Trump FDA finally begins abortion pill review after pressure from pro-lifers
By: Calvin Freiburger, originally published June 5, 2026, LifeSiteNews.com
The Trump administration Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has finally begun its review of the data on abortion pill harms, more than a year after the move was promised to frustrated pro-lifers.
In May 2025, the Trump administration promised to review abortion pill data, but a year without updates prompted criticism from the pro-life movement, with U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) going so far as to question if the study was underway at all. Administration officials have insisted that the review was still coming.
Now, the Wall Street Journal reports that commencement of the review was “kicked… into high gear” thanks to pressure on the White House from pro-life advocates, as well as an October deadline imposed by a judge as part of Louisiana’s lawsuit against the federal government. The report suggests that, all this time, the agency has allegedly been “making preparations by acquiring data and examining whether a study was feasible.”
“The effort is expected to take about six months, administration officials said, meaning it likely won’t be completed before the midterm elections,” WSJ adds, lending credence to allegations and speculation that the administration was intentionally foot-dragging so as to prevent the eventual findings from influencing voters this fall.
The news follows the May ouster of FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary, whose tenure was marred by discontent over his handling of several issues, including abortion pills.
Remote distribution of abortion pills to be taken at home has become key to the abortion lobby’s effort to preserve “access” in a post-Roe v. Wade environment, despite the risks to the women who take them and their fatal harm to the unborn.
Pro-lifers point to an April 2025 analysis by the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC), which concluded that almost 11 percent of women suffer sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging, or other major conditions after taking mifepristone, according to insurance data, plus similar findings by the Restoration of America Foundation, as part of a “growing body of evidence indicating that the health risks associated with mifepristone abortions are severe, widespread, and significantly underreported.”
While pro-lifers would welcome any change to the current permissive rules, many have consistently said that the above evidence should render a new review unnecessary to take action, as should the fact that distributing abortion-inducing drugs by mail is already illegal under federal law, irrespective of safety. The Biden administration ceased enforcement of that provision in response to Roe v. Wade’s overturn, and President Donald Trump announced in his 2024 election campaign he would not restore it.
Calvin Freiburger is a conservative writer at LifeSite News.