After abortion rights, the abortion pill is in the sights of conservatives: the one most commonly used by American women was suspended by a federal judge in Texas on Friday, April 7. The file should go all the way to the Supreme Court anchored on the right.
This is another resounding victory for anti-abortion advocates and another dramatic example of the over-politicization of the American judiciary, less than a year after the Supreme Court repealed the federal abortion law. A Texas federal judge knowingly seized by anti-abortionists for his ultra-conservative views sat Friday the 7th. The federal government promptly appealed and the case quickly made its way to the now right-wing Supreme Court.
The profile of Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, the only federal judge serving in the city of Amarillo who made sure the complaint filed by a coalition of doctors and anti-abortion organizations landed on his desk, left little doubt about his decision, which had been feared for several weeks. Appointed to the post by Donald Trump in 2017, the 48-year-old was previously an attorney at the First Liberty Institute, an organization that defends the views of the religious right in court.
In particular, she represented pastry chefs who, in the name of their Christian faith, refused to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple. Kacsmaryk considered homosexuality, or being transgender, a “mental disorder” and in a 2015 flamethrower text against gay marriage, deplored that “marriage, sexuality, gender identity and even the unborn child must be subject to the erotic desires of.” liberated adults.
“Political and Ideological”
In practice, the Texas judge suspended national marketing approval for mifepristone (RU 486), one of two pills used for medical abortions. This prevents doctors from prescribing it. In his 67-page ruling, the judge upheld most of the plaintiffs’ arguments and resumed studies on the risks attributed to the abortion pill, but considered negligible by the majority of the scientific community. He also accuses the American Medicines Agency (FDA) of failing to follow its procedures to achieve a political goal. “There is evidence that the FDA has faced strong political pressure to abandon its safeguards to further the political goal of expanding access to abortion,” he wrote.
The federal agency immediately appealed the decision to a Texas court. More than two decades ago, the FDA approved the abortion pill “based on a comprehensive review of the available scientific evidence and found it to be safe and effective for its stated purpose — medical termination of pregnancy,” she recalled in a statement to the American Media.
“My administration will fight this decision,” Joe Biden promised in a press release, denouncing a new “political and ideological attack” aimed at “depriving women of their fundamental freedoms and jeopardizing their health.” It was an “unprecedented and deeply damaging decision,” said the powerful family planning organization Planned Parenthood, which runs many abortion clinics across the country. “We should all be outraged that a judge could unilaterally reject medical evidence” to contradict the FDA, its President Alexis McGill Johnson added, stressing that this decision could have ramifications “far beyond abortion.”
Up to the Supreme Court
When Judge Kacsmaryk made his decision, one of his Washington State (Northwest) colleagues ruled on his side that the marketing authorization for mifepristone, used in combination with another stamp, could not be revoked in the 17th Democratic Republic States that had confiscated it.
In the Texas case, the FDA’s appeal should urgently be reviewed by a Louisiana regional court of appeals, also known for its conservatism. The case should therefore quickly end up in the Supreme Court in Washington, thoroughly revised by former Republican President Donald Trump, with strong support from ultraconservative organizations such as the Federalist Society.
Even if the judiciary were to ultimately suspend the FDA’s approval, it would likely take several months for their decision to stand. According to health law experts, the drug agency must follow a strict procedure before withdrawing a product’s approval. Women and doctors could also use a second pill, misoprostol, which is now combined with mifepristone for more effectiveness and less pain.
“We will not allow this unfair decision to prevent access to abortion pills” that “always arrive in your mailboxes” through “alternative routes,” said Elisa Wells, founder of the Plan C information network on abortion pills.