Abortionist admits he 'can't answer' whether abortion pill is 'safer than Tylenol'

Abortionist Mitchell Creinin — who claims to have committed 5,000 abortions and who attempted through a minuscule study to make 'abortion pill reversal' appear dangerous — admitted under oath in a January 2026 deposition that there have been no "long-term" studies on abortion pill use, that misoprostol-only abortions are not approved by the FDA, and that abortion pill failures increase with gestational age.

Creinin is a consultant on the payroll of abortion pill manufacturer, Danco Laboratories.

In part one of this two-part series, Live Action News detailed Creinin's claims about the 'abortion pill reversal' (APR) protocol. Part two examines Creinin's statements, under oath, about the abortion pill itself.

Key Takeaways:

• Abortionist Mitchell Creinin admitted in deposition testimony regarding the abortion pill that the much-touted idea of misoprostol-only abortions (promoted by the abortion industry and others) is not FDA-approved.

• Creinin also claimed that abortion pill side effects are minimal, yet admitted that women do seek care at hospitals when experiencing complications; he claimed this is only because women live further away from their prescribers.

• He admitted there are no long-term studies evaluating the safety of abortion pill use.

• He admitted that the failure rate of the abortion pill increases with gestational age, but also said he prescribes it later than the FDA-approved protocol.

• He also admitted that he does not check to confirm a live, intrauterine pregnancy before prescribing the abortion pill; the FDA requires prescribers to have the ability to confirm pregnancy/gestational age, as well as ectopic pregnancy.

• He admitted that neither progesterone nor mifepristone show evidence of causing birth defects, and noted that attempting to compare the abortion pill's safety profile to a drug like Tylenol or penicillin (which the abortion industry does) is like trying to "compare an apple and an orange," and a "false way of looking at things."

The Context:

Creinin's deposition was taken in response to a lawsuit, People of the State of California v. Heartbeat International & Real Options, filed by the State of California. It alleges the pro-life organizations “used fraudulent and misleading claims to advertise an unproven and largely experimental procedure called ‘abortion pill reversal (APR).'”

‘Abortion pill reversal’ (APR), a protocol which uses the hormone progesterone in an attempt to outcompete the effects of the abortion pill mifepristone, has come under fire by states led largely by pro-abortion politicians.

The deposition was taken by Attorney Paul Jonna on behalf of the defendants. Attorney Hayley Penan represented the State of California.

The Details:

During the deposition, Creinin made several surprising admissions about both 'abortion pill reversal' and the abortion pill protocol itself. Some are detailed below:

1) Misoprostol-only abortion pill protocol isn't FDA-approved

The abortion pill protocol consists of two drugs — mifepristone and misoprostol — which are taken a number of hours apart.

Creinin explained what the abortion pill, mifepristone (200mg) is:

"It is an antiprogestin, meaning that it is a progestin that doesn't activate the progesterone receptor. It actually blocks the progesterone receptor, meaning or rather than blocks, it binds to the receptor and does not activate it...

Mifepristone, by binding to the progesterone receptor, will block any progesterone or any progestin, for that matter, from binding to the receptor."

The second drug in the regimen is misoprostol. About this drug, Creinin explained:

"So the misoprostol will weaken the attachment of the pregnancy in the uterus and increase the uterus's sensitivity... to prostaglandins. It also has some cervical softening effects. You follow [mifepristone] with misoprostol to cause the uterus to cramp and contract. It will then expel that pregnancy at a higher rate than if you just give them mifepristone alone."

Creinin acknowledged that the use of misoprostol in the abortion pill regimen is an "off-label" use of that drug, and using misoprostol alone for this purpose is not FDA-approved:

"You are asking if misoprostol is approved to be used by itself for abortion? No, there are no FDA trials for its use by itself for abortion...It does not have FDA approval."

Here's why this matters: "misoprostol-only" abortions are often promoted by abortion proponents (and by the abortion industry itself) as an alternative method to use — despite its lack of approval by the FDA for such use — when the abortion pill protocol of both drugs is restricted or unavailable.

2) Side effects and ER visits

Creinin typically tells his patients of the abortion pill regimen (mifepristone and misoprostol):

"We've established that some people can get nausea, vomiting, headaches, tiredness, but again, those rates... the data is very hard to establish because people are feeling that way from pregnancy anyway.

But there is a slight increase in those side effects, but it is otherwise, that's pretty much it, if you are looking for side effects."

The 2023 mifepristone label for mifepristone includes a black box warning of serious bleeding, infection, and possible sepsis.

While Creinin claimed the drug regimen is safe, he admitted, "I've had patients who have used mifepristone and misoprostol in combination and gone to the emergency room."

He added:

"You know, if somebody comes from three hours away to get her medication abortion because there is no provider near her, and she starts to bleed heavily and she's worried, she's going to go to an ER, versus if somebody lives close to where they got their care, they are going to go see that doctor."

Surely, this is all the more reason to go back to requiring in-person visits to obtain the abortion pill, instead of allowing it to be dispensed by mail.

Creinin also admitted to having a patient die after a surgical abortion.

3) No long-term safety studies regarding abortion pill use

Asked if there were any "long-term longitudinal studies of the health effects of taking mifepristone," Creinin responded:

"No, because it's not presumed to have any health effects long term, but if you feel that it does, I would like to know what you are worried about so I can answer that question.

... [N]o, there are no long-term safety studies of their use."

4) Failure of the drug increases with gestational age

Mifepristone (200mg) has only been approved by the FDA for use up to 70 days/10 weeks gestation, which means that even when prescribed according to the FDA's limits, failures happen.

Creinin said (emphases added):

"I explain to [abortion pill patients], based on their gestational age, the likelihood that they may need a procedure to complete the abortion process...

I tell them what their rate will be based on their gestational age. You know, the label shows it's from 92 to 97 percent effective, but that efficacy is higher in early gestation and lower as they get closer to 10 weeks."

Creinin admitted to prescribing mifepristone "up to 11 weeks," which is past the FDA-approved limit (and which some other abortion businesses, like Planned Parenthood, do as well; emphases added):

"When somebody is between 71 and 77 days and they have a strong preference for medication over a procedure... I explain the data that's available to that looks at its use beyond 70 days. I treat them very differently. I give them two doses of misoprostol sublingually...

But I explain that they have a higher rate of failure, which may be as high as 15 percent. But that is up to them to decide what they want to do in those circumstances...."

Like other abortionists, Creinin uses the drug "for labor induction" abortions into the second or third trimester "up to 26 weeks, or possibly even greater."

5) Giving abortion drugs without 'checking' for a 'live intrauterine pregnancy'

Prescribers of the abortion pill are mandated under the FDA's REMS safety system to have the "[a]bility to assess the duration of pregnancy accurately" and the "[a]bility to diagnose ectopic pregnancies accurately." Note, however, that it does not require those prescribers to actually assess either of these things — it only requires that they have the "ability" to do so.

Creinin admitted to prescribing the drug without confirming pregnancy:

• Q: "Have you ever prescribed mifepristone to a woman without first checking to see if she has a live intrauterine pregnancy?"

• A. "Yes."

Interestingly, Creinin called it "malpractice" to prescribe mifepristone to a woman who wants to keep her baby.

6) A 'successful' abortion results in a dead baby

When asked, "Did you ever have a successful abortion where the fetus or embryo is still alive at the end?" Creinin responded:

"By definition, that's impossible. It can't be successful and still have a continuing pregnancy...I would say that the pregnancy is no longer continuing."

Keep in mind that this is the same "doctor" who once described his later dismemberment (D&E) abortion procedure this way:

Q: "What do you do to evacuate the contents of the uterus?"

A:

"If it is head first, it's very, very, very difficult to try and grasp the head as the very first thing. So, with every D&E, the way I have been taught, the way I have always done it...it is to try and grab a lower limb to convert the position to breech and then proceed with the evacuation.

If it's already breech, or if it's transverse, that's easier to grab a lower extremity. After grabbing the lower extremity, I am going to pull the pregnancy or pull whatever part I have grasped through the open cervix until there is resistance from the lower uterine segment and the internal os.

My goal is to try and remove the fetus as intact as possible.

...I will continue to pull, and it's the pressure of the fetus against the lower uterine segment that actually results in dismemberment of the fetus. And where that is going to happen on the fetus will vary from patient to patient.

...The fetus will either continue to come or will begin to break apart. It will break apart wherever or whatever it is. It may be in the middle of the leg, it may be at the abdomen, it may be at the chest, just depending on the dilation and the size of the fetus, et cetera, just on that individual case."

7) Comparing safety of abortion pill to other drugs has no basis

In a March 2026 deposition, Creinin was asked if "medication abortion is safer than penicillin," and responded:

"I don't have a basis for making that comparison... I also understand the risk profile for medication abortion in the context that it's administered. There's different contexts in which penicillin can be administered.

...You're trying to compare an apple and an orange."

When asked, "So you wouldn't be comfortable saying under oath that medication abortion is safer than penicillin, correct?"

Creinin replied, "I can't."

When asked, "Would you be comfortable saying under oath that medication abortion is safer that Tylenol?"

Creinin's response was telling:

"... You know, it's you're looking at medication abortion, you're only... comparing it to what the other option is. Tylenol is given for something completely different. That's a just a false way of looking at things.

I can't answer that question."

Creinin was asked to confirm "under oath" that this statement (below) is true:

"The standard medication abortion regimen... consisting of two medications, mifepristone and misoprostol, has been proven to be incredibly safe, safer than penicillin, Viagra, and even some over-the-counter drugs like Tylenol."

Creinin dodged the question:

"I'm not an expert to discuss those things. If you want to ask the district or the state attorney about those statements, that's fine.

But I'm not that expert."

8) Admitting that neither mifepristone nor progesterone cause birth defects

When Creinin was asked, "So there is no evidence that the component of the APR protocol can cause birth defects; is that correct?"

Creinin responded:

"If you're referring specifically to somebody is given progesterone, will it cause birth defects, progesterone is not known to cause birth defects."

When asked, "And neither is mifepristone; correct?"

Creinin responded, "That is correct."

When asked, "And there's no evidence that providing progesterone after mifepristone causes birth defects either; correct?"

Creinin responded, "Yes, there is no evidence."

Conflicts of Interest:

Live Action News previously documented Creinin's connections and conflicts:

• He receives consulting fees,  compensation, an honorarium, and provided “third-party telephone consults,” for Danco Laboratories.

• He is the previous medical director of Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania, as described by Oxford University Press.

The APR trial is slated to begin on June 24, 2026.