FDA approves another abortion pill, sparks conservative backlash
Global News
The FDA approved the original version of mifepristone in 2000 and gradually eased access over time.
Federal officials have approved another generic version of the abortion pill mifepristone, a regulatory formality that quickly triggered pushback from anti-abortion groups and politicians aligned with the Trump administration.
Drugmaker Evita Solutions announced on its website that the Food and Drug Administration signed off on its low-cost form of the pill, which is approved to end pregnancies through 10 weeks.
Students for Life Action, which opposes abortion, in a statement Thursday called the approval “a stain on the Trump presidency and another sign that the deep state at the FDA must go.”
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri also criticized the move in a post on X, stating, “I have lost confidence in the leadership at FDA.”
A spokesperson for the agency said the FDA “has very limited discretion in deciding whether to approve a generic drug,” and added that FDA officials do not “endorse any product.”
The criticism comes as Republican President Donald Trump’s top health officials, including Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., face growing pressure from abortion opponents to reevaluate mifepristone, which was approved 25 years ago and has repeatedly been deemed safe and effective by FDA scientists.
In a letter to Republican lawyers general last month, Kennedy and FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary pledged to conduct a full review of the drug’s safety.
Under Makary and Kennedy, the FDA has repeatedly delayed decisions on vaccines, ultimately narrowing the terms of approval for this year’s COVID-19 shots. That type of political intervention was previously highly unusual at the FDA, where career scientists typically make such decisions.
