Highlights from court arguments in abortion pill ban appeal
Lawyers seeking to preserve nationwide access to a popular abortion pill on Wednesday faced stiff questioning from judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, as they consider whether to uphold a controversial ruling from Texas. When Justice Department attorney Sarah Harrington described the case seeking to revoke Food and Drug Administration approval of the drug mifepristone as “unprecedented,” Judge James Ho retorted, “We had a challenge to the FDA just yesterday.” Ho also challenged the argument that the plaintiff doctors who brought the case had no standing, since they were not forced to provide services they found objectionable. And later, a lawyer for the plaintiffs sought to downplay defendant’s argument that the case was really about access to abortion nationwide. “This case is not about ending abortion, it’s about ending a particularly dangerous type of abortion,” said Erin Hawley, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom. Mifepristone was first approved more than two decades ago. In April, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of Texas ruled that the Food and Drug Administration improperly approved mifepristone in 2000 and wrongly removed some restrictions on accessing the drug. Now the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit is reviewing Kacsmaryk’s decision.
Source: The Washington Post
