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We have a complicated federal court decision regarding abortion, and AOC now thinks she has the solution to the problem. Just ignore the judge who she doesn’t like! Problem solved!
Here’s what happened: two federal judges, in two different states, gave two different rulings regarding the abortion pill mifepristone. This drug was approved by the FDA back in 2000, and has been largely used in a two-pill combination in order to induce an abortion. One judge, located in eastern Washington state, ruled on Friday that mifepristone should remain available on the market for use in abortions.
District Judge Thomas Rice granted an injunction requested by a dozen Democratic state attorneys general who asked that the FDA be prohibited from removing mifepristone from the market.”
The attorneys filed their lawsuit against the FDA in February, alleging the agency was not doing enough to ensure accessibility to mifepristone.”
Rice, who was nominated by former President Obama, barred the FDA from taking “any action to remove mifepristone from the market or otherwise cause the drug to become less available.”
At the center of this suit is the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) applied to mifepristone by the FDA. The REMS program is required by the agency for any drugs that may have serious safety concerns and is meant to ensure that the benefits outweigh the risks of use.”
The attorneys general argued that the REMS applied to mifepristone has “no basis in science” and enforced overly burdensome requirements on who can prescribe and dispense the drug.”
Mifepristone, the most common form of abortion in the U.S., has been on the market for over 20 years and the plaintiffs in this suit stated they were seeking an injunction against the FDA in order to maintain the “status quo.”
“Based on the public health and administrative considerations at issue in this case, Plaintiffs have shown the balance of the equities sharply tip in their favor and the public interest favors a preliminary injunction,” Rice wrote.”
However, one judge in Texas also ruled on Friday that the FDA did not approve mifepristone properly over twenty years ago, and therefore, the drug should be removed from the market. Are you dizzy yet?
District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, an appointee of former President Trump, gave the government a weeklong window to appeal and seek emergency relief before his ruling goes into effect.”
The FDA appealed the decision to the conservative 5th Circuit Court of Appeals later on Friday.”
Kacsmaryk sided with the antiabortion group that brought the lawsuit and said the agency’s approval process was improperly rushed, and resulted in an unsafe drug regimen getting on the market.”
Kacsmaryk said that FDA violated federal standards when it first approved mifepristone 23 years ago.”
“The Court does not second-guess FDA’s decision-making lightly. But here, FDA acquiesced on its legitimate safety concerns — in violation of its statutory duty — based on plainly unsound reasoning and studies that did not support its conclusions.”
He also hinted the agency bowed to political pressure, and deliberately “stonewalled” any challenges to the drug’s approval.”
“Why did it take two decades for judicial review in federal court? After all, Plaintiffs’ petitions challenging the 2000 Approval date back to the year 2002, right? Simply put, FDA stonewalled judicial review — until now,” he wrote.”
Obviously, the dueling rulings mean that this case is likely to be fast-tracked for the Supreme Court. There’s no way around that. And while I am not a lawyer, this case might hinge on the technicalities involved with the FDA’s approval of mifepristone twenty years ago. Clearly, it’s going to be a headache for SCOTUS. It’s a political hot potato that they likely would rather not deal with, but have no choice to take. Of course, the technicalities now include a FDA who hasn’t had the most sterling track record in the past few years when it comes to approving new vaccines with minimal data, so the idea that politics made them fudge the approval of a drug is well within the realm of likelihood. But this is a political case, and it’s going to be a messy one. Biden and HHS Secretary Becerra are already sounding off about it, and vowing to fight Judge Kacsmaryk’s ruling in court.
And then Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez opened her mouth to opine on the subject. Why, AOC says out loud, doesn’t the Biden administration just IGNORE the court if they want to keep the abortion pill?
Uhhhhh…. wut?
As I've been saying for years.. this is the next play. Ignore court rulings. https://t.co/lKRmAu46Wp
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) April 8, 2023
And it’s not just AOC among abortion-loving leftists who are suggesting that the courts should just be ignored. Add Oregon Senator Ron Wyden to that list as well.
This devastating ruling has no basis in law and will ban the most common method of abortion in EVERY single state.
President Biden can and must ignore this ruling and keep mifepristone on the market and accessible for every woman in America. https://t.co/g5fyYI4zkr
— Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) April 7, 2023
Isn’t this kinda, oh, I dunno… a little insurrectiony? These elected officials (Wyden graduated from law school, but AOC is no legal eagle) just suggested ignoring a ruling from a federal judge because they don’t like it. Never mind the fact that without the rule of law, we don’t have much of a country anymore – can you IMAGINE the absolute hysteria by Democrats if a Republican suggested ignoring a ruling because they disagreed with it? What if a Republican governor had decided that they weren’t going to follow Roe v. Wade before it was overturned, and just banned abortion within a state? The freakout that would have followed would have made their incessant moaning over January 6th look like child’s play. And yes, AOC is a giant-ass hypocrite here.
How dare you sir. AOC yields to no one in her support for the rule of law. pic.twitter.com/v3M40oVq54
— Jarvis (@jarvis_best) April 8, 2023
We have a politically charged case with conflicting rulings, and now we have elected officials like AOC and Ron Wyden openly saying that the courts should be ignored because abortion is more important than the rule of law. The law only counts if it allows for babies to be killed with a couple of pills, apparently. What a pair of ghouls AOC and Wyden are. And what a scary moment we are all in. Nobody is above the law, the left cries as they stretch the law beyond all reason to get what they want, and then they demand that the law be ignored if it doesn’t give them what they want.
We are in such trouble as a country.
Featured image: original Victory Girls art by Darleen Click
they’ve been doing this for decades. ever heard of illegal immigration? watch them scream when we ignore the gun bans.
Ah yes, let’s just bash the FDA and say they’re evil. I guess you’re perfectly ok with people who aren’t doctors or medical professionals being able to decide which drugs are safe then? Why don’t we just go back to the 1800’s and early 1900’s with snake oil salesmen? That sounds like a lovely prospect! I just love how someone who isn’t a doctor and who isn’t thinking of the wider implications of this ruling is bashing the FDA.
Here’s the thing: if SCOTUS allows this to stand, then it could put the FDA’s authority fully in question. And that includes on everything from any drug approved on the market to vaccines that I’m pretty certain this author had zero issue giving her kids. Do you want that? Do you want non-doctors using their political whims to influence medications you and your family use? Are you ok with no birth control? Justice Thomas did posit that idea in his consenting Dobbs opinion so it’s not out of the realm of possibility. That’s the slippery slope this causes. It isn’t just about abortion.
Obviously this author has never had a miscarriage that didn’t complete or has never known anyone who’s had one or she would know that this drug is used for that as well. Also for ectopic pregnancies. So basically doctors won’t be able to safely treat those situations and women will die. (Since D&C’s are also technically off the table in certain states due to doctors’ fears of imprisonment and poorly written laws.) I guess you like our maternal death rate where it is? You’d like to see it be even worse?
This is one of the major reasons why Republicans keep losing races. Look at Kansas and Wisconsin and Michigan. Access to abortion was on the ballot in one respect or another in all three states and Democrats won. This is going to keep happening because people don’t like these extreme views. Also, I thought abortion was a states rights issue according to Dobbs? So why does a judge get to decide? Therein lies another quandary for the Supreme Court: if they uphold this decision they are giant hypocrites. If they don’t, those who support them will hate them. Furthermore, given that the groups who brought the case are mostly run by Evangelicals and Catholics, it’s imposing the beliefs of some on others. This drug has been proven safer than Tylenol and Viagra. (BTW, how about that gets taken away too?!) we are not a mono-religious country. Jews and Muslims explicitly place the life of the mother above the fetus. So taking that away violates their religious beliefs. But of course conservatives only support Jews when it’s convenient for them.
This is not good law and it will be a disaster if it is allowed to stand. Maybe thinking through all the implications before getting too excited would be a good idea. Or just, I don’t know, considering that you and your family will likely be affected one way or the other if the FDA’s authority is overruled.
” This is going to keep happening because people don’t like these extreme views. “That’s because for decades, leftists like you have been indoctrinating our youth to accept the murder of an unborn child as normal and good. Just like the same groups are now telling us that people who believe they are some other gender (or species) than they are are not just mentally ill people that deserve treatment rather than “brave” people that should be worshipped… Continue to drink the koolaid if you like, those of us capable of critical thinking, and having a conscience will choose to do otherwise.
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