Matthew Kacsmaryk is an anti-abortion judge in Texas appointed by Donald Trump. He’s holding a crucial hearing Wednesday in an unprecedented case that could upend nationwide medication abortion access. And though we don’t yet know exactly what the judge will decide (it would be surprising if he doesn’t side against abortion in some fashion), it’s worth understanding the shady legal machinations that brought us to this point.
For one thing, it’s no accident that the case is before Kacsmaryk. He’s known to side with Republican causes, including against abortion rights. The plaintiffs seemingly brought the case in the city of Amarillo because they knew that Kacsmaryk, the federal judge hearing civil cases there, would likely be the one to handle it. The Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, represented by the right-wing legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, incorporated in Amarillo just months before filing suit.
As for the substance of the case, such as it is, the anti-abortion plaintiffs challenge the decades-old Food and Drug Administration approval of mifepristone, a pill commonly used in medication abortions nationwide. The plaintiffs raise bogus safety concerns about the long-used medicine, but obviously their goal is restricting abortion, and this lawsuit provides a means for doing so. The Washington Post noted Wednesday that Kacsmaryk’s eventual ruling could be “the first time a court has ordered the government to withdraw or suspend approval of a medication despite opposition from the FDA and the drug’s manufacturer.”
Even the scheduling of Wednesday’s hearing has been controversial. Apparently, Kacsmaryk didn’t want the public to know about it too far in advance. The Post reported over the weekend that the Trump appointee, citing worries about disruptions and threats, told lawyers in the case that he wasn’t going to give public notice of the hearing until Tuesday night. A media coalition including NBCUniversal News Group, the parent…
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