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The #5thCircuit uncorks a travesty on #abortion pill case
Opinion by Ruth Marcus Do not be confused by headlines that a federal appeals court has allowed the abortion drug #mifepristone to remain available. The US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit’s action is a defeat for the rule of #law, for #scientific expertise & for #ReproductiveHealth.
#JudicialActivism #AbortionRights #FDA
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/04/13/abortion-pill-mifepristone-fifth-circuit-decision/
The bottom line — if the order stands, & I am hopeful that the #SupremeCourt will intervene (we’ll see)— is that #mifepristone will be available only through #7weeks of pregnancy, not the 10 weeks that the #FDA has said is #safe & #effective. Women won’t be able to obtain the medication through the mail, & will be able to get it only after in-person office visits — not 1 but 3. Only physicians will be allowed to dispense it.
This is #JudicialActivism cloaked in compromise clothing, courtesy of 2 #Trump appointed judges, Kurt D. Engelhardt & Andrew Oldham. (A 3rd judge, George W. Bush appointee Catharina Haynes, would have kicked the can down the road.) It looks law-like only by comparison w/the shoddy work of US District Judge Matthew #Kacsmaryk.
To understand the #radicalism of this move,keep in mind the posture of this case.The question before the appeals court wasn’t about who was right or wrong in the challenge to the #FDA’s approval of #mifepristone…Rather,the immediate issue was whether the court should halt #Kacsmaryk’s ruling from taking effect in the interim As the opinion itself noted,“we grant stays‘only in extraordinary circumstances.’”Then it proceeded to blow through nearly every ordinary barrier to upsetting the status quo