While campaigning for President, Joe Biden made little effort to conceal just how fervently he would implement a radical pro-abortion agenda. Under pressure from his party’s activist base, Biden shamelessly abandoned his long-standing opposition to taxpayer-funded abortion. He also promised to pursue an unbridled abortion regime that allowed abortion until birth. Furthermore, he vowed his nominees to the courts and bureaucratic positions would share his disposition so that his administration and judicial allies would together endeavor to establish this regime. Since taking office, Biden has delivered on these assurances without equivocation, most recently in the form of Robert Califf, America’s newest Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner.
Just a week into his time in the Oval Office—when the echo of his inauguration had barely subsided—Joe Biden rescinded Trump’s Mexico City policy, which had prohibited American taxpayer dollars from funding foreign non-governmental organizations that support abortion. Domestically, he likewise rescinded Trump’s Pro-Life Title X funding restrictions, once again permitting taxpayer dollars to flow to the abortion industry, especially Planned Parenthood.
Where Biden hasn’t tangibly propped up abortion, he has performatively signaled his fidelity to the pro-abortion enterprise. Last fall, the euphemistically-named Women’s Health Protection Act passed the United States House of Representatives with “strong support” from Biden. This bill would have federalized abortion law by legalizing abortion until birth, thereby preempting all state abortion bans protecting preborn children. Simultaneously, the Biden administration filed a rushed, lackadaisical lawsuit against the Texas Heartbeat Act—one they had to know was hopeless. (The Supreme Court of the United States indeed responded by shooting the lawsuit down from orbit).
However, perhaps where Biden can imprint his most profound impact is through his nominations. One such nomination was Xavier Becerra, current Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, with a well-documented hostility to Pro-Life activists. Though not as blatant, Biden’s most recent high-profile nominee, Robert Califf, also raises substantial concerns.
Biden nominated Califf to head the FDA, which oversees the regulation of food safety, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices in the United States. Under this umbrella is the regulation of mifepristone and misoprostol, which together constitute the chemical abortion regimen. Whoever runs the FDA will exert prodigious influence over the future of chemical abortion, especially as the abortion industry places a greater emphasis on this method of abortion.
But this is not Califf’s first time captaining the FDA, and his previous tenure gives great cause for concern for the Pro-Life movement. In 2016, while Califf previously served as FDA commissioner under Barack Obama, the FDA relaxed the chemical abortion Risk, Evaluation, and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) by allowing pregnant mothers to use the regimen later in pregnancy. Moreover, the FDA suspended reporting requirements for non-fatal complications, which certainly can’t be justified under the guise of “women’s health.” Though Califf suggested these decisions were made independently of his judgment, only a hermit would think his discretion played no role.
Ultimately, five Republicans—Richard Burr (NC), Lisa Murkowski (AK), Roy Blunt (MO), Susan Collins (ME), and Mitt Romney (UT)—voted for Califf’s confirmation last week, even as some Democrats voted against the nominee. These Republican votes are unfortunate, given the ongoing efforts at the FDA to make chemical abortion as accessible as possible. Last year, the FDA further modified the chemical abortion REMS by removing the in-person dispensing requirement, enabling the abortion industry to administer the drugs to pregnant mothers virtually. Moving forward, the FDA will likely continue to hack away at the chemical abortion REMS.
With Roe v. Wade on the brink of collapse, the abortion industry is pondering its way forward. Thus far, its very public solution has been chemical abortion, precisely because they can easily retreat into an underground world in which enforcement of Pro-Life laws is exceedingly complex. A strong and daring FDA commissioner may be necessary to protect preborn children and pregnant mothers from these illegal and unsafe abortions. Robert Califf will not fulfill this role. If he would have, Joe Biden wouldn’t have nominated him in the first place.