Fed-up pro-lifers want FDA chief Marty Makary fired for lack of action on abortion pill

A major pro-life group called Tuesday for the firing of Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary, citing reports that the agency is putting off a safety review of the abortion pill until after the midterm elections.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said Mr. Makary is “severely undermining” the Trump administration’s pro-life agenda by delaying a study on mifepristone, citing concerns about rising emergency-room visits and watered-down safety standards.

“Enough is enough: FDA Commissioner Makary should be fired immediately,” Ms. Dannenfelser said in a statement Tuesday. “The FDA is doing nothing while every single day abortion drugs take the lives of children, put women and girls at serious risk, empower abusers and trample state pro-life laws.”

Mr. Makary and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have assured lawmakers that the agency will scrutinize the data, but pro-life advocates have said there is no indication that any study is underway.

Instead, the FDA approved in October a generic version of mifepristone from Evita Solutions, prompting outrage from pro-life groups. Fifty-one Republican senators followed up by urging the agency to revisit its decision.

Frustration on the right boiled over Monday when Bloomberg reported that the agency has put the promised review on the back burner at Mr. Makary’s request until after the November 2026 midterms, citing “people familiar with the matter.”

“The FDA needs a new commissioner who will immediately reinstate in-person dispensing as it existed under President Trump’s first term and immediately conduct a comprehensive study,” said Ms. Dannenfelser. “Commissioner Makary is severely undermining President Trump and Vice President Vance’s pro-life credentials and their position that states should have the right to enact and enforce pro-life protections. Makary must go.”

Emily Hilliard, Health and Human Services press secretary, denied the speculation about a delayed review.

“Assertions that the FDA is slow walking this review for political purposes are baseless,” Ms. Hilliard said in an email. “FDA’s comprehensive scientific reviews take the time necessary to get the science right, and that is what Dr. Makary is ensuring as part of the Department’s commitment to gold-standard science and evidence-based reviews.”

NEW — SBA Pro-Life America: Fire Makary

Today, SBA Pro-Life America called for FDA Commissioner Marty Makary to be fired amid reports that he has slow-walked a promised safety study of women’s real-world experiences taking abortion drugs.

More https://t.co/R74nHArHtX pic.twitter.com/j46sh8gx8s

— SBA Pro-Life America (@sbaprolife) December 9, 2025

Mifepristone was approved for use in the two-drug abortion protocol in 2000, but the initial safety protocol was relaxed during the Obama and Biden administrations, reducing the original requirement for three in-person doctor visits to zero. The drug is now available by mail order.

An Ethics and Public Policy Center study released in April found that adverse health events after taking mifepristone are 22 times higher than reflected on the FDA-approved label.

The reduced oversight has also allowed men to obtain the drugs. At least a half-dozen men have been accused or found guilty of slipping mifepristone into their wives’ and girlfriends’ drinks to induce abortions.

The FDA has long held that the abortion pill is safe and effective for use in pregnancy termination through 10 weeks’ gestation.

Mr. Trump has been hailed by conservatives as the most pro-life president in U.S. history, but Republican strategists may well be concerned about whether an abortion flare-up will hurt the party in the midterms.

The Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe v. Wade in June 2022 spurred an outcry on the left that was credited with turning the anticipated red wave into a trickle in the November 2022 elections.