Abortion foes boycott drugmaker
ABORTION opponents plan to boycott the French maker of the abortion drug RU-486 and its subsidiaries in the United States, even though the company has given up all rights to the drug in this country. Anti-abortionists said Wednesday they hope to punish manufacturer Roussel Uclaf for an agreement that allows the Population Council, a nonprofit agency, to test RU-486 on American women and hire another company to sell it here. If approved, RU-486 would be an alternative to the 1.6 million surgical abortions performed each year. The boycott will cover Roussel Uclaf, its parent Hoechst AG of Germany and two US subsidiaries, drugmaker Hoechst Roussel and chemical giant Hoechst Celanese.