An abortionist seeks volunteers for chemical experiments
Dr. Ellen Wiebe has done more than 3,000 abortions since 1978. Each week she performs about 10 of them at the Everywoman's Health Centre in Vancouver. But she is determined to expand her practice. She's seeking a chemical solution to unwanted pregnancies and to that end she is looking for expectant women. Her recruits will be asked to test methotrexate and misoprostol, drugs that have traditionally been used to treat bowel disease and ulcers but when used as prescribed by Dr. Wiebe can have deadly consequences for the unborn.
The research faces strong opposition. The Pro-Life Society of B.C. has complained to the body regulating the medical profession. And Lederle, the manufacturer of misoprostol doesn't want the drug used to trigger abortions. But Dr. Wiebe is determined to press ahead in pursuit of cheap, over-the-counter abortions.
She became interested in the drugs in October of last year, when she read about a project conducted by two doctors at the University of San Francisco. She learned that the doctors administered methotrexate (a drug used to treat cancer and inflammation of the bowel) to stop fetal growth and then, three days later, had their pregnant research subjects use misoprostol (a drug used to treat peptic ulcers) to cause uterine contractions to expel the fetus.Dr. Wiebe was "so excited" by what she had read that within four days she had submitted a research proposal to a University of B.C. medical ethics committee for approval.
From the end of December 1993 to April 1994, she experimented on 20 patients (all less than seven weeks pregnant.) She gave them methotrexate injections and three days later had them insert misoprostol capsules into their vaginas.
Just 15 of the 20 women had their drug-induced abortion go as planned. Two required abortion surgery and three women, who tired of waiting after the abortion didn't happen, opted for surgical removal of their fetuses.
"One woman, for example, had cramps so bad that they lasted for 40 minutes," says Dr. Wiebe. Another patient had bleeding that went on for a week.
Dr. Wiebe is launching another study of 100 patients she is now recruiting. And she says that she's committed to drug-induced abortions because she feels they will ultimately be more accessible, cheaper and less stressful than traditional methods.
"Women prefer it. The abortions feel more natural," she says. "It's the kind of thing my patients want."
But the procedure is not the kind of thing the manufacturer of mistroprostol wants. The Searle pharmaceutical company of Chicago, which markets the drug under the brand name Cytotec, is not interested in entering the abortion market. "We've always wanted Cytotec to be a preventive drug product. We've never had the intention of marketing it for abortions and we're not going to recommend it for that purpose," says Searle spokesman Jack Domeischel.
Dr. Wiebe also faces widespread opposition from the pro-life community. The Pro-Life Society of B.C. has filed complaints with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C. and Health and Welfare Canada regarding Dr. Wiebe's use of misoprostol for a purpose not recommended by Searle. "It's unethical to use a drug for purposes which the pharmaceutical company involved states it's not to be used for," says society president Ted Gerk of Kelowna. "It's really sad that a drug that is designed to save lives is ending lives."
As for the surviving research subjects he notes that no-one knows what the long-term effects of these drugs on women are when used for this purpose."
This is not Dr. Wiebe's first stint in the public eye. She was ordered to pay $10,000 in damages after she was sued for a botched abortion she performed in 1979. The suit marked the first time in Canada that damages have been awarded for wrongful birth.
The suit involved an abortion attempted on a 17-year-old at Vancouver's Shaughnessy Hospital. The patient later gave birth to twin girls and Dr. Wiebe admitted in court she had signed the doctor's report on the woman's operation without reading a lab test that said she hadn't taken out fetal tissue during the abortion.
"I'd say that my interest in medical abortion research stems from the case," says the doctor. "I was worried. I questioned in my mind whether I was good enough to do abortions." But after doing some research she determined that her "complication rate" was "the same as anyone else's."
Mr. Gerk, however, has a more cynical assessment of her motives. "Given her past experience, it's no surprise she wants drug-induced abortions," he observes. "She's using women as guinea pigs."
-Rick Hiebert