Beverly Winikoff, a professor and public health expert, walks us through the advent of the abortion pill, RU486 and how the pills move across the globe. This episode gives listeners an inside scoop on what happened behind laboratory doors upon discovering the abortion pill, RU486.

• Read the full transcript (english/español) [pdf]

• Population Council: The Population Council conducts research to address critical health and development issues

• Rousel Uclaf: A former French pharmaceutical company which oversaw the development of RU486

• André Ullman: MD, PhD, medical director of Rousel Uclaff

• Hoescht: German pharmaceutical company that acquired Rousel Uclaf in 1997

• Aid Access: “Aid Access supports women who cannot otherwise access an abortion or miscarriage treatment and protects their human rights.”

• Gynuity Health Projects: “Envisions a world in which each individual has access to safe and effective reproductive and maternal health care—delivered where, when, and how needed.”

• Rebecca Gomperts: Rebecca Gomperts, MD, MPP, PhD is a registered physician in Austria and the founder of Women on Waves and Women on Web, which provides reproductive health services for people around the world.

• Margaret Sanger: (September 14, 1879 - September 6, 1966) American birth control advocate and nurse.

• Nicholas Kristof: “Another Pill That Could Cause a Revolution” — 2010 NYTimes article that features Winikoff referencing the abortion pill as “world shaking.”

• Chloe Murtagh, Elisa Wells, Elizabeth Raymond, Francine Coeytaux, Beverly Winikoff: “Exploring the Feasibility of Obtaining Mifepristone and Misoprostol from the Internet — Article referenced author, Chloe Murtagh “We aimed to document the experience of buying abortion pills from online vendors that do not require a prescription and to evaluate the active ingredient content of the pills received.”

• Compilation of words and ideas