In an Oct. 6 statement, Bishop Daniel E. Thomas of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) denounced the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) decision to approve a new generic version of the abortion pill mifepristone, calling it a “shocking inconsistency” as the agency simultaneously reviews the drug’s safety.
“It is jarring and contradictory that, at the same time that the Food and Drug Administration is conducting a much-needed review of the supposed safety of the abortion pill for women, it is nonetheless approving a new generic for this deadly drug,” Bishop Thomas, who chairs the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities, said in a press release.
As CatholicVote reported Oct. 2, the FDA quietly approved a new generic version of mifepristone on Sept. 30.
“The FDA took shortcuts in originally approving and loosening protocols for mifepristone, which enabled the killing of more children and placed the health of more women in danger,” Bishop Thomas said. “Even if it eventually had to be approved as a generic version of the same drug, to do so now and make it more available before a recently-announced safety study can be completed and potentially save lives, is a shocking inconsistency.”
The bishop added that “mothers in need and their preborn children deserve better,” urging the agency to reverse course once the safety review is complete.
In July, the USCCB’s Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities joined several Catholic organizations in a letter to FDA Commissioner Marty Makary outlining the documented dangers of mifepristone.
A widely cited April Ethics & Public Policy Center study found that about 11% of women who undergo chemical abortions suffer serious complications, such as hemorrhage, sepsis, and infection.
Last month, after pressure from Republicans, the Department of Health and Human Services said it would launch a study into the real-world harms of abortion drugs, CatholicVote reported Oct. 2.
The Biden administration had previously lifted in-person dispensing requirements and other safety protocols for mifepristone, allowing the pills to be prescribed via telehealth and sent through the mail. Pro-life advocates have since warned that the mail-order abortion pills are being used as tools of coercion, citing cases in which women were secretly drugged by abusive partners.
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