‘This is shocking’: FDA approves new abortion drug

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a new abortion drug.

The drug, which is a generic version of the abortion pill mifepristone, was quietly rubber-stamped by the agency in a letter Tuesday, with reports only surfacing of its approval on Thursday.

The drug’s approval took many by surprise, as it followed Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Sep. 19 announcement that the FDA would be reviewing mifepristone’s safety.

“This is shocking. FDA has just approved ANOTHER chemical abortion drug, when the evidence shows chemical abortion drugs are dangerous and even deadly for the mother. And of course 100% lethal to the child,” wrote Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., on X just minutes after news of the drug’s approval leaked.

“The Trump Administration’s approval of a generic chemical abortion drug is a complete betrayal of the pro-life movement that elected President Trump,” former vice president Mike Pence said in a statement on X.

“President Trump must immediately reverse this decision. RFK must resign and give President Trump the opportunity to appoint a new Secretary of HHS who will protect the sanctity of life.”

“This decision by the FDA to quietly approve a new generic abortion drug just as the government was shutting down is really reckless and disappointing,” Kelsey Pritchard, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America’s director of state public affairs, told The Daily Signal Thursday. “This is not MAGA. This is not MAHA.”

The new drug is produced by Evita Solutions LLC, which says its mission is to “normalize abortion care” and make it “accessible to all.”

“Medical abortion care is rife with medically unnecessary restrictions and social stigma in the United States,” the company’s website reads.

“Evita Solutions believes that all people should have access to safe, affordable, high-quality, effective, and compassionate abortion care, regardless of their race, sex, gender, age, sexuality, income, or where they live. We know that you can make the best choice for your body.”

Abortion drugs accounted for 63% of all abortions in 2023, according to research from the Guttmacher Institute.

Research from the Ethics & Public Policy Center shows that 11% of women experience severe adverse effects like hemorrhaging, infection, and sepsis within 45 days of a mifepristone abortion.

“These dangerous drugs take the lives of unborn children, place women and underage girls at serious risk, empower abusers, and trample the pro-life laws enacted by states across the nation,” SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a statement Thursday.

Pritchard told The Daily Signal the group is “calling on the FDA to immediately reverse course.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services told The Daily Caller Thursday that the FDA has “very limited discretion” in deciding to approve a generic drug.

“By law, the Secretary of Health and Human Services must approve an application if it demonstrates that the generic drug is identical to the brand-name drug,” HHS Communications Director Andrew Nixon said.

[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]