The decision enraged opponents of abortion, who have been pressuring the Trump administration to restrict access to abortion medication.
The Food and Drug Administration has approved a generic version of the abortion pill mifepristone, expanding its supply at a time when the Trump administration is under pressure from abortion opponents to sharply restrict access to abortion medication.
The approval, issued on Tuesday without a public announcement, means that three American companies can now produce mifepristone for abortion. The F.D.A. approved the original pill 25 years ago and in 2019 approved the first generic version.
The decision comes as anti-abortion activists have been urging the F.D.A. and the Department of Health and Human Services to curtail access to abortion pills, which have been prescribed in increasing numbers in the years since the Supreme Court overturned the national right to abortion in 2022.
Currently, nearly two-thirds of abortions in the country are carried out with medication. Access to abortion pills, especially through telemedicine, is a major reason that the number of abortions in the United States has not decreased since the Supreme Court decision.
“This reckless decision by the F.D.A. to expand the availability of abortion drugs is unconscionable,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said of the approval of the new pill in a statement.
A spokesman for H.H.S., Andrew Nixon, said in a statement that “the F.D.A. has very limited discretion in deciding whether to approve a generic drug. By law, the Secretary of Health and Human Services must approve an application if it demonstrates that the generic drug is identical to the brand-name drug.”