Whopper of the Week: RFK Jr’s Bogus Attacks on Mifepristone Threaten Abortion Access

THIS WEEK'S WHOPPER:

RFK JR.'s BOGUS ATTACKS ON MIFEPRISTONE THREATEN ABORTION ACCESS

IN SUMMARY:

Secretary Kennedy has repeatedly challenged the safety of mifepristone, one of two drugs used in most abortions. At his confirmation hearing in January 2025, Kennedy told Senators that “President Trump has asked me to study the safety of mifepristone,” and then in May he told Senators that bogus “new data” about mifepristone “indicates that at the very least, the label should be changed.”  Hundreds of studies using decades of data have conclusively shown that mifepristone is safe, but Kennedy is following the anti-abortion playbook by regularly raising unfounded concerns in order to decrease abortion access.  

WHY IS THIS A WHOPPER?

Mifepristone has been thoroughly studied and is safe. It is approved and widely used in at least 100 countries and is included on the World Health Organization’s list of “the most efficacious, safe and cost-effective medicines” that should always be available in health care systems. As 16 medical societies, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Medical Association, explained in a 2023 Supreme Court amicus brief: “Over decades of research and hundreds of studies, the findings are stark and consistent: mifepristone is exceptionally safe”; they also noted that “few drugs have been so extensively studied after their approval by FDA and can boast such a clear and compelling record of safe use.” 

There is no credible scientific basis for revisiting mifepristone’s safety. Trump administration officials justify their actions by citing a small number of flawed, retracted, and unpublished papers from anti-abortion groups and a far right think tank, ignoring  the more rigorous Food and Drug Administration (FDA) data and review processes that have, for a quarter century, found mifepristone to be safe and effective. Anti-abortion activists have no convincing data; they are just spreading conspiracy theories and accusing abortion providers of lying and covering up data on mifepristone’s alleged dangers.  

WHY IT MATTERS:

Mifepristone is the cornerstone of abortion care in the U.S, accounting for approximately two-thirds (642,700) of abortions in 2023. Disinformation about safety is being used to confuse the public and rationalize a tsunami of actions to restrict access to mifepristone (and abortion more generally).

For example, in September 2025, Health and Human Services (HHS) and FDA announced that they were conducting a study on the safety of current guidance for mifepristone. That report, when published, will be used by HHS to justify further restrictions on access to mifepristone, and therefore to abortion services. A January 2026 court filing confirms that the Trump administration is actively considering removing or restricting mifepristone access via telemedicine, interstate mail delivery, and retail pharmacies. HHS also rescinded the  Biden era rule requiring pharmacists who receive federal taxpayer money to stock and provide mifepristone. A Senate hearing about mifepristone on January 14, was yet another public forum designed to spread confusion and fear about abortion care.

Once again, Kennedy is prioritizing ideology over established science and public health best practices, following the anti-abortion roadmap outlined in Project 2025 and putting the health of women and girls at risk. 
 

Contributors to this post are: Miriam Rabkin M.D., M.P.H.,  Kathylynn Saboda, M.S., Erica Bersin, BCPA, Benedicte Callan, Ph.D.,