Feds unlikely to change abortion pill policy before next year
The FDA told a federal court it expects to complete its safety review of abortion pills by mid-December, with a full evaluation report not due until March 2027, disclosed in a status report filed in Louisiana v. FDA. The timeline conveniently pushes any controversial decision past next year's midterms.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the review last spring after anti-abortion groups pressured the FDA to roll back telehealth prescribing rules. More than a year later, anti-abortion leaders are criticizing the delay, with one group's president calling the update 'fool's gold' and warning they'll reject a review they consider insufficiently rigorous.
A law professor quoted in the piece expects the review's outcome to be shaped by politics rather than science, noting Republicans likely fear the backlash of imposing new restrictions before an election. Anti-abortion groups, for their part, want the FDA to use broader insurance-claims data that researchers say isn't well suited to evaluating telehealth prescribing specifically.
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