The French doctor and biochemist, Étienne-Émile Baulieu, who has died aged 98, was known as the “father of the abortion pill” for the development of RU486 (mifepristone) in 1980. It blocks the uptake of progesterone, which is essential for a successful pregnancy and, taken with a second drug (misoprostol), triggers a miscarriage. “Medical abortion”, as taking the two pills is known, is faster and more convenient than surgical procedures, and in 2022 accounted for 86% of terminations in the UK.
Baulieu told the German newspaper Die Zeit that when he was in Calcutta in the early 1970s, he was approached by a young woman begging. She had two very young children in tow and cradled a baby in her arms. He could see the baby had died. He told Die Zeit that the moment was pivotal: “The fatalism of extreme poverty and pregnancies! At that moment, I decided to stand up for women to make sure they could make their own decisions about their bodies. It gave meaning to my life as a doctor and researcher.”
