Just how dangerous is the abortion pill? Pro-lifers have long argued that in addition to ending a life, mifepristone is also dangerous for women and often leaves them suffering alone or rushing to the hospital after an at-home chemical abortion. Now, as groups pressure FDA commissioner Dr. Marty Makary to tighten restrictions around the life-ending drug, the Ethics and Public Policy Center has released data showing the abortion pill is more dangerous for pregnant women than pro-abortion advocates would have them think.

More than one in 10 women who took the pill experienced serious side effects such as “sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging, or another serious adverse event,” according to the EPPC’s new report, which reviewed more than 865,000 insurance claims for prescription mifepristone. “The real-world rate of serious adverse events following mifepristone abortions is at least 22 times as high as the summary figure of ‘less than 0.5 percent’ in clinical trials reported on the drug label.”

This is not the message women are getting from the abortion lobby. When I Googled “abortion pill dangers,” the first link that came up was from Planned Parenthood. “Medication abortion is very safe,” the abortion provider suggests. Luckily, Google’s AI overview acknowledged that medication abortion “carries potential risks like heavy bleeding, infection, and retained pregnancy tissue.” However, the idea that harrowing side effects from mifepristone are rare persists.

After comparing the death rate from mifepristone versus that of drugs such as penicillin and viagra, a CNN analysis from last year concluded that mifepristone “is even safer than some common, low-risk prescription drugs.” This neglects the fact that a drug doesn’t need to kill a patient to cause serious harm. And, of course, there’s the fact that mifepristone is always geared toward the end of one life. Notably, CNN has not covered EPPC’s new report.

Medication abortion now accounts for the plurality of all abortions, or “63 percent of U.S. abortions in 2023,” according to PBS. Makary, who was confirmed as FDA commissioner in March, said last month he has “no plans to take action on mifepristone.” However, he added that “if the data suggests something or tells us that there’s a real signal, then I — we can’t promise we’re not going to act on that data that we have not yet seen.”

In its report, EPPC urged Makary to act on the new findings. “The FDA should immediately reinstate its earlier, stronger patient safety protocols to ensure physician responsibility for women who take mifepristone under their care, as well as mandate full reporting of its side effects,” it suggested. “The FDA should further investigate the harm mifepristone causes to women and, based on objective safety criteria, reconsider its approval altogether.”

Over the past few years, preserving access to abortion medication has become popular among pro-abortion advocates, with Planned Parenthood setting up shop near the Democratic National Convention to offer the medication last year and celebrities talking about taking abortion pills. But in addition to ending one life and potentially threatening another, the abortion pill can also be easily abused. A New York abortionist was recently indicted after abortion medication she prescribed was used by a mother to coerce her daughter into an abortion, as the Human Life Review previously reported.

Let’s hope that Makary reads the EPPC report and considers all the potential dangers of the abortion pill. He calls himself “a data guy.” It’s time to listen to all the data.