Press Release
Reproductive Freedom for All Condemns Confirmation of Martin Makary as FDA Commissioner
For Immediate Release: Tuesday, March 25, 2025
Contact: media@reproductivefreedomforall.org
Reproductive Freedom for All Condemns Confirmation of Martin Makary as FDA Commissioner
Washington, D.C.—Today, the U.S. Senate voted to confirm Fox News contributor Martin Makary to head the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which plays an essential role in shaping access to reproductive health care such as birth control and medication abortion. Makary will be reporting to conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who leads the Department of Health and Human Services. Exploiting the FDA is one of the avenues Trump could use to effectively ban medication abortion – the most common method of abortion care – nationwide without going through Congress.
Reproductive Freedom for All President and CEO Mini Timmaraju released the following statement in response:
“Martin Makary’s confirmation jeopardizes two of the most important aspects of the FDA: independence and decision-making rooted in science. Trump just succeeded at giving yet another extremist the green light to chip away at birth control, medication abortion, and more. We will make sure voters remember it when they head to the ballot box.”
Project 2025 explicitly outlines numerous ways the FDA could be exploited by Donald Trump and his allies to strip away vital reproductive health care. The FDA is currently at the heart of a case that could block access to mifepristone—one of two pills used in medication abortion care. Makary could direct the agency to reverse its decades-old approval of the safe, effective medication. The FDA could also influence access to contraception, including the first over-the-counter birth control pill that was approved last year.