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Texas lawsuit that seeks to ban abortion drug nationwide sparks fear among advocates
Hat tip, Joe.My.God.
Texas lawsuit that seeks to ban abortion drug nationwide sparks fear among advocates
A decision on the lawsuit could come as early as this week.
BY CAROLINE KITCHENER AND PERRY STEIN, THE WASHINGTON POST FEB. 5, 2023 | 20 HOURS AGO
Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.
Abortion rights advocates delivered a stark warning to the Biden administration’s top health official in a private meeting last week: It’s time to take seriously “fringe” threats that could wind up blocking abortion access across the country. ... Driving their anxiety is a Texas lawsuit brought by conservative groups seeking to revoke the decades-old government approval of a key abortion drug.
The suit has been widely ridiculed by legal experts as rooted in baseless and debunked arguments. But in recent weeks, abortion rights advocates and some in the Biden administration have grown increasingly concerned that the case is likely to be decided entirely by conservative judges who might be eager for a chance to restrict abortion access even in Democrat-led states where the procedure has remained legal since the fall of Roe v. Wade.
“It’s hard to really comprehend the full and terrible impact if what the plaintiffs have asked for in that case is actually granted,” Liz Wagner, senior federal policy counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights, told Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra during the meeting at a Virginia abortion clinic. “It would be catastrophic.”
The case was filed in Amarillo, where U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, nominated by President Donald Trump and known for his conservative views on issues like same-sex marriage and abortion, could rule as early as this week. An appeal would land in the right-leaning Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, ultimately presenting the Supreme Court with another major abortion case less than a year after its conservative majority retracted the constitutional right to abortion.
“Obviously we have people who are not fans of the administrative state on that court and also obviously people are not fans of abortion,” Jenny Ma, senior counsel for the Center for Reproductive Rights, told Becerra. “It’s a perfect storm.”
The suit aims to undo the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s 2000 approval of mifepristone, one of two drugs used in a medication abortion. The regimen, which includes a dose of another drug called misoprostol, now accounts for more than 50% of abortions nationwide. While misoprostol is widely used on its own to perform abortions around the world, studies show it is less effective than the two-step regimen, and usually causes more cramping and bleeding.
{snip}
A decision on the lawsuit could come as early as this week.
BY CAROLINE KITCHENER AND PERRY STEIN, THE WASHINGTON POST FEB. 5, 2023 | 20 HOURS AGO
Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.
Abortion rights advocates delivered a stark warning to the Biden administration’s top health official in a private meeting last week: It’s time to take seriously “fringe” threats that could wind up blocking abortion access across the country. ... Driving their anxiety is a Texas lawsuit brought by conservative groups seeking to revoke the decades-old government approval of a key abortion drug.
The suit has been widely ridiculed by legal experts as rooted in baseless and debunked arguments. But in recent weeks, abortion rights advocates and some in the Biden administration have grown increasingly concerned that the case is likely to be decided entirely by conservative judges who might be eager for a chance to restrict abortion access even in Democrat-led states where the procedure has remained legal since the fall of Roe v. Wade.
“It’s hard to really comprehend the full and terrible impact if what the plaintiffs have asked for in that case is actually granted,” Liz Wagner, senior federal policy counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights, told Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra during the meeting at a Virginia abortion clinic. “It would be catastrophic.”
The case was filed in Amarillo, where U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, nominated by President Donald Trump and known for his conservative views on issues like same-sex marriage and abortion, could rule as early as this week. An appeal would land in the right-leaning Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, ultimately presenting the Supreme Court with another major abortion case less than a year after its conservative majority retracted the constitutional right to abortion.
“Obviously we have people who are not fans of the administrative state on that court and also obviously people are not fans of abortion,” Jenny Ma, senior counsel for the Center for Reproductive Rights, told Becerra. “It’s a perfect storm.”
The suit aims to undo the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s 2000 approval of mifepristone, one of two drugs used in a medication abortion. The regimen, which includes a dose of another drug called misoprostol, now accounts for more than 50% of abortions nationwide. While misoprostol is widely used on its own to perform abortions around the world, studies show it is less effective than the two-step regimen, and usually causes more cramping and bleeding.
{snip}