lifenews.com
2025-12-10
How do Americans view chemical abortion? A fresh poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) offered revealing insight.
The KFF Health Tracking Poll was done partly in response to a September letter from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary announcing that the FDA would be conducting a safety review of the abortion pill mifepristone. As KFF observed, "Public awareness of the pill and its longstanding safety record is limited." To address that gap, KFF surveyed American adults to gauge what Americans actually know -- and how they feel -- about chemical abortion.
Key findings highlighted significant unawareness: While 53% of respondents had heard of mifepristone, just 24% realized it now drives the majority of abortions nationwide. On the drug's safety, 42% described it as safe "when taken as directed," with only 18% deeming it unsafe and four in 10 expressing uncertainty. Among women aged 18 to 49, 41% viewed it as safe, 21% as unsafe, and 37% remained unsure. "Notably," KFF observed, "public perception of the pills' safety has dropped since 2023, when 55% of the public said abortion pills were safe when taken as directed, 9% viewed them as unsafe, and 35% were not sure."