The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched a safety review of the abortion pill mifepristone.
The news, reported by The Wall Street Journal, comes as pro-life groups have urged the Trump administration to take action on the drug for months. “We already know chemical abortions kill babies and endanger women,” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) told the outlet. “The Trump administration needs to stop dragging their feet and immediately reinstate the in-person requirement.”
Meanwhile, an FDA spokesperson told CBS News that the agency has been “actively working on a science-based review” of the abortion pill for months.
“Any reporting suggesting otherwise, including that a study is just being started, is either false or based on a fundamental misunderstanding of how complex scientific safety studies work,” the spokesperson explained.
Planned Parenthood CEO Alexis McGill Johnson claimed the view is politicized, “Mifepristone is safe and effective. We know it, the FDA knows it, and the more than 7.5 million people who’ve used mifepristone for abortion and miscarriage care over the past 25 years know it too. But the Trump administration is bulldozing the overwhelming body of medical research and evidence to try to make it harder for everyone, everywhere to get an abortion. It’s time for every American to take this threat seriously.”
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) previously questioned HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about the pill, saying, “You have said you will do a top-to-bottom review. Do you continue to stand by that, and don’t you think that this new data shows the need to do a review is in fact very pressing?”
“It’s alarming,” Kennedy responded. “Clearly, it indicates that at the very least, the label should be changed. I’ve asked Marty Makary, who is the director of the FDA, to do a complete review and to report back.”
Dr. Marty Makary has since resigned as FDA Commissioner.
