Representatives of the nation’s largest network of pregnancy help organizations called for renewed focus on women’s safety related to chemical abortion pill regulation after newly confirmed HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that President Donald Trump wants a study of the drug’s safety.
RFK Jr. said that Trump has not yet “made a decision about the issue” of chemical abortion drug mifepristone but asked him to study its safety.
“And I think that that’s worth doing,” said Kennedy.
RFK was confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services for the Trump administration Feb. 13 amid stiff pushback from Democrats opposed to Trump and concern among pro-life advocates over Kennedy’s stance in favor of abortion access. He made his comments on Trump’s call for a safety study of mifepristone in an interview that evening on Fox News Channel’s The Ingraham Angle program.
Kennedy had said during his confirmation hearing that he agreed with Trump in that every abortion is a tragedy, and that the 1.2 million abortions annually in the U.S. conflicts with being a moral nation. Kennedy said as well he agrees with Trump on states regulating abortion, that late-term abortion should be ended, conscious rights should be protected, and federal funding for abortions here and abroad should end.
He had also said during his confirmation hearing that Trump had asked him to study the safety of mifepristone and that whatever the president does to regulate the drug, he would implement the policy.
The safety standards surrounding mifepristone have been hotly contested as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has repeatedly weakened its own standards following a contentious approval process of the drug, all of which pro-life advocates say puts women and girls at unnecessary risk.
Leaders with Heartbeat International, which manages Abortion Pill Rescue® Network (APRN) and thus has daily contact with many women who regret their decision to have an abortion and seek to reverse the chemical abortion they have in progress, again called for women’s safety to be front and center.
“Women should not be treated merely as pawns in a political powerplay such as the FDA has foisted upon the American people in recent years,” said Jor-El Godsey, president of Heartbeat International. “Changing definitions and truncating research helps obscure the truth about the abortion industry while putting more women at risk.”
Heartbeat’s Senior Director of Medical Impact concurred.
“Sadly, women are starting abortions every day in America without the benefit of medical care before, during or following their abortions - and without the protections of the FDA,” said Christa Brown. “Due to lack of reporting of adverse events, women are provided a drug that is far more dangerous than the FDA reports.”
Tweet This: Women are starting abortions every day in America without the benefit of medical care - and without the protections of the FDA.
“Medical teams are experiencing an influx of women presenting in emergency departments with symptoms of bleeding, pain and infection following their so-called "at home, safe and effective" chemical abortions,” Brown said.
Estimates vary but they all indicate that chemical abortions account for a clear majority of all abortions conducted in the U.S.
Mifepristone is the first of two drugs in the two-drug chemical abortion regimen.
The drug starves the unborn child of necessary nutrients by blocking progesterone in the pregnant mother’s system. The second drug in a chemical abortion, misoprostol, is taken a day or so after mifepristone, causing the woman to go into labor and deliver her presumably deceased child.
Among the minor side effects possible with mifepristone are cramping, nausea, and vomiting. Severe complications that require immediate medical attention include extremely heavy bleeding, severe infection, and retained tissue.
Complications statistics for mifepristone compiled by the Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI) include:
Chemical abortion has a complication rate four times that of surgical abortion, and as many as one in five women will suffer a complication.
As many as 15% of women will experience hemorrhage, and 2% will have an infection. The risk of incomplete abortion and infection increases with increasing gestational age.
Chemical abortion drugs are increasingly likely to send women to the emergency room (ER): in a study of the Medicaid population in states that fund abortion for low-income women, the rate of chemical abortion-related emergency room visits increased over 500% between 2002-2015.
Chemical abortions are over 50% more likely than surgical abortions to result in an ER visit within 30 days, with one woman experiencing an abortion-related ER visit for every 20 chemical abortions.
CLI’s data addresses social and emotional risks and risks specific to chemical abortion-by-mail as well, a phenomenon that has arisen with the FDA’s loosening of safety standards for mifepristone.
Mifepristone was first approved in 2000, in a process which some pro-life advocates argue was hurried, not in accord with science or law, and rife with politics. The FDA then loosened its safety standards on the drug in 2016 and 2021.
The safeguards for mifepristone removed by the FDA over the last nine years include an initial in-person doctor visit to screen for ectopic pregnancy and other serious conditions, and a follow-up visit to check for life-threatening complications such as internal bleeding and infection. The FDA then lessened its Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) requirements for chemical abortion drugs, permitting them to be dispensed and mailed by pharmacies.
Abortion proponents have contended throughout that mifepristone is safe and effective, even at times claiming the drug is safer than Tylenol.
Aside from the risks, most chemical abortions entail the mother left to encounter delivering her child at home or in other circumstances absent medical oversight, and very often women have not been prepared for this.
Pro-life concerns also include the propensity for the drug to be used in human trafficking and other scenarios involving abuse or coercion.
Part of the FDA’s reducing of its safety standards has included eliminating the requirement that abortion providers report non-fatal adverse events to the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System.
Kennedy called this out in the interview following his Feb. 13 confirmation.
“During the Biden administration the NIH did something that was inexcusable,” he said, “which is to tell doctors and patients not to report injuries and that’s not a good policy.”
Tweet This: During the Biden administration the NIH did something that was inexcusable, which is to tell doctors and patients not to report injuries.
Godsey said it is good judgement to put the safety of women first.
“It is only common sense that an emphasis on Making America Healthy Again would include a realistic look at chemical abortion's impact on women,” he said.
“Women deserve transparent and open studies of mifepristone in order to make informed choices, said Brown, who is also a nurse. “The FDA has an obligation to protect the American public from any drug source that puts them in danger.”
Tweet This: Women deserve transparent & open studies of mifepristone to make informed choices. The FDA has an obligation to protect the American public.
“Common sense dictates that the FDA should not single out a drug due to political ideologies or the heavy hand of Big Abortion,” she said. “Instead, women should be provided an explanation of all true risks, benefits and alternatives to any medical treatment including abortion drugs.”
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages the Abortion Pill Rescue® Network (APRN) and Pregnancy Help News. Heartbeat is currently the subject of two lawsuits brought by state AGs concerning sharing information about Abortion Pill Reversal.
