#SCOTUS retains full #access to key #AbortionMedication #mifepristone
The #SupremeCourt on Thurs refused to limit access to a widely used #abortion #medication, rejecting a challenge from #antiabortion doctors 2 years after the court’s #conservative majority overturned #RoeVWade on procedural grounds.
#law #ReproductiveRights #FDA #medicine #medical #health #WomensHealth
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/06/13/supreme-court-abortion-pill-ruling-mifepristone/
In a #unanimous ruling, #SCOTUS sided w/the #Biden admin & the manufacturer of #mifepristone, & reversed a lower court decision that would have made it more difficult to obtain the drug used in >60% of #US #abortions. The ruling was not on the substance of the case, but on a procedural ruling the plaintiffs did not have #standing to bring the case.
#law #ReproductiveRights #FDA #medicine #medical #health #WomensHealth
In advance of oral argument in March, hundreds of #pharmaceutical companies & former #FDA ofcls warned #SCOTUS not to second-guess #scientific #experts & said a ruling against FDA would destabilize the #regulatory system & jeopardize investments in #research & #innovation.
Most of the questions from the justices at argument centered on whether the #antiabortion challengers had a #legal right –or #standing – to file. Lawyers defending the drug said the plaintiffs were not directly #harmed.
🚨🚨🚨 #SCOTUS Justice #ClarenceThomas agreed with the ruling but filed a concurrence CHALLENGING the Court's THIRD PARTY STANDING DOCTRINE--the doctrine that allowed #AbortionProviders to file #lawsuits challenging #abortion #laws on behalf of their #patients.
This OPENS the door to further litigation. Concurring opinions even dissenting opinions are considered #legal #PersuasiveAuthority & can be cited in subsequent cases.
The decision turned on #standing, a doctrine grounded in the #Constitution’s req that fed courts decide only concrete claims.
The standing req can leave a gap. It means, Justice Kavanaugh wrote,”that the federal courts may never need to decide some contested #legal questions.”
Justice #Kavanaugh relies on #ConscienceProtections in fed #law, saying #doctors “shall not be required to provide treatment or assistance that would violate the doctors’ religious beliefs or moral convictions.”
#SCOTUS’ decision will fuel efforts on the #antiabortion side to restrict #abortion #medication in other ways. One recent example #involved Louisiana classifying abortion pills as #ScheduleIV drugs, a category that suggested they were #dangerous or #addictive substances, contrary to #medical evidence.
#law #ReproductiveRights #FDA #medicine #medical #health #WomensHealth
Prof Melissa Murray:
“This decision preserves access to medication abortion... FOR NOW.
“There will be another case--with better plaintiffs--before the Court faster than Thomas can book a ride on Crow's private jet.”
- yep
#SCOTUS #law #ReproductiveRights #FDA #medicine #medical #health #WomensHealth #MaleSupremacy #ChristianEvangelism #NewApostolicReformation #NAR #ActivistCourt
More Prof Melissa Murray - 🧵
In the #ClarenceThomas concurrence in #FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine #AHM …, Thomas takes aim at the Court's #ThirdParty /associational #standing doctrine.
What is this doctrine?
Generally, a party in fed court can only assert his or her OWN rights & cannot raise claims about the rights of 3d parties who are not before the court.
Murray🧵1/
#SCOTUS #law #ReproductiveRights #WomensHealth #MaleSupremacy #Evangelism #NewApostolicReformation #ActivistCourt
In certain circumstances, the Court's #ThirdParty #standing doctrine allows a plaintiff to file a lawsuit or assert a defense in which the rights of 3rd parties are asserted.
This is also the case for associations/orgs, who are permitted to bring claims on behalf of members. There are lots of exceptions.
The origins of the doctrine can be traced to NAACP V. Alabama, 1958
AL was trying to get NAACP to stop work in the state — e.g. the Montgomery bus boycotts, etc.
In 1956, the AL AG brought a suit against the NAACP for violating a state statute requiring foreign corporations to qualify before doing business in the state. NAACP argued that it was exempt.
The trial court issued an order preventing the
NAACP from doing business in the state--like organizing boycotts, trying to enroll students in segregated state universities, organizing voter registration drives for Black voters... basic challenging Jim Crow stuff.
Murray🧵3/
#law #SCOTUS #ThirdParty
But in addition, it also subpoenaed the NAACP's Alabama membership lists--which would have exposed members to serious reprisals, including real violence against them, their families, & their communities.
The NAACP sued to prevent the public disclosure of the membership rolls & the case made it to #SCOTUS.
SCOTUS ruled in favor of the NAACP, holding that AL's demand for the membership lists violated the right of #DueProcess guaranteed by the #14thAmendment.
Murray🧵4/
#law #SCOTUS #ThirdParty
That decision is widely credited with sowing the seeds for #ThirdParty/associational #standing--the idea that an association can present claims on behalf of its members.
This doctrine has been huge for #CivilRights. In the context of #JimCrow Alabama, few Black people would have risked challenging segregation in court--the consequences would have been swift & devastating. Instead, the NAACP could pursue claims on behalf of its members.
Murray🧵5/
#law #SCOTUS #ActivistCourt
Similar dynamics are at work in #abortion #litigation.
Many patients are loathe to challenge #abortion #laws--because of the fear of reprisals, violence, or being ostracized in a small community. These fears have a #deterrent effect on rights litigation.
Which is why #ThirdParty #standing has been so important. Most of the abortion cases that have been litigated in federal courts have been brought by providers on behalf of themselves & their patients.
Murray🧵6/
#law #SCOTUS #ActivistCourt
🚨Justice #ClarenceThomas knows that disrupting the #ThirdParty/associational #standing doctrine would have huge consequences for #abortion challenges... & indeed, any #CivilRights challenge. The costs of going public might deter someone from raising a challenge to a problematic #law.
& can be super-effective for preventing lawsuits & keeping problematic #laws on the books.
Murray🧵7/7
#SCOTUS #law #ReproductiveRights #medicine #WomensHealth #MaleSupremacy #NewApostolicReformation #ActivistCourt
"Do no harm (unless God tells me to, then have at it).
Nonilex
Paul Wermer, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Aviva Gary
Michael Gemar
MarkRDavid
janamg
Bibliofishy📚☕️
Martin Vermeer (not Jesus)
Mark vW
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