Etienne-Emile Baulieu, father of the abortion pill: 'Women's right to a safe abortion is irreversible'
ProfileIn 1982, the researcher discovered the RU-486 molecule, a medicinal solution to surgical abortion. As France is celebrating the 50th anniversary of legalizing abortion on January 17, the 98-year-old professor recalls the virulent lobbying against the sale of his invention.
On November 6, 2024, just as Donald Trump's victory as US president was announced, America's biggest mail-order abortion pill sellers saw their websites' traffic explode. Elisa Wells, co-founder of Plan C, a platform that enables American women to receive the abortion pill at home, said her organization recorded 82,200 visits on November 6, compared to around 4,000 daily visits before the election. After the Dobbs decision that overturned federal constitutional protections on abortion, she had observed a similar spike.
In Paris on January 10, a few days before Trump's inauguration and as France pays tribute to the Veil Law of January 17, 1975, that legalized abortion, Etienne-Emile Baulieu shook his head at the figures. In his Parisian home, overflowing with books and awards forgotten on his mantelpiece, the discoverer of the abortion pill, RU-486, (or mifepristone), reflected on the situation: "I will always support movements that fight for women's right to prevent unwanted pregnancy."
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