ROME, July 31 (UPI) -- Italy Friday approved a so-called abortion pill despite stern opposition from the Vatican and political conservatives, officials say.
The Vatican warned that women who take the pill and doctors who prescribe it would be automatically excommunicated.
AIFA, Italy's pharmaceutical agency, approved usage by women of the RU486 pill until the 49th day of pregnancy under medical supervision in a hospital, an alternative to surgical abortion, ANSA reported.
The government said it would assess the agency's decision to answer those who question the possible risk.
Msgr. Giulio Sgreccia, Pontifical Academy of Life president emeritus, said the pill ''isn't a drug but a lethal poison'' that also threatens the lives of the women, pointing to 29 cases worldwide in which the drug has been linked to deaths.
He said taking the pill was the same as having a surgical abortion, therefore constituting a ''crime and a sin in a moral and juridical sense'' that led to automatic excommunication from the Catholic Church.
But, AIFA's decision was hailed by many women and doctors.
RU486, or mifepristone, was first introduced in France in 1988 and is now used in most European countries including Greece, Spain, Belgium and the United Kingdom.
