President Donald Trump’s new acting Food and Drug Administration commissioner is sparking backlash among some in the pro-life movement.
Trump confirmed on Truth Social that FDA Deputy Commissioner for Food Kyle Diamantas will oversee the agency in an acting capacity after former FDA Commissioner Marty Makary resigned on Tuesday. Live Action Founder and President Lila Rose alleged Tuesday in an X post that Diamantas was previously “listed in court records as counsel for Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando.”
“He is temporarily filling the vacant position after Marty Makary’s resignation,” she wrote in the social media post. “We cannot allow someone who represented Planned Parenthood to oversee rules surrounding the deadly abortion pill mifepristone that has killed MILLIONS of babies.”
Rose added that “we need a strong pro-life nominee to replace him IMMEDIATELY.”
However, Trump advisor Alex Bruesewitz claimed in a Tuesday X post that Rose was “omitting important context” about the situation.
“Kyle [Diamantas] was a junior associate initially assigned to the case, but he later removed himself from the case because of his personal beliefs,” Bruesewitz wrote in the post. “Kyle is a good man, is pro life, and he is focused on delivering on President Trump’s promise to MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN.”
“Acting Commissioner Kyle Diamantas is personally committed to delivering on President Trump’s pro-life and pro-family agenda at the FDA,” a Health and Human Services spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation in a statement on Thursday. “Both he and other Administration officials will continue regularly interacting with stakeholders in this community to inform FDA decision-making.”
Diamantas previously served as a senior associate at the Orlando office of the law firm Baker Donelson, The Guardian reported on Wednesday.
Baker Donelson did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
During Diamantas’ tenure at Baker Donelson, he seemingly served as outside counsel for Planned Parenthood in Florida litigation regarding a property use dispute over a medical complex in Kissimmee, Florida, Live Action reported on Tuesday. MMB Properties, a cardiology practice located in the same complex, was seeking to prohibit Planned Parenthood of Orlando from performing abortions based on property use restrictions which said that “outpatient surgical centers” were not allowed, according to Live Action’s report.
“Kyle Diamantas was a junior legal associate who was assigned to that case by his superiors,” White House Spokesman Kush Desai told the DCNF in a statement on Wednesday. “He expressed his objections to representing Planned Parenthood, based on his personal convictions, and ultimately removed himself from the case.”
A source familiar with Diamantas told the DCNF that while Diamantas “name appears on some court documents, his signature does not – because he withdrew from the case.” The source added that “Kyle also regularly contributes to pro-life charities [and] organizations.”
Students for Life of America President Kristan Hawkins wrote in a Tuesday X post that “Quite frankly: This is why our team at Students for Life did not call for Dr. Makary to resign, because I know the FDA is filled with pro-abortion Leftists.”
“The new FDA Commissioner must be 100% committed to protecting innocent children in the womb AND their mothers,” Hawkins added.
March for Life Education and Defense Fund President Jennie Bradley Lichter wrote in a statement posted to X on Wednesday that she “had a great convo last night” with Diamantas.
“In other words, within hours of being handed this big new job, he was on the phone with pro-life leaders – which is an encouraging sign of where his priorities lie,” Lichter asserted. “After talking [with] him I’m optimistic that the cause of Life will get a full and fair hearing at the FDA, [including] real movement on the mifepristone safety study.”
Several anti-abortion organizations and GOP lawmakers had recently called for Trump to oust Makary from the FDA, arguing that he had not done enough to limit abortion pill access, Politico reported on Wednesday.
Republican Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy said in a Tuesday statement posted to X that Makary “was part of a broader symptom of an administration that has not paid attention to pro-life issues.” Cassidy added that “I care deeply about life, and I anticipate the next FDA nominee shall as well.”
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