The review comes as some anti-abortion advocates have grown increasingly frustrated with the Trump administration, arguing it has moved too slowly on promises to revisit federal abortion-pill regulations ahead of the midterm elections.Administration officials said the study is expected to take roughly six months, making it unlikely to be completed before voters head to the polls. Still, the review hands a win to anti-abortion activists and Republican lawmakers who have pushed for tighter restrictions on the pill.
The FDA in 2023 eliminated requirements that patients receive in-person screening before obtaining mifepristone, a protocol that had been in place since the drug’s approval in 2000. The change expanded access to medication abortions by allowing telehealth providers to prescribe the drug and mail it directly to patients.
During their Senate confirmation hearings, former FDA Commissioner Marty Makary and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pledged to conduct a comprehensive review of mifepristone’s safety under the expanded telehealth framework. But anti-abortion groups have increasingly questioned whether the administration intended to follow through on those commitments.
