#matthew kascmaryk

[uboat53]

Want to hear a tale of deliberate misinformation? I'm sure you'll be shocked to hear it's the anti-abortion movement doing it.

In 2000, the FDA approved mifepristone, a medication that is used in medicated abortion. Specifically, mifepristone blocks a hormone called progesterone which helps the body maintain the inside of the uterus so that pregnancy can continue. It did so after a 4 year review in which it was shown that the drug had incredibly minor risks and was extremely effective.

However, when the FDA approved mifepristone, it decided to put a bunch of restrictions on it. These restrictions were not studied during the 4 years and were put in place through a process known as "accelerated approval". Many of those restrictions have since been removed as 23 years worth of data have shown that the drug is safe (safer than Tylenol and Viagra, in fact) and effective for much longer than initially supposed.

There is a case, however, in federal court, where an anti-abortion group known as the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine is arguing that the FDA authorization for mifepristone should be revoked because it was approved under the "accelerated approval" process.

As you can see from the above, this is false. The drug was approved normally and the restrictions were accelerated. In fact, the group has filed hundreds of pages of FDA documents into evidence that, if read accurately, actually disprove their own case!

The problem is that this case was filed in Amarillo, Texas. Due to a quirk in the 5th Circuit Court, all cases filed in this courtroom are assigned to Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a far-right jurist who had strongly fought against abortion, contraception, and LGBTQ rights before becoming a judge. He has become the go-to judge of choice for far-right conservatives these days who file cases in Amarillo specifically so that they can get him to do things like authorize discrimination against LGBTQ people in health care, employment, and education and limit access to birth control, all in violation of Supreme Court precedent. He has also previously seized control of border policy and some aspects of US foreign policy in an attempt to force the Biden Administration to continue the Trump era "remain in Mexico" policy, another far-right ruling that was overturned by the Supreme Court.

I'm sure it will not surprise you, then, that Judge Kascmaryk, in a hearing on Wednesday, accepted without question the fiction that mifepristone's approval was rushed under the "accelerated approval" process.

Far-right groups are increasingly relying on false arguments like this in court and, increasingly, they are finding far-right judges who are willing to accept them.

Source for the details of mifepristone

Source for the false argument and court details

#abortion #abortion rights #matthew kascmaryk #alliance for hippocratic medicine #politics #us politics #judges #courts #us courts #mifepristone #fda #abortion pill

[thatstormygeek]

Like, I know we all know that right wingers lie all the time and every accusation is a confession and all that, but sometimes I still get so fucking pissed off by how blatantly full of shit they are.

“The now-former Representative George Santos’ actions were not only unbecoming of a member of Congress, but the facts reported by the ethics committee point to numerous violations of House rules and federal law, rendering him unfit to serve in this distinguished institution,” - Representative Ron Estes (R-Kansas)

"This [Donald Trump] indictment news from New York is absolutely unprecedented and appears to be about politics, not justice. The House has already started investigating Democrat DA Alvin Bragg to look into this potential abuse of his office against political opponents." - Representative Ron Estes (R-Kansas)

I am absolutely no fan of George Santos, but it is super interesting that he is the single republican who is to be held accountable for the bullshit so many of them pull.

And, just, I know railing against their bullshit doesn't change anything, but FUUUUUCK. It's so enraging.

Talking shit about "activist judges" and then doing obvious judge shopping:

The state of Texas joined the lawsuit under the direction of Attorney General Ken Paxton in 2022. The case was filed in Amarillo, an area without a Planned Parenthood facility – a jurisdiction that might seem an unlikely choice. There’s one good explanation, however: All cases filed there are heard by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk. The Trump-appointed judge made headlines in early 2023 when he suspended the approval of a common abortion-inducing pill. Kascmaryk’s anti-abortion history on the bench makes him a strategic choice to rule on the case against Planned Parenthood.

Hell, my own mom told me she couldn't bring herself to vote for her neighbor for city council because he ran as a Dem. She knows this man. Likes this man. But because he's a Dem, she just left the question blank. She is the only person who would have known if she voted for him, and she still couldn't do it.

Blergh.

#this is my brain on life #us politics #trashpool says fuck this shit #representative government my ass #fire the gop #republicans are unfit for office #venting into the void

[uboat53]

Well that's an interesting question. If a radically partisan judge keeps slapping nation-wide injunctions on policies that have no legal justification and keep getting overturned, often months or even a year later, by the Supreme Court, should the President accept their judgements at all?

I've been writing for a while now about how the Judicial Branch is the weakest branch of our government because it relies on the other branches to enforce its judgements. Looks like I'm not the only one thinking about that these days.

#politics #us politics #supreme court #us supreme court #judges #ron wyden #vox.com #matthew kascmaryk