Biography
French scientist, physician and medical researcher who has impacted his
time in history by developing the abortion pill RU 486 in addition to an
anti-aging pill from a human hormone, DeHydroEpiAndrosterone, more
commonly known as DHEA. Author of "The Abortion Pill," 1990, he
was awarded a Commander of the French Legion of Honor and a Chevalier of
the French National Order of Merit, Baulieu is a biochemist who describes
himself as "a medical doctor who practices science."
Baulieu was the oldest of three children born to Jewish physician Leon
Blum, a pioneer in independent medical research in the treatment of
diabetes who became one of the first doctors to conduct clinical trials in
insulin. His mother, Therese Lion, was a conservatory-trained classical
pianist who held advanced degrees in English and law. Prior to her
marriage to Blum, Lion was an activist in the fight for women's suffrage
in England.
Baulieu spent his early years in Strasbourg until after his father's
untimely death in 1930 when mother Therese moved with her four-year-old
son and two daughters to Paris. After the Germans invaded France in World
War II, the Blum family fled Paris to live in Grenoble, an area which was
not occupied by the Germans, where Baulieu resumed his studies at the
Lycee Champollion. He became active in a Communist-controlled group and
when the Gestapo began to close in, the family moved again to Annency in
Haute-Savoie. In 1942, an attempt by Baulieu to deflect German attention
from himself and his family and to hide the fact that his father was
Jewish, Baulieu acquired false identification papers on which his surname
appeared as Baulieu, a name he chose himself and the name he has used ever
since.
Returning to Paris when the war ended in 1945, Baulieu formally began
his study of medicine at the Faculty of Medicine, October 1944,
registering under his pseudonym. As Strasbourg was still occupied, he
could not use his true name. After earning his medical degree and a
doctorate in science, Baulieu spent the next four years (1951-1955) as an
intern in Paris hospitals, where his indelibly imprinted memories of that
period were of the women who incurred massive infections or who injured
themselves internally after their attempts at self-induced abortions. Most
of these women underwent uterine scrapings that many physicians performed
on them without administering anesthesia because, as Baulieu learned,
traditional doctors thought that such women deserved to be punished.
"Teach her a lesson and she will remember."
A Professor at the Faculty of Medicine in Paris, in the mid '60s,
Baulieu became a member of the World Health Organization based in Geneva,
Switzerland. "At the Geneva meetings I was steeped in reports citing
the desperation over the lack of contraceptive in poor countries... I
dreamed of developing new methods with original research in my own
laboratory." A trip to India in 1970, where he witnessed unspeakable
suffering that stemmed from uncontrolled fertility, reinforced his
determination.
As the medial scientist employed at French pharmaceutical company
Roussel-Uclaf, Baulieu, who conducted the first clinical test of RU-486,
discovered that the compound was 80% effective in ending early
pregnancies. By 1985 Claude Evin, France's Minister of Health, approved
the sale of RU-486 in France. One month later, it was withdrawn from the
market due to the public condemnation of the pill by Roman Catholic
Archbishop of Paris, protests of anti-abortionists, who called RU-486 a
"chemical weapon," threats of boycotts to Rousell Uclaf and of
personal violence to company officers. Two days later, the decision was
overruled by Evin. "I could not permit the abortion debate to deprive
women of a product that represents medical progress," he said,
"From the moment government approval for the drug was granted, RU-486
became the moral property of women, not just the property of the drug
company."
Baulieu is a tireless campaigner for universal approval and
distribution for RU-486. "I have always thought that women should be
in control of reproduction, and I don't think that scientists and
physicians can be anything but pro-choice."
Baulieu made one marriage to Yolande Compagnon 10/04/1947 and had three
children, Catherine, Laurent and Frederique. The couple make their home
near Paris.
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