Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy has sent a letter to the governors of 22 states, who are worried about the dangers of the abortion drug mifepristone, telling them he has opened a “real-world” review of it. The high-level study of the drug was initially announced earlier in the week.
The abortion pill has killed dozens of women and injured tens of thousands more – and of course it has killed millions of babies.
Kennedy and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary wrote to 22 Republican attorneys general informing them of the review, which they said will examine “real-world outcomes and evidence, relating to the safety and efficacy of the drug.”
The governors want the deadly drug severely limited or even pulled off the market entirely.
REACH PRO-LIFE PEOPLE WORLDWIDE! Advertise with LifeNews to reach hundreds of thousands of pro-life readers every week. Contact us today.
In July, the AGs asked the HHS and FDA to reinstate the dropped safety requirements under the Obama and Biden administrations and to consider “withdrawing mifepristone from the market until it completes its review and can decide on a course of action based on objective safety and efficacy criteria.”
They cited a massive study showing 11% of women who use mifepristone suffer complications, including death.
The heath leaders agreed with the need for a review and Kennedy and Makary cited the Ethics and Public Policy Center study that found “dangers” associated with prescribing the drug “without sufficient medical support or supervision.”
“This administration will ensure that women’s health is properly protected by thoroughly investigating the circumstances under which mifepristone can be safely dispensed,” they wrote.
The review will examine data on adverse events among the estimated 7.5 million American women who have used the drug since its 2000 approval.
Mifepristone, part of a two-drug regimen, has been linked to thousands of reported problems and countless unreported problems, including severe bleeding and infections, perforations, bleeding, and even death, according to federal records.
The FDA has logged 2,740 adverse events over a 12-year span even with the Obama and Biden administrations ending reporting of problems, prompting calls for renewed safeguards like a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy program.
Kennedy, testifying before a Senate panel last week, highlighted how prior oversight failed women.
“We’re getting data in all the time – new data – that we’re reviewing,” Kennedy said. “And we know that during the Biden administration, they actually twisted the data to bury one of the safety signals – a very high safety signal of 11%.”
The 11% figure stems from a recent analysis of commercial insurance claims involving 865,727 mifepristone prescriptions from 2017 to 2023. It found 94,605 women — nearly 11% — suffered serious complications within 45 days, including hemorrhage in 3.31% of cases, emergency room visits in 4.73%, and sepsis in 0.10%.
Other issues encompassed infections, transfusions, hospitalizations and life-threatening events like cardiac problems or anaphylaxis. In nearly 3% of cases, the drug failed, requiring surgical follow-up.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser told LifeNews she is glad the abortion drug will be studied further and noted how, under Biden, the FDA scrapped in-person dispensing requirements – opening the door to mail-order abortion drugs with no physical exam, medical oversight or safeguards, or even confirmation that a woman is ordering the drugs.
“We’re encouraged that the Trump administration is conducting this study and taking women’s real experiences seriously. Behind the mounting scientific evidence are real tragedies – women and girls suffering life-threatening complications, mothers coerced and poisoned, and even some dying alongside their babies,” she said.
“At the very least, basic safety protocols must be reinstated, and abortion drugs must be taken out of the mail while these studies are underway,” Dannenfelser added. “Biden’s FDA exploited COVID-19 to gut safeguards, greenlighting mail-order abortion drugs with no in-person exam, medical oversight or even confirmation that the drugs are being ordered by the woman herself rather than an abuser or trafficker. Biden’s recklessness must be stopped now.”
Advocates warn such outcomes can leave women unable to conceive later, underscoring the hidden toll of chemical abortions, which end hundreds of thousands of babies’ lives annually while endangering mothers.
The FDA initially approved mifepristone for use up to seven weeks but extended it to 10 weeks in 2016 under the Obama administration. The Biden era brought further changes: eliminating in-person dispensing requirements in 2023 and further dropping mandates for doctors to report most severe side effects.
Kennedy and Makary, citing independent research including a report from the Ethics and Public Policy Center, said such moves ignored “adequate consideration” for women’s safety.
“The safety of women must come first,” the officials stated in announcing the probe.
