WASHINGTON, DC -- This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved an updated, evidence-based label for mifepristone (Mifeprex®), a drug used to end an early pregnancy. The National Women’s Health Network commends the FDA for putting women’s health over politics and making this label change a priority.

Cindy Pearson, Executive Director of the National Women’s Health Network, released the following statement regarding the announcement:

“The National Women’s Health Network has a long history of serving as an FDA watchdog, ensuring that drugs and medical devices approved for use by women are both safe and effective. Our only vested interest is in women’s health, and we have always been willing to oppose a drug or device we believed was unsafe, even when we agreed with its purpose. We can say without hesitation that mifepristone is an extremely safe and effective method to end an early pregnancy, and we are thrilled that the updated FDA label reflects that.

“Anti-choice politicians were able to use the outdated label as an excuse to pass medically unnecessary, confusing, and even dangerous laws that put women’s health at risk. Updating the label helps millions of women, including women of color, young women, and poor women, access this critical component of comprehensive reproductive health care. We applaud the FDA for making mifepristone’s label in line with best practices.”

Mifepristone—known variously as the abortion pill, medication abortion, or RU-486—is a vital part of women’s health care and should not be subject to the whims of anti-choice politicians. NWHN applauds the FDA for the label change, and encourages the agency to remove additional medical unnecessary barriers to mifepristone, including special registration of abortion providers. Abortion has always been, and will remain, a vital part of women’s health care.

The National Women’s Health Network is supported by our members and by choice, we do not accept financial support from drug companies or medical device manufacturers. We bring the voices, concerns and needs of women consumers to policy and regulatory tables.