White House Stands By FDA Director Amid Accusations He Slow-Walked Vital Abortion Drug Review

WASHINGTON—The head of the Food and Drug Administration is facing heavy fire from the pro-life community amid reports that he slow-walked a review of abortion drugs promised by Health and Human Services Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The backlash followed a Bloomberg report stating that the FDA had delayed its review of the impacts of abortion drugs, specifically mifepristone — a review promised by both Kennedy and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary. Two people familiar with the matter reportedly told Bloomberg that Makary requested that the review be put off until after the midterm elections.

Health and Human Services Press Secretary Emily Hilliard told The Daily Wire on Tuesday afternoon that the FDA’s comprehensive scientific reviews “take the time necessary to get the science right,” adding, “That is what Dr. Makary is ensuring as part of the Department’s commitment to gold-standard science and evidence-based reviews.”

HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon similarly rejected the idea that Makary was acting ideologically, telling Bloomberg the “assertions that the FDA is slow-walking this review for political purposes are baseless.”

The White House similarly backing Makary, telling The Daily Wire that Makary is working hard to “ensure that Americans have the best possible, Gold Standard Science study of mifepristone.” A White House official also pushed back on the claim that the study is being “slow walked,” saying that comprehensive and exhaustive reviews take time.

(Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

“The White House maintains the utmost confidence in Commissioner Makary, whose leadership at the FDA has delivered and continues to deliver one landmark victory for the American people after another, from cracking down on artificial ingredients in our food supply to conducting the first safety review of baby formula in decades,” Deputy White House Press Secretary Kush Desai said. “Uninformed attacks against Commissioner Makary from individuals outside the Administration will not change these facts.”

But a number of high-profile pro-life leaders view the matter differently. They insist Kennedy and Makary promised a timely review of the abortion drugs, and, in their view, wasted time means more babies killed through abortion drugs, and more women harmed by their adverse effects.

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, one of the top pro-life groups in the United States, came out swinging on Tuesday morning with a statement condemning Makary, saying he should be “fired immediately” and accusing him of “undermining” the Trump-Vance pro-life agenda.

“The FDA is doing nothing while every single day abortion drugs take the lives of children, put women and girls at serious risk, empower abusers and trample state pro-life laws,” said the organization’s president, Marjorie Dannenfelser. “The FDA needs a new commissioner who will immediately reinstate in-person dispensing as it existed under President Trump’s first term and immediately conduct a comprehensive study.”

“Commissioner Makary is severely undermining President Trump and Vice President Vance’s pro-life credentials and their position that states should have the right to enact and enforce pro-life protections,” she added. “Makary must go.”

Missouri Senator Josh Hawley (R.), who has been particularly vocal throughout the second Trump administration about the need to examine abortion drugs, also slammed Makary on Tuesday, saying that the Bloomberg report suggests the FDA “lied” to him and other members of Congress.

“FDA needs to stop dithering & reinstate the mifepristone safety guardrails,” Hawley said. “Nothing less is acceptable.”

NEW report saying FDA lied to me and other members of Congress & is not actively reviewing the chemical abortion drug at all. FDA needs to stop dithering & reinstate the mifepristone safety guardrails. Nothing less is acceptable https://t.co/33LVP5U1aL

— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) December 9, 2025

A pro-life leader who has engaged in conversations with the White House on the topic shared with The Daily Wire that the Tuesday report shattered the confidence of pro-life organizations advocating for the review, confirming inklings of delays that they had already heard.

“I don’t think Senator Hawley is alone in his concerns,” the leader shared.

Lila Rose, a well-known pro-life activist who heads the pro-life organization Live Action, warned in a post on X: “If Dr Makary will not act as head of the FDA to protect children and mothers he should be fired. Under his watch abortion pills kill preborn children and endanger women and the study he promised is nowhere to be found. End mail order abortion. Ban the abortion pill now!”

SBA Pro-Life America cites peer-reviewed research that found three-quarters of emergency room visits within 30 days after a woman took abortion drugs were coded as severe or as critical. They also point to studies that found more than one in ten women experience at least one severe adverse event when taking the abortion drugs, and point out that complications can include hemorrhaging, infections, sepsis, and, in some cases, death.

The Daily Wire reported in late November that 175 Republican lawmakers called on HHS to take “immediate action” to reinstate safety requirements on abortion drugs, highlighting the growing body of evidence showing that the drugs are causing severe and underreported harm to women, asking RFK Jr. and Makary to “at a minimum, reinstate the in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone.”

Until 2023, the FDA required abortion drugs to be administered to women under a doctor’s supervision. Under President Joe Biden, that and other safety standards were removed, which the Biden White House justified by citing the coronavirus pandemic.

“The need for urgent investigation and review of this drug comes in the wake of the Biden-Harris administration’s egregious action to remove critical safeguards that once applied to abortion drugs, and the FDA’s approval of a new abortion drug generic in September 2025,” wrote the lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), and Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN).

“Under your leadership, HHS and FDA can reverse this wrong,” they conclude. “We urge you to immediately reinstate the REMS requiring in-person dispensing of mifepristone and to expedite the promised review by the FDA into the dangers of abortion drugs.”