Recently, a conservative judge ruled to — at least eventually — undo the allowance for mifepristone, a prescription drug available around the nation for abortion via medication.
The drug remains evidently available — for now, but the decision of this judge, Trump pick Matthew Kacsmaryk, puts its future in especially clear legal limbo. Many have already spoken out, including Republican members of Congress Nancy Mace in the House and Susan Collins in the Senate, who hail from South Carolina and Maine, respectively. “A judge cited the Comstock Act from 1873, which was ruled unconstitutional by SCOTUS in 1983, to block a @US_FDA approved drug,” Mace tweeted. “Whether you agree with its usage or not, that’s not your decision. It is the FDA’s decision. Women are watching, and they deserve better.”
Collins singled out the judge. As his position on the federal judiciary was subject to Senate confirmation — or the lack thereof, she had an opportunity to more substantively express her take on Kacsmaryk in the Senate, where she was the only Republican to oppose him. Already known as among the few prominent Republicans in support of abortion rights, Collins also spoke at the time about the then-incoming judge’s critical stance on access to reproductive healthcare. “In 2019, I voted against Judge Kacsmaryk’s confirmation, and I disagree strongly with his decision in this case. Mifepristone is an FDA-approved drug that has been on the market for more than two decades and extensively studied,” Collins said in recent days, as Newsweek highlighted from her Saturday.
There was actually a competing ruling that dropped from a federal judge elsewhere in the system on the same day as Kacsmaryk’s ruling against the long established allowance for mifepristone, so it wasn’t immediately clear how the status of the drug would end up, although nationally prominent Democrats like Rep. Jamie Raskin (Md.) are also taking notice. The conservative judge also allowed for a period before his ruling would take effect, providing for expected appeals.
Meanwhile, the fight over abortion rights continues to play out state by state following the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, which had previously established the nationwide allowance to abortion, at least up to a certain point of pregnancy. (It wasn’t absolute.) Michigan Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer recently signed a revocation of an old abortion ban in that state, helping ensure it wouldn’t be put back into effect.
A judge cited the Comstock Act from 1873, which was ruled unconstitutional by SCOTUS in 1983, to block a @US_FDA approved drug. Whether you agree with its usage or not, that's not your decision. It is the FDA’s decision. Women are watching, and they deserve better.
— Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) April 10, 2023
