Judge Chides Abortion Pill Lawyer for Being Mean to Trump Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk

[mahatmakanejeeves]

SERIOUSLY?

Judge Chides Abortion Pill Lawyer for Being Mean to Trump Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk

Lawyers for FDA and Danco Laboratories faced a hostile panel of judges Wednesday in their ongoing fight to protect mifepristone access

BY TESSA STUART

MAY 17, 2023

THE FIGHT OVER access to a critical abortion drug rages on. On Wednesday, lawyers for the Biden administration and Danco Laboratories, the maker of mifepristone, defended the Food and Drug Administration’s two-decade old approval of the medication, while advocates for a coalition of anti-abortion medical and dental societies argued the drug — famous for causing fewer complications than Tylenol — is too dangerous to remain on the market.

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Like Kacsmaryk, each of the judges who heard arguments on Wednesday — Cory Wilson, Jennifer Walker Elrod, and James Ho — have lengthy anti-abortion records. Before he was a judge, Wilson was a Republican official who served in Mississippi House of Representatives, where he voted to restrict abortion and voiced support for the reversal of Roe v. Wade.

Elrod likewise has a long history of restricting abortion: in 2014, she voted to uphold a Texas law that required doctors to gain hospital admitting privileges, banned abortion at 20 weeks, and restricted the use of abortion pills. (The law was later struck down by the Supreme Court.)

Judge James Ho, who called abortion a “moral tragedy” in a 2018 opinion, also “volunteered” as an attorney for the anti-abortion First Liberty Institute where Kacsmaryk was once deputy general counsel. (Another bit of trivia: Ho was sworn in as a member of the federal bench by Justice Clarence Thomas, in the private library of Harlan Crow — the Republican billionaire who purchased the home Thomas’ mother lives in, paid for his grandnephew’s private education, and bankrolled many years of Thomas’ vacations. Ted Cruz was also present at the swearing in as a witness.)

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[NullTuples]

1. The chiding:

The judges were aggressive with the defendants — Danco and the FDA — and deferential to the plaintiffs — Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, represented by Sen. Josh Hawley’s wife, Erin — from the very start.

Deputy Assistant Attorney General Sarah Harrington had barely finished the first two sentences of her argument before Ho interrupted her, taking umbrage with her assertion that the case was “unprecedented.” Harrington patiently explained that no court has ever vacated the FDA’s determination that a drug is safe to be on the market. (“We are allowed to look at FDA just like any other agency,” Ho grumbled.)

But the idea that this case is “unprecedented” was a point both Ho and Elrod returned to later. Elrod was miffed by what she called “unusual remarks” from the plaintiffs’ lawyers that she said equated to a personal “attack” on the district court — phrases like “the district court defied long standing precedent,” “the court’s relentless one-sided narrative,” and “the non-expert court.”

[raging moderate]

2. We NEED a laughing emoji on DU!

This is ridiculous!

[walkingman]

3. A good example of right-wing judicial BS

Harlan Crow - rightwing Texas POS billionaire, Clarence Thomas - token Black dude appointed by George HW Bush,and two Trump appointed Judges, James Ho - token Asian and former law clerk for Thomas, and Matthew Kacsmaryk - Bible Thumper are all connected.

A perfect example of American Judicial Exceptionalism (controlled by Leonard Leo)... Assholes.