The anti-abortion side emerged from Tuesday’s oral arguments considerably worse for wear after even their ideological allies on the bench questioned their standing to bring the case and the sweeping scope of the restrictions they sought.
At times, it became a full Court pile-on, particularly in response to the anti-abortion group’s quest for nationwide restrictions on the drug due to a handful of doctors’ objection to maybe, perhaps, one day, having to complete an abortion for a woman suffering from mifepristone’s side effects.
While the legal underpinnings of the mifepristone challenge are widely considered to be shoddy, we’ve seen the work that judges’ political preferences can do in bridging the gap to the preferred result. In this case, both Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk and the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals were willing to make that leap. The Supreme Court, based on what we heard today, seems not to be.
Oral arguments begin at 10 a.m. EST. Listen live here.
Lawyers We'll Hear From Today
-
- U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar for the government
-
- Jessica Ellsworth for Danco, a company that manufactures mifepristone
-
- Erin Hawley for the anti-abortion doctors (if the last name looks familiar, it's because she's married to Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO))
The anti-abortion side emerged from Tuesday’s oral arguments considerably worse for wear after even their ideological allies on the bench questioned their standing to bring the case and the sweeping scope of the restrictions they sought.
At times, it became a full Court pile-on, particularly in response to the anti-abortion group’s quest for nationwide restrictions on the drug due to a handful of doctors’ objection to maybe, perhaps, one day, having to complete an abortion for a woman suffering from mifepristone’s side effects.
While the legal underpinnings of the mifepristone challenge are widely considered to be shoddy, we’ve seen the work that judges’ political preferences can do in bridging the gap to the preferred result. In this case, both Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk and the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals were willing to make that leap. The Supreme Court, based on what we heard today, seems not to be.
Here we go, folks. Expect certain members of SCOTUS to flail about and compare it to hunting witches in Salem. More old, white males who might be confronted with the horrific possibility that someone needs medical help after taking mifepristone! And then show up where they might be forced to do medical “stuff” that offends their sensibilities. So much woulda, coulda, shoulda.
Oh, but all these good “Christian” judges (mostly, but not exclusively men) must surely know more about medicine than those experts with years of actual knowledge and experience. I call bullshit.
According to the NYT, Josh Hawley’s wife will be arguing the case for the plaintiffs.
ThEy’rE jUsT asKiNg qUeSTiOnS