Pro-life group calls FDA’s approval of generic abortion pill ‘unconscionable’

By Tate Miller
The Center Square

A pro-life organization called the FDA’s approval of the generic version of the abortion drug mifepristone “unconscionable,” stating that abortion is the leading cause of death in the nation, that the abortion pill undermines states’ rights, and that approval for the drug should be pulled.

Political Communications Director for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America Kelsey Pritchard told The Center Square that “the FDA approving another cheap abortion drug, when countless babies are being killed and women sent to the ER, is unconscionable.”

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America is a nonprofit with a mission to “end abortion by electing national leaders and advocating for laws that save lives,” as stated on its website.

Kelsey Pritchard told The Center Square: “With at least 1.1 million abortions a year, more than 60% of which are caused by abortion drugs, it is the nation’s top cause of death.”

“Nothing about this makes America great or healthy,” Pritchard said, playing off the “Make America Great Again” and “Healthy Again” slogans.

Pritchard told The Center Square that “a mounting body of evidence shows these drugs are unsafe for women, with alarming rates of complications like hemorrhage, infection and need for surgery.”

“Generic drugs aren’t required to have independent data on their safety and effectiveness, so we assume this one has all the same problems as the original,” Pritchard said.

When reached, HHS Communications Director Andrew Nixon told The Center Square that “the FDA has very limited discretion in deciding whether 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,” Nixon said.

Like Pritchard, Nixon said that “generic applicants are not required to submit independent evidence proving safety and effectiveness.”

“The FDA does not endorse any drug product and directs prescribers to follow all labeling,” Nixon said.

“HHS is conducting a study of the reported adverse effects of mifepristone to ensure the FDA’s risk mitigation program for the drug is sufficient to protect women from unstated risks,” Nixon said.

Pritchard acknowledged to The Center Square that “Secretary Kennedy and Commissioner Makary promised to review fresh data on mifepristone’s dangers,” but noted that “nothing stops them from immediately reinstating safety standards that were in place during President Trump’s first term.”

Pritchard said the abortion drug mifepristone was originally fast-tracked for approval under President Bill Clinton by classifying pregnancy as an illness.”

“The Biden administration made things even worse by burying safety signals – as HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy himself revealed last month – and stripping away guardrails like in-person doctor visits, making deadly mail-order drugs the rule nationwide and undermining pro-life states’ heroic efforts to enforce their laws,” Pritchard said.

“Because they are easily obtained over the web, and pro-abortion Democrats like Gavin Newsom are legalizing totally anonymous prescription, they are increasingly used to coerce and poison women who never even sought abortions,” Pritchard said.

“Ultimately, approval for all abortion drugs should be pulled,” Pritchard told The Center Square.