Trump’s FDA Nominee Squirmed During Questions on Medication Abortion

Marty Makary wouldn't commit to maintaining current access to mifepristone during his Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday, instead pledging to review the data. Yikes!

By Susan Rinkunas  |  March 6, 2025 | 4:07pm
Screenshot: YouTube AbortionPolitics
Trump’s FDA Nominee Squirmed During Questions on Medication Abortion

On Thursday, a Senate committee held a confirmation hearing for Dr. Marty Makary, Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration, a role that could drastically reshape access to medication abortion. Makary, a surgeon and researcher, is a Fox News contributor who has spouted anti-abortion disinformation on air and been lauded by Catholic Vote as a “pro-life physician.” During the hearing, Makary was asked repeatedly whether he’d change FDA regulations on prescribing mifepristone—the first drug in the medication abortion regimen, which comprised nearly two-thirds of all abortions in 2023—and he repeatedly dodged, saying only that he’d commit to reviewing the data.

The data is exceptionally clear that mifepristone is safe and effective for ending a pregnancy, and that the drug can be safely prescribed via telehealth. In 2021, the Biden administration’s FDA allowed remote prescribing rather than the previous three-visit protocol, and now one in five of all abortions are done via telemedicine. Political appointees suggesting that the data needs to be reviewed again is a strong signal that mifepristone access is in jeopardy.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), the chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, got to ask the first question, and it was about the 2021 change to no longer require an in-person visit. Cassidy called it concerning and referenced a case in which a Louisiana mother allegedly obtained mifepristone for her daughter, a minor, from a doctor based in New York. Cassidy didn’t mention the familial connection, only that “someone” else got the prescription. (Local officials have claimed the abortion was coerced but haven’t provided evidence to back that up. Even if it were true, that’s not a reason to ban telemedicine nationwide.) Cassidy asked if Makary would reinstate the in-person appointment requirement if confirmed.

“To hear of someone being coerced into taking these drugs is deeply disturbing, I would even suggest criminal,” Makary responded. “I have no preconceived plans on mifepristone policy, except to take a solid, hard look at the data and to meet with the professional career scientists who have reviewed the data at the FDA and to build an expert coalition to review the ongoing data which is required to be collected as a part of the REMS program, the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation strategy.”

Kristan Hawkins, the president of the anti-abortion group Students for Life, celebrated the question and Makary’s answer:

Makary’s comments are alarming given that the FDA could re-impose outdated limits on the drug in all 50 states without involving Congress. The Project 2025 blueprint written for the first 100 days of a Trump presidency calls for not just ending telemedicine prescriptions but also urges the FDA to roll back approval from 10 weeks of pregnancy to seven. Notably, these moves are billed as an “interim step” short of the preferred action: revoking the drug’s approval entirely. (The FDA also faces a lawsuit seeking to limit mifepristone prescribing from three Republican Attorneys General. Makary could, with the Department of Justice, choose not to defend the agency in the case.) Additionally, Project 20205 calls for limiting insurance coverage of a prescription version of emergency contraception called Ella and allowing more employers to opt out of covering any form of birth control; no Senator asked Makary about birth control in the hearing.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) asked Makary flat out if he would maintain current access to mifepristone and he squirmed. “I’ll be very clear about my position. My position is that of a scientist,” he said. “Part of the REMS, the risk evaluation mitigation strategy that was put in, initially by President Clinton and that administration, and then modified under Obama, and then again, under President Biden, requires ongoing data collection, so I can’t pre-judge that data without looking at it.” Hmmm, where have we heard before conservative nominees say that they can’t pre-judge an abortion question?

Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) said she and other lawmakers had concerns about whether Makary was “going to unilaterally overrule the data that currently exists for political purposes and for political reasons.” She said that while he has a distinguished career as a physician and claimed he’s an independent scientist, the Senate needs to know that if “the politics get heated around abortion, that you won’t abandon that independence.”

Makary did not inspire confidence. “Senator, you have my commitment that, once I’m in office, I will do a review of the data. I have no preconceived plans to make changes to the mifepristone policy.” He said there could possibly be drug interactions that have been understudied.

Hassan said the real question was whether Makary would “unilaterally overrule scientists, because you’re under political pressure to do that.” Makary responded “Senator, if you look at my track record, I have never been afraid to speak my honest scientific opinion. And I have no preconceived plans to make changes on that medication.” She shot back, “Well, I wish you were hedging a little bit less today.”

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) called mifepristone “chemical abortion,” a conservative dog whistle, and pressed Makary again on whether he’d reinstate in-person appointments nationwide. Makary responded with more “just asking questions” nonsense and fearmongering about coercion. “I do think it makes sense to review the totality of data and ongoing data,” he said. Makary added that he knows of doctors who insist on patients taking mifepristone in their office even though telemedicine is permitted. “And I think their concern there is that if this drug is in the wrong hands, it could be used for coercion.”

Makary seemed to take a page out of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s playbook during his own confirmation hearing, when Kennedy said he didn’t have a political agenda and would simply review the science. “President Trump has asked me to study the safety of mifepristone,” Kennedy said. “He has not yet taken a stand on how to regulate it. Whatever he does, I will implement those policies.” He said this despite stating multiple times that “every abortion is a tragedy.” At another point in the hearing, he said, “We need to understand the safety of every drug, mifepristone and every other drug,” adding that he would ask both the FDA and the National Institutes of Health to look at “safety issues.”

This is all chilling stuff, and if the FDA tries to make these changes they’ll face a flurry of lawsuits. But the Supreme Court is what it is. If it helps at all, medication abortions are also safely done with just the second drug in the regimen, misoprostol, which is FDA-approved for treating ulcers. The World Health Organization has guidelines for misoprostol-only abortions. No one should have to change their healthcare because of these right-wing freaks, but that’s the unfortunate reality we face.

 
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