RFK: Abortion Drug Approval Required By Law, Agency Still Investigating Mifepristone

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a new abortion pill only because of a federal law requirement.

In a post on X Thursday evening, Kennedy said the FDA, which is part of HHS, “only approved a second, generic mifepristone tablet because federal law requires approval when … the generic is identical to the brand-name drug.”

Kennedy’s statement followed a major outcry from conservatives after it was discovered Thursday that the FDA had quietly approved a generic version of mifepristone earlier this week.

That outcry included posts from former Vice President Mike Pence, who called for Kennedy’s resignation, as well as Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who called the FDA approval of the drug “shocking.”

Mifepristone, a drug commonly used for chemical abortions, has been linked to serious risks, with 11% of women suffering serious adverse reactions within 45 days of using the drug to induce an abortion.

On Sept. 19, Kennedy, along with FDA Commissioner Dr. Martin Makary, pledged to study “the adverse consequences reported in relation to mifepristone” in response to a letter from Republican state attorneys general asking HHS to review the drug.

In his post Thursday, Kennedy pointed to that pledge, saying his agency is filling a gap the Biden administration left when it “removed mifepristone’s in-person dispensing rule without studying the safety risks.”

Some saw that pledge to investigate safety as an unacceptable threat to mifepristone access. Earlier this week, a coalition of 20 liberal state attorneys general published a statement vowing to protect mifepristone within their states.

But others think the HHS and the FDA need to go further.

Kelsey Pritchard, director of state public affairs at Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, told The Daily Signal on Thursday, “We are calling on FDA to immediately reverse course and end the mail order of abortion drugs, which is a Biden-era policy.”

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