The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case to review a lower court ruling that would make access to mifepristone, the “abortion” pill, harder and more restrictive. This is a perfect example of how the anti-abortion activists are using the judicial system to push their extreme agenda. First, they seek out judges who they know will hand down the verdict they want – judge shopping! They then use specious legal arguments to push their case. I find it extremely ironic the Conservatives are always banging the drum against ‘judicial activism’ when that is exactly what they are engaged in.
The judge who initially ruled in favor of restricting access to mifepristone was U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas, who just happened to be a one-time anti-abortion activist. (Mere coincidence no doubt). The decision was appealed to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans where the 3-member panel, two judges appointed by Trump and one by Bush, ruled in favor of the decision to restrict access to mifepristone. The Biden administration asked the Supreme Court to stay that decision and hear an appeal which the Supreme Court agreed to. There were two ‘no’ votes and if you guessed those came from Justice Thomas and Justice Alioto, you win the prize!!
The thing I find most interesting about this case is the fact that the plaintiffs (and there is some question as to whether or not they even have standing to bring this case)are not really arguing about the safety of mifepristone, they are arguing the FDA did not have the authority to approve the use of the drug in the way it is now available. The government argues the drug has been deemed safe since the year 2000 and has been taken by millions of women with minimal safety issues.
Studies have shown that mifepristone is actually safer than penicillin and Viagra! There are more deaths resulting from complications from penicillin and Viagra than from the use of mifepristone. If you take the safety argument off the table, you are left with the argument, “you need to restrict access to this drug because we don’t like it being available.” This is nothing other than tyranny by the minority. The majority of Americans want access to abortion available and they want access to mifepristone to be left as it is.
Everyone should remember what happened when a vocal minority of extremists led by Carrie Nation pushed through the 18th Amendment to the Constitution to ban alcohol in the United States. Did that stop people from drinking? Hell no. But it did result in the rise of bootleggers, gangsters like Al Capone, corrupt politicians on the take, and speakeasy nightclubs. Things got so bad, the 18th Amendment was repealed with the passage of the 21st Amendment and life got back to some semblance of normal.
If anyone is naïve enough to think that a black market for mifepristone won’t spring up and criminal enterprises won’t jump in with both feet, they are idiots. Of course it will happen. Carrie Nation’s war on alcohol failed. The ‘war on drugs’ failed, particularly when it comes to marijuana, because now it is legal in half of the states, with approvals in others pending. The war on mifepristone will end up in the same ‘righteous moral cause’ graveyard. The only real question is how much damage will result? How much money will be wasted and how many lives will be lost in the process?
If the anti-abortion activists can add this to the Roe v Wade pile of victories, what will be next? Birth control pills? Condoms? Maybe they will want to enact something so the United States has the equivalent of the religious police in Iran. We certainly seem to be headed in that direction. As I’ve said before in these posts, it surely seems like Margaret Atwood had a crystal ball when she wrote The Hand Maid’s Tale! The once unimaginable is now a real possibility!
So much for ‘Land of the Free,’ and ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’ I guess instead of singing the National anthem at future sporting events, we will all be forced to sing ‘Onward Christian Soldiers’ and constantly look at giant pictures of Trump plastered all over buildings as we drive around. Can’t happen? Think again. As I’ve said many times before, democracies generally die at the ballot box!
