The abortion pill's future in Italy was up in the air on Tuesday, after fresh outcry over its expected introduction next month.
The RU486 pill was approved under the previous, centre-left administration nearly a year ago and was this week expected to get the final go-ahead from the Italian Pharmaceutical Agency (AIFA), which licenses drugs for national sale.
But following two days of attacks from the Vatican and centre-right MPs, AIFA on Tuesday said it could give ''no fixed date'' as to when the drug would be approved.
The statement, released by AIFA's board of directors, added that the consideration of RU486's licensing application was not on its immediate agenda.
On Sunday, AIFA Director General Guido Rasi said the scientific committee would look at the pill on Tuesday, followed by a board assessment on Thursday.
The centre-right government, which has sought to distance itself from the pill over the last two days, on Tuesday suggested its future was uncertain.
''The situation is far from closed as there are still many uncertain points that need clarifying,'' said Welfare Undersecretary Eugenia Roccella
Meanwhile, around 40 MPs signed a cross-party motion calling for the suspension of the approval procedure.
Signed by leading figures from Premier Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right People of Liberties (PdL) party, the rightwing Northern League and the Catholic UDC party, the motion branded RU486 a ''kill pill''.
''The government cannot remain indifferent, taking a soft stance in the face of so many scientific and moral doubts over the use of RU486,'' the document said.
It called for action to ''not only protect unborn life but also to safeguard the health of women, which is severely threatened by the danger of this tool''.
Consumer association ADUC reacted angrily to the motion, suggesting AIFA had succumbed to political pressure and calling on the drug's French manufacturer, Exelgyn, to take the matter to the European Court of Justice.
''More than a year has passed since the application was made yet there is still no decision,'' said ADUC. ''EU intervention is now urgent given that it is impossible for AIFA to carry out its medical and scientific duties''.
Exelgyn agreed that ''strong pressure'' was influencing the decision.
''It is not difficult to work out where this comes from, in other words, the Vatican,'' it said in a statement on Tuesday.
''We have been informed that numerous articles critical of RU486 have been published in Italian dailies, which is scandalous''.
The previous centre-left dominated parliament approved RU486 for national use in its final days, in the face of staunch opposition from the Vatican and a generally hostile attitude among much of the opposition.
The Vatican returned to the issue on Sunday, stressing that ''abortion is abortion, whether it is carried out in a clinic or at home'', while centre-right figures have also rejoined the debate, voicing caution or outright condemnation.
Isabella Bertolini, a prominent MP with the PdL, said the ''killer RU486 opens a dangerous path and poses a threat to women's health''.
Luca Volonte of the Catholic UDC described the abortion pill as ''a gas chamber for human embryos''.
But Livia Turco of the largest opposition group, the Democratic Left, accused critics of giving misleading information.
''The pill has been widely accepted and used in all European countries and Italy is one of the last simply because of ideological prejudices,'' said Turco, who was health minister under the last government.
Medical abortions have been available in Italy on an experimental basis since 2005, in six of the country's 20 regions.
During the two-year experimental phase, RU486 was used in nearly 2,400 abortions.
Medical abortions have been available in France since 1989 and the UK since 1991, where they now account for about 40% of all terminations.
Nearly 20 of the European Union's 27 member states have approved RU486.
The majority of medical abortions take place in the first weeks of pregnancy.
Patients typically take two different medicines over two days, starting with RU486, which blocks the hormone that makes the uterus lining suitable for the fertilized egg. The second drug causes the lining to break down and the egg is lost at the same time.
In Italy, the drug has only been approved for supervised use in hospitals.
