HHS chief RFK Jr. says he's ordered a ‘complete review' of chemical abortion pill
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. revealed Wednesday that he has ordered the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct a 'complete review' of a chemical abortion pill amid reports that the drug isn't as safe as advertised.
'It's alarming,' RFK Jr. said of a recent study conducted by the Ethics & Public Policy Center that found nearly 11% of women who used the popular abortion pill mifepristone experienced a 'serious adverse event.'
'I have asked Marty Makary, who is the director at FDA, to do a complete review and report back,' the HHS secretary revealed during a Senate Health, Labor, Education and Pensions Committee hearing.
3 The FDA will conduct a 'complete review' of mifepristone after reports that the drug isn't as safe as advertised.
REUTERS
The Ethics & Public Policy Center study – the 'largest-known' on the abortion pill – analyzed insurance claims data from 865,727 prescribed mifepristone abortions between 2017 and 2023.
The study found 10.93% of women experience sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging, or another serious adverse event within 45 days following a mifepristone abortion.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) cited the group's research as he questioned RFK Jr. during the hearing and noted that the study showed the rate of serious adverse health effects 'is 22 times higher than the FDA's current label' for mifepristone, 'which says it's just 0.5%.'
'Clearly [the study] indicates, at the very least, that the label should be changed,' Kennedy Jr. told Hawley.
Mifepristone was originally approved by the FDA in 2000.
3 Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered the FDA to review mifepristone after reports of safety concerns.
Jack Gruber-USA TODAY via Imagn Images
3 Demonstrators rallied in support of abortion rights at the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on April 15, 2023.
AFP via Getty Images
The Ethics & Public Policy Center, which released its findings last month, argued that the FDA should implement '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,' in light of its study.
'The FDA should further investigate the harm mifepristone causes to women and, based on objective safety criteria, reconsider its approval altogether,' the group concluded.
The FDA initially OK'd mifepristone for chemical abortions up to seven weeks into a pregnancy — a timeframe that was later extended to 10 weeks under former President Barack Obama.
Former President Joe Biden opened the door to FDA approval of mifepristone prescriptions online or through the mail, which the Supreme Court upheld in a unanimous ruling last year.
The Washington, DC-based Ethics and Public Policy Center is a conservative think tank and advocacy group that seeks 'to apply the riches of the Jewish and Christian traditions to contemporary questions of law, culture, and politics, in pursuit of America's continued civic and cultural renewal,' according to the group's website.
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Los Angeles Times
30 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Hegseth's move on USNS Harvey Milk is a stain on military's ‘warrior ethos'
Of course, Trump's Secretary of Defense wants the name of Harvey Milk, the murdered gay rights pioneer, stripped from a ship. Never mind that Milk served in the Korean War as a diving instructor, eventually discharged because of his sexual orientation. Or that he had exhibited courage in facing down haters as the nation's first publicly out elected official. After all, when Pete Hegseth's not sending confidential war plans via Signal to people who shouldn't be privy to them, he's busy bloviating about the 'warrior ethos.' Hegseth is a military veteran, a National Guardsman who did tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. But he's also someone who has made a career out of telling Americans he, above everyone else, knows what our veterans need and what our armed forces need to defend the U.S. in an increasingly volatile world. So Hegseth may know something about warriors and fighting. So did Milk. But Hegseth is too busy playing Rambo to recognize it. Instead, he's weaponizing bigotry to remake the U.S. military as a scorched-earth, hetero-Christian outfit ready to stamp out liberal heretics here and abroad. That's not befitting anyone who calls themselves a warrior, no matter how many pseudo-patriotic tattoos and American flag items of clothing Hegseth loves to sport. A true warrior follows a code of honor that allows respect to those they disagree with and sometimes even combat. For Hegseth to specifically ask that the USNS Harvey Milk have its name changed during Pride Month — the same month that he's requiring all trans service people to out themselves and voluntarily leave their positions or be discharged against their will — does not represent the 'reestablishing [of] the warrior culture' that the Navy is citing as the reason for the moves. Instead, it reveals Hegseth's Achilles heel, one he shares with Trump: a fundamental insecurity about their place in a country that diversified long ago. CBS News is also reporting the Navy is recommending the renaming of ships named after civil rights icons Medgar Evers, Cesar Chavez, Sojourner Truth and Lucy Stone along with ships that haven't yet been built but are scheduled to bear the names of Dolores Huerta, Thurgood Marshall, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Harriet Tubman. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell gave my colleague Kevin Rector the same malarkey he's giving the rest of the media when asked for comment about this matter: That Hegseth is 'committed' to making sure all named military assets 'are reflective of the Commander-in-Chief's priorities, our nation's history, and the warrior ethos.' I can understand the argument can be made that naval ships should be named only after those who served, which would eliminate people like Huerta, Ginsburg and Truth. But there was a beauty in the idea of having the names of civil rights heroes adorn ships in the so-called John Lewis class, oilers named after the late congressman. It was a reminder that wars don't just happen on the front lines but also on the home front. That those who serve to defend our democracy don't just do it through the military. That winning doesn't just happen with bullets and bombs. That sometimes, the biggest threat to our nation hasn't been the enemy abroad, but the enemy within. It's not just my wokoso opinion, either — the oath that all Navy newcomers and newly minted officers must take have them swear to 'support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.' You might not associate Huerta, Truth, and Marshall with the military — indeed, I was surprised the Navy had honored them, period. But I and millions of Americans do remember them for fierceness in their respective battlegrounds, a steeliness any sailor should aspire to. For anyone in Hegseth's world to even think about erasing their name is a disgrace to the Stars and Stripes — but what else should we expect from a department whose boss evaded military service by claiming to have debilitating bone spurs? The striking of Milk's name from an oiler, and proposed renaming of dry cargo ships named for Evers and Chavez, is particularly vile. Milk joined the Navy in the footsteps of his parents. He was so proud of his military background that he was wearing a belt buckle with his Navy diver's insignia the night he was assassinated. Evers was inspired to fight Jim Crow after serving in a segregated Army unit during World War II. Chavez, meanwhile, was stationed in the western Pacific shortly after the Good War during his two-year Navy stint. I called up Andres Chavez, executive director of the National Chavez Center and grandson of Cesar, to hear how he was feeling about this mess. Andres was there in 2012 when the USNS Cesar Chavez was launched in San Diego, christened with a champagne bottle by Helen Chavez, Cesar's widow and Andres' grandmother. He said 'it was probably the second-most memorable commemoration I've seen of my Tata after Obama' dedicated the Cesar E. Chavez National Monument in the Central Valley that year. The USNS Cesar Chavez was the last of the Navy's Lewis and Clark class of boats, all named after pioneers and explorers. Andres said his family was initially 'hesitant' to have a naval ship named in honor of their patriarch 'because so much of Cesar's identity is wrapped up in nonviolence' but accepted when they found out the push came from shipyard workers from San Diego's Barrio Logan. 'And there's been so many Latinos who have served in the military in this country, so we accepted on behalf of them as well,' he said. The Chavez family found out about the possibility of the USNS Cesar Chavez losing its name from reporters. 'We're just gonna wait and see what's next, but we're not surprised by this administration anymore,' Andres said. 'It's just not an affront to Cesar; it's an affront to all the Latino veterans of this country.' He pushed back on Hegseth's definition of what a warrior is by bringing up the work of his grandfather and Milk. The two supported each other's causes in the 1970s and met 'numerous' times, according to Andres. 'They served by creating more opportunities for other people and fighting for their respect,' he concluded. 'That's the definition of a warrior.'
Miami Herald
35 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
Trump's top spiritual advisor visits Miami megachurch. She shares a prophecy
President Donald Trump's top spiritual advisor visited a southwest Miami-Dade County megachurch to outline a vision of a Christian-dominated world and urge believers, particularly Evangelicals, to help make it a reality. In a two-hour sermon on Thursday, Florida Pastor Paula White-Cain — a prominent televangelist and senior advisor to Trump in the newly established White House Faith Office — told a packed church at King Jesus Ministry, one of the largest megachurches in South Florida, that she was not merely preaching but prophesying. 'Can one person make a difference? You didn't come to fit in, you came to take over. You came to move in your Kingdom calling,' she said. 'That threatens people who don't understand the word of God because their language, their understanding is not like yours.' Blending Biblical scripture and personal stories, White-Cain spoke about God using ordinary people to spread the Gospel, save lost 'souls,' and achieve Christian 'dominion' by transforming society. 'God wants to use you to reposition society, your community, this nation, the world,' White-Cain said. 'Get ready because you're going to reap the greatest harvest mankind has ever known.' A translator echoed her every word in real time for the mostly Spanish-speaking audience sprinkled with visitors from South and Central America. Apostle Guillermo Maldonado, the church's founder, has a large international following, including many congregants with strongly conservative political and social values. Nationally, evangelical congregations ranked among the Republican president's most enthusiastic supporters — voting clout that has made White-Cain a powerful political influence in the White House. White-Cain appeared at King Jesus for a three-day spiritual conference called the 'Supernatural School of the Spirit,' where she headlined a string of local and visiting Christian leaders who preached, performed supernatural healings, and instructed crowds of followers and local pastors about how to 'walk in the supernatural' — a term used in some Christian circles referring to direct encounters with God and the Holy Spirit. 'Evangelism is the responsibility of every single christian. As a believer you cannot choose to ignore it. No way you can have an encounter with God and not care about the lost,' said White-Cain during a session that was aired live on the church's Facebook page. White-Cain — who is based in Apopka and married to Jonathan Cain, who played guitar and keyboard for the band Journey and is now part of the Christian music scene — is aligned with a movement of Christianity religious scholars call 'Independent Charismatic Christians,' a part of the New Apostolic Reformation. It blends Pentecostal practices with modern-day Evangelicalism, and its followers believe some leaders — like White-Cain and Maldonado — are apostles or prophets. The idea of achieving 'dominion' over the world and society is not uncommon in charismatic Christian theology, according to religious scholar Matthew Taylor, who studies Christian Nationalism. 'It holds that because God gave human beings 'dominion' over creation (Gen. 1:28), God must intend for human beings today to be active partners in ruling over the earth,' writes Taylor in his book 'The Violent Take it By Force.' Many charismatics, he writes, 'came to understand this as a present-day mandate to take over human societies so as to govern them according to God's reign.' White-Cain, a longtime supporter of Trump, has been credited for her skill at bringing views long considered extreme into the mainstream of conservative Christianity. Her Miami appearance echoed many familiar themes, preaching about God's dominion and transforming American values and culture. 'We're responsible to create culture. And that culture is a kingdom culture where you bring the heart of God into herding humanity,' White-Cain said during her sermon in Miami. Humble beginnings to the White House White-Cain's personal story moved some in the church to tears as she shared tales of her tumultuous childhood and unlikely path to ministry. White, who grew up in Mississippi but eventually landed in Florida, emphasized that she didn't attend church until she was 18 years old and that she never imagined that she'd make it out of her abusive situation let alone into the White House. White-Cain has often spoken about her chaotic childhood — her father who had a gambling and drinking problem, died by suicide when she was just five-years-old, she says. In the fallout of her father's death, her mother struggled with alcoholism and before the age of thirteen, she endured years of sexual and physical abuse from babysitters and neighbors, according to a chapter on White-Cain in Taylor's book. In her Miami sermon, White-Cain talked about her journey from the trailer park as an 18-year-old single mother to preaching on television and ultimately, serving as a close spiritual advisor to President Trump. 'My story has nothing but brokenness, has nothing but ashes, but a great God can take what everyone else will give up on and say look what I can do,' she said. White-Cain also spoke at length about 'financial abundance' and preparing for a 'great harvest,' connecting the idea of giving financially to a spiritual revival. A key part of her message: in order to reap the rewards and feel God's glory, believers must first plant the seed and make a covenant with God. It was an appeal echoed in almost every church on Sunday to take out a checkbook or wallet but she urged congregants to dig deep. 'God's giving me revelation right now. Remember, glory only came when there was extravagant giving,' White-Cain said as QR codes flashed on the screens of the worship center, prompting people on how to donate. 'Stop holding yourselves back … Let God touch your heart for the harvest … Watch God extravagantly bless you … What you sow you grow. Obedience opens overflow. This is not historic. This is prophetic. God is getting ready to increase you.' White-Cain said she was moved to plant her own seed at King Jesus Ministries, pledging $12,000. She fetched her checkbook and wrote the donation live in front of thousands watching in person and at home. A viral prayer for Trump White-Cain didn't discuss specific issues like the administration's controversial crackdown on immigrants, many of them Hispanic. But she mentioned Trump a few times in her sermon on Thursday, telling the audience that her work was bigger than politics. 'This is not about Democrat or Republican or Independent. This is a moment that God opened up to be harvested,' she said. White-Cain said she has been close friends with the president for over 24 years. The relationship started when Trump called her one day out of the blue, she said, after he saw her preaching on TV and told her she had the 'it' factor. But, even before Trump called her, she said she had been praying for the president, and that she had added him to a list of ten people that she wanted the Lord to 'save.' 'When President Trump got back in, I knew that it was for America, but the Lord spoke to me and said it was for the nations,' White-Cain told the crowd. 'And the Lord has divinely aligned his people. That's you.' In 2020, she first gained broad national fame when one of her sermons at her church in Tampa went viral online. In it, she prayed forcefully, imploring God to give victory to Trump just one day after the presidential election was called for Joe Biden. During the prayers in the now-viral video, White was speaking in tongues, a practice that is commonly used by charismatic Christians who evoke ecstatic sounds that believers find to be a heavenly language. 'For every enemy that is aligned against you, let there be that we would strike the ground, for you will give us victory, God…. I hear a sound of victory. The Lord says, 'It is done,'' she said in that sermon.'We break and divide every demonic confederacy against the election, against America, against who you [God] have declared to be in the White House.' Her stance also drew criticism. As clips of White's intonations spread across the internet, people mocked the Florida pastor — arguing that Trump's Christian base was appearing more extreme, more unhinged by the day. 'Religious extremists like this is why we need to strengthen the separation between church and state!' wrote one online critic. Following Trump's latest victory, White-Cain became the first female clergy member to pray at a presidential inauguration and now serves as the first female primary spiritual adviser to a U.S. president. This story was produced with financial support from Trish and Dan Bell and from donors comprising the South Florida Jewish and Muslim Communities, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.
Yahoo
40 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Ultra-Orthodox protesters launch feces, vandalize home of real estate CEO
Individuals rioted outside the homes of the CEO and VP of Aura real estate in protest of a new project in Yehud, which they claim would take place on top of graves. About one hundred extreme ultra-Orthodox individuals demonstrated violently outside the home of Yaakov Ataracchi, CEO and owner of Aura, one of Israel's largest real estate companies, on Thursday night. The rioters organized transportation from Beit Shemesh and Jerusalem, aiming to force Ataracchi and his company to end their work on a demolition-rebuilding project in Yehud, which they have claimed is taking place on top of graves. According to the company, this is a legal and approved project carried out with the guidance of the Antiquities Authority. The rioters broke the gate to the house, smashed the intercom, caused damage to the yard and property, vandalized equipment, and threw bags of excrement at the house and the family members. The police, who were aware of the threat in advance and even updated the family, did not arrest any protesters. According to sources close to the family, the police called Ataracchi's wife, informed her of the demonstration, and asked if the family had private security, as they would not be able to assist with their forces. After the event in Tel Aviv, the rioters proceeded to the home of Hod Betzer, the company's VP, in Elkana, where they repeated the same pattern of breaking, vandalizing, and threatening. The company has warned of a severe escalation: just last week, the graves of the CEO's parents were vandalized, and now the extremists have moved to direct violence against private homes. According to the company, these are extremist fringe groups, some of which are known, taking advantage of their police protection while spreading disinformation about non-existent graves in an attempt to intimidate and extort developers. According to the executives, the project in Yehud involves the demolition of ten old buildings and the construction of 444 new residential units, commercial spaces, and public buildings, and it is being carried out in accordance with all regulations, with no findings of Jewish graves. "Aura will not yield to threats. This is not a protest – it is an organized attack. If we didn't have security guards, this would have ended in a disaster. I call on the police to act with full severity," Ataracchi responded.
