President Trump’s choice for a deputy secretary post said he “strongly supports” conducting a safety review of mifepristone, the abortion pill found in a recent study to be more dangerous than its label suggests.
James O’Neill, the president’s pick for the No. 2 position at the Department of Health and Human Services, addressed the safety issue during his Thursday confirmation hearing while being questioned by Sen. Josh Hawley, Missouri Republican.
Mr. Hawley cited the Ethics and Public Policy Center’s study of insurance data on 865,727 cases, which found that 10.93% of pregnant women who take the drug get sick within 45 days, a figure 22 times higher than reflected on the warning label.
“In light of this new data, and it’s an enormous data set, just an enormous data set, isn’t it time for the FDA, No. 1, to put back in place the reporting requirements of serious adverse health effects?” asked Mr. Hawley.
Mr. O’Neill agreed, saying the Food and Drug Administration’s policy is “to ensure that all drugs are safe and effective, and sometimes new data needs a review.
“Mifepristone actually has a REMS [risk evaluation and mitigation strategy], meaning it’s been designated for a long time as something that needs periodic review of safety data,” he said. “The secretary has pledged to do a safety review of mifepristone, and I strongly support that review.”
The HHS nominee to be @SecKennedy’s deputy just pledged to conduct an updated safety review on the chemical abortion drug, mifepristone, after a new study shows it leaves 1 in 10 women with severe health effects
That’s a win for life and for women across the country pic.twitter.com/MOv0tPff2l
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) May 8, 2025
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said during his confirmation hearing that he would ask the FDA to look into the safety of mifepristone at Mr. Trump’s behest.
Mr. O’Neill, a science and technology investor, served in the department during the George W. Bush administration.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee has not yet voted on his nomination.
