1014 - How the FDA Regulates Mifepristone, "the Abortion Pill" episode artwork

EPISODE · Feb 23, 2026 · 11 MIN

1014 - How the FDA Regulates Mifepristone, "the Abortion Pill"

from Public Health On Call · host Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

About this episode: A recent analysis of FDA documents has found that the agency has historically regulated mifepristone—a medication commonly used to terminate pregnancy—based on available scientific evidence and without ideological bias. In this episode: Caleb Alexander, an author of the study, discusses these findings and their implications for a possible new review of the medication by FDA. Guests: Dr. G. Caleb Alexander, MS, is a practicing internist and drug safety expert at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Host: Lindsay Smith Rogers, MA, is the producer of the Public Health On Call podcast, an editor for Expert Insights, and the director of content strategy for the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Show links and related content: The US Food and Drug Administration's Regulation of Mifepristone—JAMA Study: FDA Regulation of Abortion Drug Mifepristone from 2011 to 2023 Shaped by Evidence and Caution—Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health F.D.A. Decisions on Abortion Pill Were Based on Science, New Analysis Finds—New York Times What Is Mifepristone, aka "The Abortion Pill"?—Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health What's at Stake for Access to Medication Abortion and the FDA in the Supreme Court Case FDA v. the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine?—KFF Transcript information: Looking for episode transcripts? Open our podcast on the Apple Podcasts app (desktop or mobile) or the Spotify mobile app to access an auto-generated transcript of any episode. Closed captioning is also available for every episode on our YouTube channel. Contact us: Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website. Follow us: @‌PublicHealthPod on Bluesky @‌PublicHealthPod on Instagram @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Facebook @‌PublicHealthOnCall on YouTube Here's our RSS feed Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Feb 23, 2026

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1014 - How the FDA Regulates Mifepristone, "the Abortion Pill"

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