A federal court gave the Food and Drug Administration six months to show progress on a promised safety review of the abortion drug mifepristone, and the deadline arrived Wednesday. The Justice Department’s status report to U.S. District Judge David Joseph in Louisiana’s lawsuit finally lays out the review’s sources and timeline. Several leading pro-life groups say it falls short, and the criticism comes a month before midterm elections.

Have you taken your place on the wall?

View Comments (0)

From Just the News:

A final safety-review report won’t be completed until March 2027, and the status report makes no mention of reviewing commercial databases or “crucial Medicaid data” following the permanent elimination of the in-person dispensing requirement in 2023, opening the floodgates to pills by mail, as Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser fumed.

Live Action President Lila Rose, who made international waves in 2024 by publicly abandoning Trump’s re-election, blasted the FDA for the March 2027 completion deadline yet “no deadline for taking action” on mifepristone’s risk-mitigation evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS), through which it would change prescribing conditions.

The FDA is “on track to obtain study results by mid-December 2026,” then to review and evaluate the results and draft a report “not later than March 2027,” DOJ’s status report says. “FDA anticipates that it will be able to provide an update” at that point on whether and how it will revise the REMS for mifepristone.

According to the filing, the FDA has completed a feasibility assessment and plans to study 100,000 women who took mifepristone and 100,000 in a comparison group. It will compare the drug regimen against surgical abortion through 70 days of gestation and use a statistical method called TreeScan to look for unknown safety concerns. The agency is drawing on its Sentinel 2.0 database and other outside sources. It is also weighing pending citizen petitions to reinstate removed safeguards and is under two court orders, in suits brought by abortion-rights groups, to reconsider the 2023 REMS.

Critics point to the history. In 2016, the FDA dropped mandatory reporting of non-fatal adverse events, and in 2023 it permanently ended in-person dispensing, a COVID-era change. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked that 2023 change, but the Supreme Court has repeatedly halted that court’s mifepristone orders. A new paper by Charlotte Lozier Institute scholars, published in Issues in Law and Medicine, argues the studies the FDA relied on in 2016 do not reflect real-world conditions. The authors allege possible bias in the process, and the FDA has not responded to those claims in the filing. Politically, a Reuters-Ipsos poll found 30% of Trump’s 2024 voters were very enthusiastic about voting in the midterms, compared with 48% of Kamala Harris’s voters. SBA Pro-Life America has warned the administration about GOP turnout.

Scripture teaches that every life is formed by God. Psalm 139:13 says He knit each of us together in our mother’s womb, and Proverbs 31:8-9 calls us to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. Proverbs 24:11 adds that we must not hold back from rescuing those being led to death. Scripture also calls for patient, careful truth-telling, which includes demanding that the safety of women be examined honestly and completely. Government has a God-given duty to protect the vulnerable (Romans 13:4), and believers can press for accountability while praying for those who hold these decisions.

Let’s pray for FDA officials and Health and Human Services leaders, that they would pursue an honest, complete review and put the safety of women and unborn children first. Let’s pray for the pro-life leaders pressing for change, that they would speak with courage, clarity and grace. Let’s pray for women facing crisis pregnancies, that they would find real support and care from the church and their communities. And let’s pray for our country’s leaders, that they would defend life from the womb, remembering Psalm 139:13.

How are you praying about this issue? Share your prayers and scriptures in the comments below.

(Excerpt from Just the News. Photo Credit: Jonathan Borba/Pexels).