FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 15, 2025
CONTACT
Karen Garnett
Vice President of National Expansion, Cogency Strategic
214-727-8378
karen@cogencystrategic.com
Cogency Strategic and National Religious Broadcasters Launch PSA Campaign Warning Women of Abortion Pill Dangers
Columbia, Missouri – Cogency Strategic and the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) are helping bring national attention to a groundbreaking, first-of-its-kind study released by the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC), which revealed that serious adverse events resulting from the abortion pill mifepristone are occurring at a rate 22 times higher than what the FDA currently acknowledges.
Cogency Strategic, a leading communications and strategy firm and a member of the NRB, has produced 30-second audio PSAs for nationwide broadcasters to run on their shows to help reach women with the truth. The downloadable files may be accessed at this link. Cogency Strategic continues to work closely with research partners, advocates, and policymakers to ensure the findings of “The Abortion Pill Harms Women,” are widely understood and responsibly acted upon. To read the full study, visit: StopHarmingWomen.org.
NRB’s president & CEO, Troy A. Miller, strongly endorses the PSAs. “This study is a wake-up call for the nation,” Miller said. “It brings credible, data-backed truth into a debate often dominated by ideology. NRB is proud to support our member Cogency Strategic and its commitment to advocating for the protection of women and the unborn. This is exactly the kind of high-impact work our members are called to do—bringing truth to light in the public square.”
The research reviewed 865,727 mifepristone abortions from 2017 to 2023, making it the largest-ever real-world study of its kind. By contrast, the FDA’s current drug label is based on just 10 clinical trials involving 30,966 women, some of which were conducted more than 40 years ago. Less than 0.5% of those cases reported severe complications—dramatically lower than the actual rate now revealed.
“This study is the statistical equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane hitting the prevailing narrative of the abortion industry,” said Ryan T. Anderson, president of EPPC. “The Trump FDA should take immediate action to protect American women by reinstating safety regulations that the Obama and Biden administrations removed.”
Mifepristone has been used by more than 5 million U.S. women since its approval in 2000. Today, mifepristone abortions account for approximately two-thirds of all abortions in the United States, underscoring the urgent need to reassess its regulation in light of this new data.
In addition to the significant number of adverse events, the study further revealed that the real-world failure rate of mifepristone abortion—at least 5.26 percent, or about one in 19 cases—is double the failure rate from the U.S. clinical trials and roughly two-thirds higher than the combined failure rate from all clinical trials reported on the FDA-approved drug label.
Combined with the prior finding that 10.93 percent of women experience a serious adverse event, and adjusting to avoid double-counting, the study found that 13.51 percent of women—roughly one in seven—experience at least one serious adverse event or repeated abortion attempt within 45 days of first attempting a mifepristone abortion.
Senator Josh Hawley referenced the study during Wednesday’s Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing with Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Secretary Kennedy’s response is encouraging: “It’s alarming,” Kennedy said of the EPPC data. “Clearly, it indicates that at the very least, the label should be changed. I’ve asked Marty Makary, who is the director of the FDA, to do a complete review and to report back,” Kennedy added.
“Women need to be made aware of the immediate danger of the abortion pill,” said Karen Garnett, Vice President of National Expansion for Cogency Strategic. “This is a public health emergency. It is essential that women understand these pills involve significant risks that have largely been kept hidden until now.”
About Cogency Strategic
Cogency Strategic is dedicated to helping pro-life advocacy groups win critical campaigns for life. Through innovative, data-driven digital strategies, we amplify life-affirming messages, mobilize voters, and increase donor support. With a team of pro-life experts, we craft bold, targeted campaigns that outmaneuver the opposition and drive public policy victories, creating lasting cultural change for the pro-life movement. Learn more at www.cogencystrategic.com.
About NRB
NRB is a nonpartisan, international association of Christian communicators whose member organizations represent millions of listeners, viewers, and readers. NRB’s mission is two-fold: To protect the free speech rights of our members to speak Biblical truth by advocating those rights in governmental, corporate, and media sectors; and to foster excellence, integrity, and accountability in our membership by providing networking, educational, ministry, and relational opportunities. Learn more at www.nrb.org.
Media Contact
Karen Garnett
Vice President of National Expansion, Cogency Strategic
214-727-8378
karen@cogencystrategic.com
