Robert F. Kennedy Jr., head of the Department of Health and Human Services, told lawmakers on Wednesday that he has requested the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) do a “complete review” of the abortion pill.
The announcement was welcomed by pro-life conservatives, who previously wondered how RFK Jr., a former Democrat, would respond to abortion-related issues, having previously said that while he believes every abortion is a “tragedy,” the issue is “more nuanced and complex.”
During Wednesday’s Senate committee hearing, Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) asked RFK Jr. if he was aware of new data indicating that mifepristone is many times more dangerous than the FDA says on the label for the abortion pill, and he said he was.
“It’s alarming,” RFK Jr. told Hawley.
“Clearly, it indicates that at the very least the label should be changed,” he said. “I’ve asked Marty Makary, who’s the director of the FDA, to do a complete review and to report back.”
RFK Jr. also said that he did not yet have a sense of the timeline of the review.
RFK Jr. says he has asked FDA to do a thorough review of mifepristone in light of a study indicating serious side effects could be 22x more common than the FDA says pic.twitter.com/kHLNGqsdeA
— Emily Kopp (@emilyakopp) May 14, 2025
An analysis released last month found that more than one in 10 women experienced a “serious adverse event” after taking the mifepristone abortion pill in 2023. This can include hemorrhaging, needing a blood transfusion, an emergency room visit, and even deadly conditions like sepsis.
That is about 22 times higher than what the FDA listed on its label for the brand Mifeprex in 2023. The FDA cited clinical studies saying less than 0.5% of women suffered “serious adverse reactions” to mifepristone.
Meanwhile, more than one in 20 women need a second abortion attempt after the abortion pill fails, another analysis of insurance claim data released this week showed.
The two-pill chemical abortion regimen — mifepristone, usually followed by misoprostol — aims to end the life of the unborn baby and expel it from the woman’s uterus. However, the drugs sometimes fail to expel all the fetal tissue, which can cause life-threatening complications.
A few months before Roe v. Wade was overturned, the FDA scrapped the requirement that women must obtain abortion pills in person from a healthcare provider, allowing them to get them online through the mail.
“We applaud Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for his swift directive to FDA for a thorough study of the dangerous chemical abortion pill,” Doug Truax, founder of Foundation for the Restoration of America, which commissioned the “serious adverse event” analysis, told The Daily Wire.
“The health and safety of women is at risk and we can’t allow ideology to trump science,” Truax said.
Last year, Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro challenged Kennedy Jr. on abortion during an interview, telling him that abortion is “not just a tragedy. It’s a crime against the child because the child has an independent interest. What do you say to that?”
“I say that I understand that position, and I don’t agree with it,” Kennedy responded, adding that he believes “the solution of having the state come in and dictate choices that a woman is making is not a good solution.”
RFK Jr. appeared before both Senate and House committees on Wednesday to defend President Donald Trump’s proposed budget cuts to the HHS, which RFK Jr. said would be “painful” but would save money “without impacting critical services.”
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[[{“value”:”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., head of the Department of Health and Human Services, told lawmakers on Wednesday that he has requested the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) do a “complete review” of the abortion pill.
The announcement was welcomed by pro-life conservatives, who previously wondered how RFK Jr., a former Democrat, would respond to abortion-related issues, having previously said that while he believes every abortion is a “tragedy,” the issue is “more nuanced and complex.”
During Wednesday’s Senate committee hearing, Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) asked RFK Jr. if he was aware of new data indicating that mifepristone is many times more dangerous than the FDA says on the label for the abortion pill, and he said he was.
“It’s alarming,” RFK Jr. told Hawley.
“Clearly, it indicates that at the very least the label should be changed,” he said. “I’ve asked Marty Makary, who’s the director of the FDA, to do a complete review and to report back.”
RFK Jr. also said that he did not yet have a sense of the timeline of the review.
RFK Jr. says he has asked FDA to do a thorough review of mifepristone in light of a study indicating serious side effects could be 22x more common than the FDA says pic.twitter.com/kHLNGqsdeA
— Emily Kopp (@emilyakopp) May 14, 2025
An analysis released last month found that more than one in 10 women experienced a “serious adverse event” after taking the mifepristone abortion pill in 2023. This can include hemorrhaging, needing a blood transfusion, an emergency room visit, and even deadly conditions like sepsis.
That is about 22 times higher than what the FDA listed on its label for the brand Mifeprex in 2023. The FDA cited clinical studies saying less than 0.5% of women suffered “serious adverse reactions” to mifepristone.
Meanwhile, more than one in 20 women need a second abortion attempt after the abortion pill fails, another analysis of insurance claim data released this week showed.
The two-pill chemical abortion regimen — mifepristone, usually followed by misoprostol — aims to end the life of the unborn baby and expel it from the woman’s uterus. However, the drugs sometimes fail to expel all the fetal tissue, which can cause life-threatening complications.
A few months before Roe v. Wade was overturned, the FDA scrapped the requirement that women must obtain abortion pills in person from a healthcare provider, allowing them to get them online through the mail.
“We applaud Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for his swift directive to FDA for a thorough study of the dangerous chemical abortion pill,” Doug Truax, founder of Foundation for the Restoration of America, which commissioned the “serious adverse event” analysis, told The Daily Wire.
“The health and safety of women is at risk and we can’t allow ideology to trump science,” Truax said.
Last year, Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro challenged Kennedy Jr. on abortion during an interview, telling him that abortion is “not just a tragedy. It’s a crime against the child because the child has an independent interest. What do you say to that?”
“I say that I understand that position, and I don’t agree with it,” Kennedy responded, adding that he believes “the solution of having the state come in and dictate choices that a woman is making is not a good solution.”
RFK Jr. appeared before both Senate and House committees on Wednesday to defend President Donald Trump’s proposed budget cuts to the HHS, which RFK Jr. said would be “painful” but would save money “without impacting critical services.”
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