WASHINGTON — The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) praised the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner, Dr. Marty Makary, for his planned review of the abortion pill mifepristone.

National Right to Life today released a letter the organization sent to FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary on May 29, 2025, asking for a review of the abortion drug in light of new studies showing its frequent association with serious, often life-threatening adverse events.

“The FDA owes it to the American people—especially to women—to reconsider the standards under which this drug was approved and is currently being distributed,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “Women deserve the truth about the risks associated with abortion pills.” 

Tobias continued, “At the very least, the agency should reinstate pre-2016 safety protocols, including in-person physician oversight, an earlier gestational cutoff, and full adverse event reporting.” 

NRLC’s letter calls for a full review of the FDA’s approval and deregulation of mifepristone and an immediate halt to online and pharmacy distribution of the drug, pending a complete reevaluation of its safety profile. This followed a new study by the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) revealing serious safety concerns at nearly 22 times the rate reported by the abortion industry’s sponsored studies.

“This is a matter of public health and ethical responsibility,” said Tobias.

In the letter, National Right to Life highlighted the EPPC study’s findings, which analyzed medical records from more than 865,000 abortion pill users and revealed alarming rates of complications—far higher than those reflected in earlier studies used to justify FDA approval and deregulation of the drug.

National Right to Life also pointed to similar findings from large-scale studies in Finland and Canada, which reported significantly higher adverse event rates than those cited by the FDA or in studies sponsored by the abortion industry.

The letter details critical safety issues that have arisen in recent use of mifepristone, including:

• Use of the drug beyond the FDA’s approved gestational age, as advertised by prominent providers;
• High rates of emergency room visits by women experiencing significant pain, uncontrolled bleeding, or other serious complications;
• Improper prescription of the drug to women with undiagnosed ectopic pregnancies, which can lead to life-threatening outcomes;
• Concerns over the safety and quality of abortion pills shipped by mail without inspection or temperature control;
• The way abortion pill advocates have minimized the seriousness of complications such as failed abortions, hemorrhages, and even uterine perforations as “minor” to claim high safety rates.

“The EPPC study paints a stark contrast to the small, idealized clinical trials put forward by the abortion industry,” added Dr. Randall K. O’Bannon, NRLC Director of Education and Research. “This research of EPPC and these other large, neutral foreign studies reflect real-world conditions and demonstrate that many women suffer serious medical complications as mifepristone is currently prescribed and used.” 

Read the full letter here.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of 50 state right-to-life affiliates, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. NRLC works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.