Inventor of the abortion pill dies

French professor Étienne-Émile Baulieu, inventor of the abortion pill, who was always dedicated to defending the progress made possible by science, died this Friday at the age of 98, in Paris.

A physician and researcher, he was recognized worldwide for the scientific, medical and social impact of his work on the role of steroid hormones.

“His research was guided by his commitment to progress made possible by science, his commitment to women’s freedom and his desire to enable everyone to live a better and longer life ,” his wife, Simone Harari Baulieu, recalled in a statement.

“Few French people have changed the world so much. Resistance fighter, research genius, defender of contraception, inventor of the abortion pill, Étienne-Emile Baulieu was a spirit of progress who enabled women to win their freedom,” French President Emmanuel Macron responded on the social network X.

Peu de Français ont à ce point changé le monde. Résistant, génie de la recherche, défenseur de la contraception, inventeur d'une pillule abortive, Étienne-Emile Baulieu fut un esprit de progrès qui permit aux femmes de conquérir leur liberté.

Nous pardons an eclaireur of courage.

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) May 30, 2025

Born on December 12, 1926, in Strasbourg, eastern France, Étienne Blum adopted the name Émile Baulieu when he joined the Resistance against the Nazi occupiers, aged just 15.

Doctor of medicine (1955) and doctor of science (1963), endocrinologist, he founded Research Unit 33 of the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) in 1963 to work on hormones. He directed it until 1997 and worked there until the end.

He is particularly known for the development of RU 486 in 1982. This abortion pill revolutionized the lives of millions of women around the world by offering them the option of medically induced termination of pregnancy.

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She has faced harsh criticism and even threats from opponents of women's right to control their reproduction. Two years ago, she told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the ban on the pill in a US state was a "step backwards for women's freedom".

His research into DHEA, the hormone whose secretion and anti-aging activity he had discovered, also led him to work on neurosteroids (steroids for the nervous system). He has also developed a treatment for depression, for which a clinical trial is underway at several university hospitals.

In his Inserm office at the Kremlin-Bicêtre University Hospital, near Paris, which he continued to occupy three times a week, and where photos, diplomas and folders containing “ the work of a lifetime ” were piled high, he expressed, until the end, his desire to “be useful”.

In 2008, he founded the Baulieu Institute to understand, prevent and treat neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's. His research targeted the Tau protein, along with another protein, FKBP52, that he had discovered and which is naturally present in the body.

Married for the second time to Simone Harari Baulieu, he was widowed by Yolande Compagnon. He leaves behind three children, eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.