The Washington Examiner reports that some Democrats are now criticizing other Democrats for advising the administration of President Joe Biden to disregard a recent court ruling regarding an abortion pill.
The ruling comes from the U.S. District Court for Northern Texas.
On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk issued a ruling granting a request for a preliminary injunction preventing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval of mifepristone while the case continues to be litigated.
In the case, a group of anti-abortion groups and anti-abortion doctors are arguing that the FDA used an improper process, in 2000, to approve the sale of mifepristone, a process that failed to adequately take into account certain aspects of the drug's safety. Accordingly, they want the drug to be unapproved.
Kacsmaryk has not touched on the merits of the case. But, he has issued the preliminary injunction, which means that, while the case is being litigated, mifepristone will not be able to be sold.
Kacsmaryk, however, has given the Biden administration a week to appeal his ruling before the preliminary injunction will take effect. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has indicated that the Biden administration plans to file an appeal.
Following Kacsmaryk's decision, some on the political left began arguing that Biden could just ignore it.
Politico reports:
Now, senators, representatives, state officials and advocacy groups are calling on President Joe Biden to defy the U.S. District Court judge and use his executive powers to protect the drugs’ availability even before the case is heard by the conservative-leaning 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Those who have made this argument include far-left U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR). Wyden released a statement, saying:
I believe the Food and Drug Administration has the authority to ignore this ruling, which is why I’m again calling on President Biden and the FDA to do just that. The FDA, doctors, and pharmacies can and must go about their jobs like nothing has changed and keep mifepristone accessible to women across America. If they don’t, the consequences of banning the most common method of abortion in every single state will be devastating.
It appears, though, that other Democrats do not agree with the likes of Ocasio-Cortez and Wyden.
Politico reports that some Biden administration officials don't agree with Ocasio-Cortez and Wyden's approach.
In fact, they believe that such an approach - before the appeal - could undermine the appeal. Accordingly, the officials believe such an approach would be “premature” and “pretty risky.”
The officials also believe it would be “premature” and “pretty risky” because, unlike a court ruling, it would not stop Republican-led states, for example, from implementing their own bans on the drug.
So, for the time being, it does not appear that the Biden administration will be ignoring Kacsmaryk's decision.
