. Jones said. “We both held on to each other and the train doors were closing on our hands as I stood on the platform as the train was leaving. It was the last time I saw her alive.”

Mrs. Jones said her daughter returned three days later when her condition worsened. Arriving at a hospital, she was sent to the intensive care unit after seizures and cardiac arrest. Four days after arriving at the hospital, Manon Jones died.

“I stayed with her at the bedside all day and all night and gradually realized that Manon had already left us and was not likely to recover," Jones’ mother told the court.

The mifepristone abortion drug has also caused eight maternal deaths in the U.S., one in Canada, one in Sweden, and one in France.