3 takeaways from Live Action's abortion pill exposé, investigation of Planned Parenthood

By Samantha Kamman, Christian Post Reporter Thursday, January 29, 2026

2. Live Action alleges regulatory noncompliance, demands 'immediate corrective action' 

The pro-life group sent a letter to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, addressing the same concerns raised during the press conference. 

“The purpose of both the press conference and the investigative release is straightforward: to place clear evidence of regulatory noncompliance and patient harm on the public record and to urge immediate corrective action by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration,” the document states.

In the letter, Live Action notes that FDA data show the drug is responsible for ending 7.5 million pregnancies since its approval in 2000 through December 2024. The organization says it has documented that abortion pill distributors like Planned Parenthood are dispensing the pill without verifying gestational age or providing an ultrasound beforehand. 

Live Action's white paper also cites several instances of abortion industry figures showing "indifference" to the Food and Drug Administration's gestational limits on the abortion pill. 

"During a COVID-19 webinar, National Abortion Federation Medical Director Alice Mark showed indifference to gestational limits, only concerned with the fetus's ability to be 'flush[ed],' stating: '[A]n eleven-week pregnancy shouldn’t be too large to flush … even if you’re off by a few weeks. So, what I would say is that, as part of the counseling, is to tell patients that – you know — at some point you might see visible fetal tissue,'" Live Action's white paper reported. 

"This guidance has led to women 'self-managing' (DIY) abortions and disposing of their deceased children in toilets, resulting in significant trauma upon seeing recognizable human body parts of the woman’s aborted child."

Live Action cited research from the conservative think tank Ethics and Public Policy Center, which analyzed data from an all-payer insurance claims database that includes 865,727 prescribed mifepristone abortions from 2017 to 2023. EPPC's analysis found that “10.93% of women experienced sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging, or another serious adverse event within 45 days of taking mifepristone — an adverse event rate at least 22 times higher than the ‘less than 0.5%’ rate reported in the FDA‑approved clinical trials.”

The pro-life organization urged the HHS and FDA to suspend the approval of mifepristone as an abortifacient, prohibit the distribution of abortion pills through mail-order services, telehealth platforms, and retail pharmacies, reinstate comprehensive adverse-event reporting requirements, and release a full public accounting of the scientific and clinical evidence used to expand access to the drug.

“Continued inaction risks further harm and erosion of confidence in the regulatory process. The responsibility to protect patients and ensure a credible, evidence-based regulatory framework rests with your agencies, and we expect that responsibility to be met,” the pro-life group’s letter concluded.