September 2000 – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today September 28, 2000 approved the abortion drug mifepristone – known as the abortion pill – for sale and prescription in the United States.
Women in Europe have been able to use mifepristone – known there as RU-486 – for 10 years as a pharmaceutical alternative to surgical abortion during early pregnancy.
The pill, to be marketed in the United States under the name Mifeprex, will be available only through physicians.