President Donald Trump selected Katie Zacharia to serve as White House press secretary, a conservative commentator who has spread alarming anti-abortion disinformation, including a baseless conspiracy theory linking mifepristone to Nazi Germany.
“Donald Trump is handing the anti-abortion disinformation movement one of the biggest megaphones in government. Katie Zacharia is the latest anti-abortion extremist Trump has installed in his administration. We must put a check on their fringe agenda this November and block their plan to ban abortion after the midterms,” Reproductive Freedom for All President and CEO Mini Timmaraju stated.
Zacharia’s selection comes just weeks before the midterm elections—and days after reporting that the White House directed the Justice Department to hold off on abortion-related action until after voters cast their ballots. One conservative in contact with the administration said that after the election, “the gloves will be off.”
Now, Trump is turning the White House briefing room over to another anti-abortion extremist, making Zacharia the public face of an administration preparing to escalate its attacks on reproductive freedom once the election is over.
Zacharia is a former Department of Homeland Security spokesperson and current advisor to Trump Media & Technology Group. In a November 2025 post on X, Zacharia falsely claimed mifepristone is “connected to the manufacturer of the deadly gas Zyklon B.” Mifepristone has been approved by the FDA for 26 years and has a well-established track record of safety and effectiveness.
Zacharia joins a long list of anti-abortion extremists Trump has put in charge of the agencies that control Americans’ access to reproductive health care:
● Todd Blanche, Attorney General: Promised anti-abortion extremists that the Justice Department would make the Dobbs decision “permanent in every single state.”
● Heidi Overton, Trump’s nominee for FDA Commissioner: Called abortion “corrosive,” celebrated the overturning of Roe v. Wade as a “huge victory,” and pushed disinformation about the safety of medication abortion. If confirmed, she would oversee the FDA’s sham review of mifepristone.
● Nicole Saphier, Trump’s nominee for Surgeon General: Dismissed warnings that abortion bans would endanger women with ectopic pregnancies as false information. At her confirmation hearing, she threw her full support behind the FDA’s sham review of mifepristone.
● Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services: Directed the FDA to conduct a “complete review” of mifepristone despite decades of scientific evidence proving its safety.
● Erica Schwartz, CDC Director: Called abortion surveillance “absolutely a critical component” of the CDC’s work during her confirmation hearing.
● Brian Christine, Assistant Secretary for Health: Led HHS to cut $38 million in grants for postpartum home visits, cancer screenings, and a program working to reduce maternal and infant mortality. The department redirected that money toward what it calls the “root causes of infertility,” including low testosterone and erectile dysfunction.
Meanwhile, Reproductive Freedom for All published these updates:
FDA RELEASES UPDATE ON “SHAM” REVIEW OF MIFEPRISTONE: On Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a court-mandated update on its sham “review” of mifepristone. While access to mifepristone remains unchanged for now, the announcement was yet another example of the FDA attempting to legitimize anti-abortion extremists’ efforts to call the safety of mifepristone into question. The FDA claimed that full results would be shared no later than March 2027.
A full release of the FDA’s so-called “review” has now been kicked until after midterm elections, and reporting last week confirms “the gloves are off” for attacks on abortion access from the administration after November. As soon as the midterms pass, Trump and his allies intend to continue upending the will of Americans and forcing the FDA to put their extreme anti-abortion agenda over decades of scientific evidence.
SUSAN COLLINS LIES ABOUT ANTI-ABORTION RECORD IN FIRST U.S. SENATE DEBATE IN MAINE: In Tuesday’s first U.S. Senate debate between Troy Jackson and Susan Collins, Collins was forced to defend her deeply unpopular anti-abortion record before Mainers.
When pressed by Jackson on whether she regretted her vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, Collins doubled down and refused to apologize. Collins then claimed that she didn’t think Kavanaugh would overturn Roe v. Wade, despite clear evidence that Kavanaugh was an anti-abortion extremist.
MINI TIMMARAJU WARNS ANTI-ABORTION EXTREMISM WILL ESCALATE AFTER MIDTERMS: Over the weekend, Reproductive Freedom for All President and CEO Mini Timmaraju appeared twice on MS NOW and joined Jessica Valenti for a livestream to unpack new reporting that Republicans are delaying aggressive action on abortion until after the midterms, and discuss how reproductive freedom is a motivating issue for battleground voters a month out from Election Day.
Timmaraju broke down The Washington Sun’s reporting that senior White House officials told the Justice Department to slow-walk abortion-related actions until after the midterm elections. She also discussed unprecedented action from attorneys general in GOP-led states to challenge shield laws in states like New York, Massachusetts, and California that protect providers who prescribe medication abortion pills to patients living in states with bans.
Republicans know that openly attacking abortion access before Election Day would cost them votes. A source in the Sun’s article promised the “gloves will be off” immediately after the election—a threat Timmaraju underscored on MS NOW when she said, “We have to be very concerned about what Todd Blanche and Heidi Overton together can do to restrict access immediately.”
IN THE STATES
📍CALIFORNIA: Reproductive Freedom for All endorsed Xavier Becerra for Governor and a slate of candidates for key statewide races and the California State Legislature on Wednesday. The endorsements come amid continued federal efforts to restrict abortion access and are part of the organization’s nationwide campaign to elect candidates who support reproductive freedom at every level of government.
📍GEORGIA: This week, Reproductive Freedom for All endorsed Dr. Michelle Au (HD-50), Dar’shun Kendrick (HD-95), AND Kenya Wicks (SD-34) for the Georgia General Assembly. Georgia has one of the most extreme abortion bans in the country, and electing these leaders is critical to build Democratic power in the state legislature and push back against anti-abortion policies.
📍MICHIGAN: On Wednesday, Reproductive Freedom for All also endorsed a slate of candidates for the Michigan Legislature who will defend the state constitutional right to reproductive freedom and fight efforts to roll back and restrict abortion access. Electing these candidates is critical to protecting the reproductive freedom majority in the state Senate and taking back the state House this November. In 2022, Michigan voters overwhelmingly passed Proposal 3 with 56% of the vote, codifying abortion rights in the state.
📍PENNSYLVANIA: Reproductive Freedom for All launched a new digital ad, “No Exceptions,” targeting constituents in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District, slamming Rep. Ryan Mackenzie for his extreme anti-abortion record less than one month out from Election Day. Reproductive Freedom for All invested over $211,000 in this new ad, which builds on the momentum of the ad launched in PA-07 last month.
The ad spotlights Mackenzie’s 100% anti-abortion voting history, which he once bragged about but has since scrubbed from his campaign website. Reproductive Freedom for All has endorsed Bob Brooks, a champion for reproductive freedom, in the PA-07 race.
Read more about Reproductive Freedom for All’s endorsed candidates here.
For over 55 years, Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America) has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for everybody. Reproductive Freedom for All is powered by its more than 4.5 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.