{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.boozman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=014842CB-9744-4C6B-A604-10BFD4F64FEE", "Boozman Joins 50 Republican Senators to Urge FDA to Reevaluate Dangerous Abortion Pill", "2025-10-14", "2025", "2025-10", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "John Boozman", "B001236", "www.boozman.senate.gov", "boozman", "https://www.boozman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON\u2014U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) joined Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and 49 of their Republican colleagues, in sending a letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Martin Makary urging the agencies to reevaluate the recent approval of generic mifepristone, a drug used to perform chemical abortions that are deadly to unborn children. Further, mifepristone has known serious health risk for expecting mothers and unrestricted access to abortion drugs systematically undermines states\u2019 rights by violating pro-life state laws.\n\n\u201cWe are deeply concerned about the FDA\u2019s approval of a new generic version of mifepristone,\u201d the senators wrote. \u201cWhile we recognize the FDA\u2019s statutory responsibility in evaluating drug applications, the timing of this approval appears inconsistent with the comprehensive safety reassessment your agencies have prioritized. Out of respect for this important review, and with full confidence in your dedication to protecting women\u2019s health, states\u2019 rights, and unborn life, we urge you to take decisive action to reevaluate whether this generic version of mifepristone is suitable to enter the market.\u201d\n\nThe letter was signed by Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Senators Jim Banks (R-IN), John Barrasso (R-WY), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Katie Britt (R-AL), Ted Budd (R-NC), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), John Cornyn (R-TX), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Ted Cruz (R-TX), John Curtis (R-UT), Steve Daines (R-MT), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Charles Grassley (R-IA), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Josh Hawley (R-MO), John Hoeven (R-ND), Jon Husted (R-OH), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Jim Justice (R-WV), John Kennedy (R-LA), James Lankford (R-OK), Mike Lee (R-UT), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), David McCormick (R-PA), Ashley Moody (R-FL), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Bernie Moreno (R-OH), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Rand Paul (R-KY), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), James Risch (R-ID), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Rick Scott (R-FL), Tim Scott (R-SC), Tim Sheehy (R-MT), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Todd Young (R-IN).\n\nText of the letter can be found below and here.\n\nDear Secretary Kennedy and Commissioner Makary,\n\nUnder your leadership, we have seen a strong commitment to reevaluating the policies that affect the most vulnerable among us\u2014the unborn. We applaud your acknowledgment of the concerns surrounding the FDA\u2019s approval and regulation of the abortion pill regimen\u2013mifepristone and misoprostol\u2013and your commitment to following the science to ensure the safety and well-being of women and unborn children alike.\n\nBut the work is far from over. The \u201cabortion-on-demand\u201d culture enabled by the Biden-Harris administration\u2019s removal of critical safeguards on the only FDA-approved abortion regimen is currently the biggest threat to unborn life in America today. Under current FDA regulations, these drugs can be obtained via mail order without meaningful consultation with a medical professional and without any confirmation of who is purchasing them or for what purpose. These policies have enabled abortion pills to be obtained by abusers, traffickers, and even minors.\n\nThe aftermath has not only been deadly for preborn babies, but lethal to their mothers. Contrary to the narrative peddled by the media that taking abortion pills is \u201csafer than taking Tylenol,\u201d evidence shows that the risk of serious medical complications after taking mifepristone is at least twenty-two times higher than reported on the drug label. In fact, more than 1 in 10 women who take mifepristone will experience a serious adverse event.\n\nUnrestricted access to abortion pills is systematically undermining states\u2019 rights and violating pro-life state laws. Every month, thousands of abortion drugs are shipped into states that have otherwise limited access to abortion after Dobbs, degrading pro-life laws at the state level across the country. Pro-life states have been forced to defend their citizens against radical abortion extremists. Louisiana and Texas are taking legal action against a New York doctor whose mail-order abortion business put at least two women in the hospital and a California doctor who allegedly sold abortion drugs to men.\n\nThe Biden-Harris administration enabled the deception of American women and the violation of states\u2019 constitutional rights by relying on faulty data to claim that there would be no increase in complications if abortion drugs were approved for mail-order. But the current data reveals the truth. This year, two groups of researchers reviewed the outcomes of 865,727 medically-induced abortions from 2017 to 2023, all of which occurred after the FDA stopped collecting complication information other than death in 2016. Their research found \u201cthat chemical abortion poses greater risks to women in real-world clinical use than revealed in the clinical trials of mifepristone and that the rate of serious adverse events from the chemical abortion regimen continues to grow in recent years.\u201d Despite this, President Biden used the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext to remove these critical safeguards and fundamentally undermine women\u2019s reproductive health. But in November 2024, seventy-three million Americans voted to bring a stop to this radical abortion agenda.\n\nWe commend your recent statements acknowledging the data discrepancies surrounding abortion pill safety and your commitment to reviewing the science. We are also encouraged by HHS\u2019s recent announcement that it will review prior Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) approvals given the recent studies raising concerns about the drug\u2019s safety. Given this commitment, however, we are deeply concerned about the FDA\u2019s approval of a new generic version of mifepristone. While we recognize the FDA\u2019s statutory responsibility in evaluating drug applications, the timing of this approval appears inconsistent with the comprehensive safety reassessment your agencies have prioritized. Out of respect for this important review, and with full confidence in your dedication to protecting women\u2019s health, states\u2019 rights, and unborn life, we urge you to take decisive action to reevaluate whether this generic version of mifepristone is suitable to enter the market.\n\nToday, your agencies have all the information they need to bring an end to previous Democrat administrations\u2019 abortion drug regulations while a comprehensive review is conducted. As a starting point, we recommend the following:\n\nSuspend the approval of any new generic versions of mifepristone pending the outcome of the REMS safety review;\n\nCommit to ensuring that all generic versions of mifepristone are included in the ongoing reevaluation of prior REMS approvals;\n\nReinstate the in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone and all its generic versions;\n\nSuspend the distribution of mifepristone and all generic versions as an \u201cimminent hazard\u201d under Section 505(e) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA); and\n\nWithdraw FDA guidance permitting pharmacy distribution of mifepristone and all its generic versions.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.boozman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=014842CB-9744-4C6B-A604-10BFD4F64FEE"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0927398689091206, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}