RFK Jr. Announces ‘Complete Review’ of Abortion Pill After ‘Alarming’ New Study Reveals Dangers

by Nicole Hunt | May 16, 2025 | Life

The Food and Drug Administration will perform a ‘complete review’ of the abortion medication mifepristone, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Thursday in a Senate health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing.

RFK Jr.’s announcement was in response to a line of questioning by Senator Josh Hawley.

Hawley asked the secretary if he was aware of the recently released study by the Ethics and Public Policy Center investigating the over 865,000 mifepristone chemical abortions between 2017 and 2023.

The study revealed that nearly 11% of women who take the pill experience very serious adverse effects including sepsis, hemorrhaging, infection, and emergency room visits.

The rate is 22 times higher than the FDA’s current label, which suggests the rate of adverse effects is only 0.5%.

Secretary Kennedy confirmed that he had seen the study and acknowledged the data was “alarming” and that, at the very least, the label should be updated to reflect its true danger to women.

He then explained he has instructed the director of the FDA to do a “complete review” of the chemical abortion pill and report back to him with the findings.

Secretary Kennedy confirmed the review is a top priority, but didn’t have a deadline for when the work will be finished.

Senator Hawley also asked whether long-standing safety protocols, which were previously required when dispensing mifepristone (like doctor visits, in-person dispensing and screening for ectopic pregnancies), would be reinstated.

Secretary Kennedy clarified that HHS would make recommendations based on the data, but the ultimate decision would come from the White House.

According to Hawley, the Ethics and Public Policy Center’s study on mifepristone is the largest study ever performed on the abortion drug.

President of Focus on the Family, Jim Daly, called the results of the study “chilling” and lamented the abortion industry’s apparent lack of concern about the babies or the women they harm.

For more than half-a-century, the radical abortion industry has been diminishing and discounting the health risks to unsuspecting women whenever preborn life is taken. All those who claim to be advocates for women should be alarmed and convicted by this new research.
We know the abortion kills the girl or boy on the inside, and now research makes clear it also harms the woman on the outside.

A coalition of organizations in the pro-life community have issued a letter asking Secretary Kennedy to reinstate safety protections for women who are prescribed the abortion pill.

The Daily Citizen will continue to update you on this developing story.