Daines Urges HHS Secretary Kennedy to Reinstate Safeguards on Abortion Pill

WASHINGTON, D.C. –
U.S. Senator Steve Daines today spoke in a Senate Finance Committee hearing with U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. They discussed regulations surrounding the abortion pill and the Rural Health Transformation Program.
Watch the full exchange
HERE
.
Daines on funding the Rural Health Transformation Program:
Daines:
Since you were first nominated in this role, it’s been your goal to make HHS the gold standard of science. I appreciate your sincere commitment to that goal and the role you’re playing in restoring America’s leadership in scientific rigor, transparency, and public health. Before I get into a more specific public health question, I just want to follow up on the exchange you just had about the rural health care in our country. And Montana, I think when you think Montana, you think rural. We love that about our state. But I want to build on what you just said, Mr. Secretary, because there was a transformative $50 billion investment that Senate Republicans made in working with the Trump administration to strengthen health care across rural America in our working family tax cut bill. There has been $50 billion following a competitive application process, and Montana is receiving a $233 million investment from the Trump administration, the fourth highest funding award of all 50 states, to stabilize and modernize rural health care delivery throughout the state. Mr. Secretary, could you touch for a moment on the real change this investment will have on rural health care access, delivery, and outcomes in places like Montana as well as across America?
Kennedy:
Medicaid pays about 7 percent in total to rural hospitals. It’s about $20 billion a year to all rural areas in our country.
Daines:
Mr. Secretary, I met yesterday with our hospital administrators from across our state. They came in, CEOs, came into my office, and we were talking about enthusiasm, excitement they had about what’s happening right now, as you just articulated and the fact, you’re also going after the fraud that’s occurring right now in these programs. The American people want the right people to help; they want the fraudsters removed and I appreciate your leadership on that. And that’s delivering real results and outcomes for the American people.
Daines on the need to reinstate the in-person dispensing requirement for the abortion pill:
Daines:
Back on the issue of safety, I want to go back to my earlier comment, and I want to continue the conversation we had around what HHS is doing to apply the principles of safety for the American people as it relates to the federal regulations on mifepristone. You’ve stated the FDA is conducting a comprehensive safety review, which they are, and I encourage you to see that review through completion guided by the best available data. Some of the evidence we already have today points to some serious real-world consequence as it relates to safety for women. We know about the outcomes to the baby. I’m talking about the outcomes now to women. In fact, there was analysis of over 865,000 mifepristone prescriptions compiled from insurance claims that found that 11 percent of women experienced a serious adverse event. That typically means going to the ER. There is serious medical care required within 45 days of taking mifepristone. That’s 22 times higher than the FDA’s long-standing estimate of less than 0.5 percent. In the first half of 2025, over 27 percent, in fact, of all abortions in the U.S. were chemical abortions, provided by online clinics. Will you implement interim safeguards as well as look at reinstating the in-person dispensing requirement until the full safety review is completed?
Kennedy:
Regrettably, Senator Daines, I cannot comment on that because of the litigation.
Daines:
Well, I have read that study. And the actual adverse effects are 22 times what the FDA had on the label. And so we want to see action taken because women are being harmed by mifepristone.
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Contact:
Matt Lloyd,
Gabby Wiggins