Abortion Pills, the Budget, and RFK Jr.

The Host

At the Trump administration’s request, a federal judge in Louisiana this week agreed to delay a ruling affecting the continued availability of the abortion drug mifepristone. That angered anti-abortion groups that want the drug, if not banned, at least more strictly controlled. But the administration clearly wants to avoid big abortion fights in the run-up to November’s midterm elections.

Meanwhile, the administration’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2027 calls for more than $15 billion in cuts to programs at the Department of Health and Human Services. It’s a significant number, but less drastic than cuts it proposed for fiscal 2026.

This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Health News, Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Maya Goldman of Axios.

Among the takeaways from this week’s episode:

• The Trump administration says it is conducting a thorough scientific review of the abortion pill mifepristone at the Food and Drug Administration. Yet advocates on both sides of the abortion debate think the administration is just trying to buy time to avoid a controversial decision about medication abortion before November’s midterm elections.
• It’s budget time on Capitol Hill. With the unveiling of the president’s spending plan for fiscal 2027, Cabinet secretaries will make their annual tour of congressional committee hearings. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose Hill appearances have been few during his tenure, is scheduled to testify before six separate House and Senate committees before the end of the month.
• Back at HHS, Kennedy appears to be trying to reconstitute the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in a way that will enable him to restock it with vaccine skeptics without running afoul of a March court ruling that he violated federal procedures with his replacements last year.
• Continuing his efforts to promote his Make America Healthy Again agenda, Kennedy announced this week that he will launch his own biweekly podcast. He also announced efforts to combat microplastics in the water supply and to get hospitals to stop serving ultraprocessed food to patients.

Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too:

Julie Rovner: The Atlantic’s “HHS Officials’ Year in Purgatory Is Ending,” by Katherine J. Wu.

Maya Goldman: KFF Health News’ “Trump’s Personnel Agency Is Asking for Federal Workers’ Medical Records,” by Amanda Seitz and Maia Rosenfeld.

Lauren Weber: CNN’s “These Common Drug Tests Lead to Tens of Thousands of Wrongful Arrests a Year, Experts Say. One State Is Fighting Back,” by Holly Yan.

Alice Miranda Ollstein: Politico’s “A Slowdown in US Visa Processing Is Wreaking Havoc on Foreign Doctors’ Lives,” by Simon J. Levien.

Also mentioned in this week’s podcast:

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