6 reactions to Marty Makary resigning from FDA after e-cig, abortion pill tensions

By Samantha Kamman, Christian Post Reporter Saturday, May 16, 2026

4. Marjorie Dannenfelser 

In response to the news of Marty Makary’s resignation, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a Tuesday X post: “We look forward to a new FDA Commissioner who will put an end to the mail-order abortion drug regime.”

“We must return immediately to the 1st Trump Administration standard of in-person dispensing to protect women from coercion and abuse and allow the enforcement of pro-life state laws,” the pro-life leader continued. 

In December, SBA Pro-Life America issued a statement in which Dannenfelser called for Makary’s firing following reports that he had slow-walked a safety review of mifepristone. 

"Enough is enough: FDA Commissioner Makary should be fired immediately," SBA Pro-Life America’s president declared. "The FDA is doing nothing while every single day abortion drugs take the lives of children, put women and girls at serious risk, empower abusers and trample state pro-life laws."

"The FDA needs a new commissioner who will immediately reinstate in-person dispensing as it existed under President Trump's first term and immediately conduct a comprehensive study," Dannenfelser continued.

A 2025 report by the conservative public policy think tank, the Ethics & Public Policy Center, stated that 10.93% of women experienced adverse effects from mifepristone between 2017 and 2023 — significantly higher than the 0.5% rate listed on the drug’s label. The report analyzed data from an all-payer insurance claims database covering 865,727 prescribed mifepristone abortions during that period.

The report found the most common adverse events included emergency room visits (4.73%), hemorrhages (3.31%), surgical abortions (2.84%), infection (1.34%), hospitalization (0.66%), ectopic pregnancies (0.35%), transfusions (0.15%) and sepsis (0.10%).

Another 2025 report published by the Restoration of America Foundation states that more than one in 10 women who use chemical abortion drugs experience an adverse event. The report also said that abortion drugs mailed to women are 22 times more dangerous than what the FDA discloses to patients.

The study, which used insurance claims from the years 2017 to 2023, identified over 600,000 patients who obtained 865,727 chemical abortions, which suggests repeat abortions.

Other studies have reportedly found that abortion drugs were associated with higher rates of severe or critical emergency room visits compared to surgical abortions and live births.