HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to study abortion pill safety questions

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 19, 2025 / 14:50 pm (CNA).

Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reiterated that he plans to investigate safety concerns related to the abortion pill mifepristone during an interview on Fox News last week.

Kennedy, who was narrowly confirmed by the Senate on Thursday, told Fox News host Laura Ingraham that President Donald Trump has directed him to study the drug. He also criticized the lack of reporting requirements for nonfatal injuries caused by taking the abortion pill.

“What [Trump has] asked me to do is study the … safety signals, and I think that that’s worth doing,” Kennedy said on “The Ingraham Angle” on Thursday.

Kennedy also criticized the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for not requiring doctors to report nonfatal adverse side effects caused by mifepristone, saying: “The NIH did something that was inexcusable — which is to tell doctors and patients not to report injuries.” 

“That’s not a good policy,” Kennedy said.

This builds on Kennedy’s promise during his confirmation hearings when he made the same vow when asked about the abortion pill by Republican Sen. Steve Daines from Montana. 

“I think it’s immoral to have a policy where patients are not allowed to report adverse events, or doctors are discouraged from doing that,” Kennedy said in late January. “President Trump has asked me to study the safety of mifepristone. He has not yet taken a stand on how to regulate it. Whatever he does [take a position], I will implement those policies.”

As HHS secretary, Kennedy oversees the NIH, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 

Under current FDA rules, mifepristone is approved to facilitate a chemical abortion up to 10 weeks into pregnancy, at which point the unborn child will have a fetal heartbeat, early brain activity, and partially developed eyes, ears, lips, and nostrils. The drug works by blocking the hormone progesterone, which cuts off the unborn child’s supply of oxygen and nutrients.

A second pill, misoprostol, is taken between 24 to 48 hours after mifepristone to expel the body from the mother, essentially inducing labor.

Mifepristone was approved in 2000 but subsequently deregulated to allow doctors to prescribe the drug without any in-person doctor visits and to dispense the drug through the mail.

The FDA’s approval of the drug and the deregulation were the subjects of an unsuccessful lawsuit filed by the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine in 2022, which challenged the legality of the approval process. The United States Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit in June 2024.

Regulating or restricting the abortion pill has become an important cause for pro-life activists, as the drug now accounts for more than half of all abortions in the United States. Many pro-life organizations have expressed their intent to try to work with Kennedy on abortion regulations. 

“We congratulate Mr. Kennedy on his confirmation to this critical position and pledge to work with him to help implement transformative policies that protect innocent children in the womb and strengthen support for vulnerable women everywhere,” Human Coalition National Director of Public Policy Chelsey Youman said in a statement after Kennedy’s confirmation. 

“Our public policies can help provide them with this transformative assistance, whether it’s through protecting them from abortion pills, connecting them to life-affirming alternatives to abortion, or improving maternal and infant care,” Youman said.

Although increased regulatory oversight may be on the table, an all-out ban is unlikely. During his campaign for president, Trump vowed to keep the abortion pill available. Kennedy has long supported legal access to abortion.

Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/262305/hhs-secretary-robert-f-kennedy-jr-to-study-abortion-pill-safety-questions