US Approval of New Generic Abortion Pill Sparks Conservative Backlash

A new generic version of the abortion pill mifepristone has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), prompting sharp criticism from anti-abortion activists and conservative figures.

The drugmaker Evita announced that the FDA cleared its generic tablet this week. The medication, already approved for ending pregnancies up to 70 days of gestation and for treating early miscarriage, is used in most abortions in the United States.

The agency first approved mifepristone in 2000, and one generic version already exists.

While such approvals are typically routine, conservative leaders denounced the decision. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, described the move as “reckless” and “unconscionable.”

The group Students for Life Action went further, calling it “a stain on the Trump presidency.”

Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri declared on X that he had “lost confidence” in FDA leadership.

Former vice president Mike Pence condemned the approval as “a complete betrayal of the pro-life movement that elected President Trump” and urged the dismissal of Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the administration’s controversial health chief.

The uproar follows reports that Kennedy and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary recently told 22 Republican attorneys general that the FDA was conducting a new review of mifepristone’s safety.

Abortion rights groups have labelled that review a political attempt to restrict access to reproductive health care.

In response, a coalition of attorneys general from more than a dozen Democratic-led states pledged to safeguard availability of the pill.

Leading medical groups, including the American Medical Association, defended mifepristone as “exceedingly safe and effective” and warned that limiting access would “jeopardise public health.”

Mifepristone works by preventing pregnancy progression and is typically paired with misoprostol, which empties the uterus.