Overton refuses to say whether mifepristone is safe and effective; Overton refuses to say that IUDs and contraception are NOT abortion
***WATCH: Senator Murray’s full questioning***
Washington, D.C. — Today—at a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) hearing to consider the nomination of Dr. Heidi Overton to be Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)—U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the HELP committee, grilled Overton on the FDA approval of mifepristone and the safety of medication abortion, the mass foodborne illness outbreaks over the summer, and extreme claims that birth control is abortion.
[MEDICATION ABORTION]
Senator Murray began by questioning whether Overton agreed that mifepristone was safe and effective, something decades of research has consistently affirmed.
MURRAY: Dr. Overton, do you do agree with the FDA approval of mifepristone, which means the agency deems it safe and effective?
OVERTON: Thank you for the question. I look forward to getting to meet with you next week and talk in more detail. Mifepristone was approved by the FDA, as having met its safety and efficacy standards.
MURRAY: I know what the FDA has done. I asked if you agree with the FDA, that it is safe and effective?
OVERTON: Senator, as the nominee for the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, my job would be to abide by the statutory standards set out for safety and efficacy. And when a product is before the agency and has met those standards, I would agree with the statutory standards of safety and efficacy.
MURRAY: So, you do believe it’s safe?
OVERTON: I know that it has met the safety and efficacy standard according to the FDA review.
MURRAY: Well, despite what FDA says, and what decades of science says, you actually published an article three years ago that incorrectly described medication abortion as “dangerous to women.” The fact that you would blatantly contradict decades of high-quality scientific evidence, and millions of patients use it, is alarming to me. So, that’s why I asked you that question.
You have stated in an article that you believe it is dangerous. So, I asked you, do you believe it is safe today and you are not answering the question.
OVERTON: Senator, thank you for the opportunity to discuss this directly. I have always been driven by data and information and use the clinical training and the research training that I have in everything that I have written. Specific to that publication in 2023 was a time after a change was made at the FDA in how that medication was accessed. And I think it’s very important for the FDA in its post-market review, like with every medication, especially those medications that have a risk evaluation mitigation strategy—
MURRAY: I hear you changing your answer now saying you don’t think it is safe. The FDA agreed that this was safe and effective 26 years ago. Where I come from, I really believe that our FDA needs people who will put science first. The FDA has said this is safe and we need somebody in FDA who is going to be there to make sure that this is done by—is science based. So that’s where I come from. Let me change really quickly, I’m almost out of time.
[FOODBORNE ILLNESS OUTBREAKS]
Senator Murray then asked about the massive foodborne illness outbreaks from this past summer, that led Americans to no longer trust what foods were safe to eat or not—asking Overton simple questions about the human foods program at FDA.
MURRAY: As you know, this summer Americans have had to deal with lettuce that causes explosive diarrhea. There’s been an outbreak recalling millions of eggs; frozen blueberries were contaminated with E.coli; multiple recalls of infant formula—and the list goes on.
What happened this summer just it cannot happen again. And coincidentally, this all happened after Trump and DOGE pushed out and fired more than 4,600 people at the FDA—and now the agency I hear is trying to scramble to rehire at least 3,500 people. That is a nearly 17 percent reduction in just a year and a half for a workforce whose job it is to keep our food and our medicines safe.
Can you tell us how many people currently work at the Human Foods Program at FDA right now?
OVERTON: Senator, thank you for the question. Having not been at the agency right now, I don’t know the exact staffing numbers of that center. I know there are about 16,000 employees currently. And I know that the FDA, as publicly reported, is hiring to have the best people in the best positions to be able to deliver on the core mission. Food safety is one of those. There are a lot of things that we can do and work together on.
MURRAY: Let me just tell you because this is really important. The office has approximately 1,700 employees which is still 13% fewer than they had at the start of 2025. So, that is deeply disturbing. I want you to be aware of that and I want you to focus on that.
And I wanted to ask you are you currently aware of which part of the FDA’s Human Foods Program monitors those kind of outbreaks and foodborne illness? Do you know what it’s called?
OVERTON: Within the center of Human Foods? Food Safety and Inspection center I believe.
MURRAY: Well I’ll tell you, it’s the Coordinated Outbreak Risk and Evaluation Network—it’s called the CORE Network. I think it’s really important that you focus on that and know that. And make sure that it is fully staffed. It is absolutely, incredibly important to people’s safety and I think everyone right now is very concerned about what has been happening and I see a direct correlation to the reduction of staff that has been there.
[LIES ABOUT BIRTH CONTROL]
Senator Murray concluded by asking about the Trump administration’s lies about birth control being abortion.
MURRAY: Finally, and I just have a minute, a few seconds left. Last year, the Trump administration falsely labeled birth control as “abortion.”
Do you agree that, say, an IUD is an “abortifacient”?
OVERTON: Senator, if I have the privilege of being confirmed, first off, I commit to working with you on the food safety pillars that are critically important. We did ask in the congressional justification for more foreign facility user fees to be able to have more of those inspections to specifically address the problems we were raised this summer.
MURRAY: I appreciate that, but I wanted to know if you agree that an IUD is an “abortifacient”?
OVERTON: Senator, thank you for the question. If I’m confirmed as FDA Commissioner, I’ll be briefed on all their prior decisions, and I will make determinations according to the standards of safety and efficacy.
MURRAY: Well, I don’t think you answered the question. Look, I think it is outrageous and should be deeply alarming to all Americans right now that the prospect of an FDA commissioner who doesn’t know that birth control is not an abortion is deeply concerning to me.
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