During a meeting of the Senate Hearing on the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) fiscal year 2026 budget, Secretary Robert Kennedy stated his intention to oversee a “complete review” of the so-called abortion pill mifepristone after expressing concerns regarding its safety.

The secretary’s apprehension regarding mifepristone is based, in part, he says, on the findings of a paper published earlier this year by the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) stating that nearly 11% of women had a “serious adverse event” following the use of mifepristone, far higher than the .5% supported by clinical studies.

“It’s alarming,” Kennedy told Senator Josh Hawley (R, MO), who initially asked Kennedy about the commonly prescribed drug. “Clearly, it indicates that, at very least, the label should be changed.”

But the findings of that paper have, rightly, been called into question.

The EPCC is a conservative think tank established “to apply the riches of the Jewish and Christian traditions to contemporary questions of law, culture, and politics, in pursuit of America’s continued civic and cultural renewal.” It is also a member of the advisory board of Project 2025.

The paper, titled “The Abortion Pill Harms Women: Insurance Data Reveals One in Ten Patients Experiences a Serious Adverse Event,” has not been externally peer reviewed (which is standard procedure for credible scientific research) or published in a medical journal. It was written by the organization's president of public policy and director of data analysis. According to reporting by The Washington Post, “the headline number seems less solid when the individual data presented in the report is examined.”

Similarly, AFP Fact Check decried the EPCC paper as “flawed,” citing numerous issues with its methodology. Among the serious adverse reactions, for example, EPCC included “ectopic pregnancy,” which cannot be caused by mifepristone or any other pill for that matter. Moreover, when asked about its data set, EPCC declined to provide any information.

A regimen of mifepristone, paired with misoprostol, accounts for more than half of abortions in the United States. Use of the drug has gone up in recent years as abortion clinics have been shuttered and telehealth services have expanded access to medication abortions.

Kennedy’s attitude toward mifepristone comes as a kind of whiplash from earlier this month when, in a move that surprised observers, the Trump administration actually asked the courts to dismiss Missouri et al v USDA, which seeks to reverse a number of the regulatory changes that made expanded access possible. The administration did not, however “defend” mifepristone, as journalist Jessica Valenti notes in her Abortion Everyday newsletter:

“The Trump administration didn’t defend mifepristone on the merits—they simply argued that the states don’t have standing to sue. In fact, the DOJ was careful to say that they weren’t weighing in on whether the AGs’ wild claims about the medication were true. ... My guess is that the Trump administration is looking for some positive press on abortion pills ... That way, if (when) the FDA cracks down on mifepristone, the Trump administration can pretend as if they’re not biased. After all—didn’t they just oppose a lawsuit?!”

Kennedy did not have a date for when he expected Food and Drug Administration director Marty Makary to complete his review and offer a recommendation on mifepristone, but assured Senator Hawley that it remained a “top priority.”