National Organization for Women
1100 H Street NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20005
September 22, 2026
The Honorable Bill Cassidy, MD Chair, Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions United States Senate Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Bernie Sanders Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions United States Senate Washington, DC 20510
Re: Opposition to the nomination of Dr. Heidi Overton to lead the Food and Drug Administration
Dear Chair Cassidy, Ranking Member Sanders, and Members of the Committee:
I write on behalf of the National Organization for Women, the largest feminist organization in the nation with close to a half-million members, followers, and supporters, to urge the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions to reject the nomination of Dr. Heidi Overton to serve as Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The mission of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is to protect public health by ensuring the safety, efficacy, and security of medicine, biologics, and medical devices, as well as regulate the safety of food, cosmetics, and other products. The Commissioner of the FDA holds one of the federal government’s most consequential public health positions. The Commissioner must oversee an agency entrusted with evaluating medicines through rigorous scientific standards; protecting patients; communicating honestly about medical evidence; and maintaining public confidence that the approval and regulation of drugs will not be distorted by ideology or political pressure. Based on Dr. Overton’s publicly expressed personal positions concerning abortion medication, including mifepristone, I believe she is not suited to lead this vital scientific and public health agency.
Dr. Overton’s positions and advocacy clearly call for the politicization of government agencies. She has called out the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for not
funding studies that confirm her views on abortion and gender-affirming care. She noted “All of those agencies need to be reformed.”
Dr. Overton has written extensively on her anti-abortion stance in her role as the Chief Policy Officer at the America First Policy Institute, including an issues brief that calls abortion “dangerous” and “corrosive,” opposes the FDA’s decision to remove the in-person
dispensing requirements on mifepristone, and pushes false information about the safety of medication abortion despite decades of research proving that mifepristone is extraordinarily safe and effective.
Mifepristone is medication regulated by the FDA and questions about its availability, labeling, safety protocols, and distribution must be guided by credible evidence, patient safety, and sound regulatory practice—not by a political agenda designed to restrict reproductive autonomy. A prospective FDA Commissioner must demonstrate a clear commitment to follow the scientific record, respect the integrity of agency experts, and protect access to lawfully approved medicines. Statements or positions that seek to
undermine medication of abortion through ideology raise serious concerns about whether the FDA would remain as an evidence-based regulator under Dr. Overton’s leadership.
Further troubling is Overton’s position to enforce strict limits on the availability of abortion pills. The strict limits on availability can deter patients from seeking timely medical care, erode trust between patients and clinicians, deepen inequities for low-income people and communities of color, and place health professionals in untenable positions. The leader of the FDA should advance public health, not endorse policies that force patients into unsafe situations by limiting access. Dr. Overton’s position is not supportive of evidence-based health policy. Instead, it is a prescription for politically motivated medical care.
The Senate’s advice-and-consent responsibility is particularly important when a nominee leads an agency whose decisions affect millions of people’s health and bodily autonomy. We ask that the committee examine whether Dr. Overton would protect the FDA’s scientific independence; honor the agency’s legal and ethical obligations; preserve access to safe, evidence-based medications; and reject the use of federal health policy that forces women into situations that lead to harming them because of lack of care.
This nomination should not advance unless Dr. Overton can demonstrate an unambiguous commitment to science-driven regulation, patient safety, reproductive freedom, and the fundamental principle that health care should not expose women or pregnant people to
precarious or unsafe situations.
I respectfully urge the Committee to oppose Dr. Overton’s nomination and to recommend a vote against her confirmation.
Sincerely,
Kim Villanueva
President, National Organization for Women (NOW)