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Now, senators, congressmen, state officials, and advocacy groups are threatening President Joe Biden against a U.S. District Court judge before the case goes to trial in the conservative-leaning Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. also seeks to exercise presidential authority to protect drug availability. of appeal.
“I believe the Food and Drug Administration has the authority to ignore this decision, so I am calling on President Biden and the FDA again to do so.” Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said on Friday. “The FDA, doctors and pharmacies must go about their business as if nothing has changed and make mifepristone accessible to women across America. The consequences of banning common abortion methods would be devastating.”
manager Alexandria Ocasio Cortez .
But the Biden administration fears public defiance of Friday night’s ruling could undermine its position while the case goes through the appeals process.
The person advising the White House on legal strategy has been allowed anonymity to discuss the ongoing lawsuit, and administration officials said it was “premature” and “premature” to take the steps Wyden is seeking. I think it’s pretty dangerous.” Overturns Texas judge Matthew Caxmile’s decision.
“They can now present themselves as adults in the room who care about the rule of law,” the person said.. “But if they jump out of the gate and say they don’t follow the verdict, that stance will come under pressure.”
The person added that the White House sees limited merit in publicly opposing the court’s ruling at this point for three reasons.
First, ignoring lower court rulings stripping FDA approval of the pills will not stop Republican-controlled states from imposing their own restrictions and prosecuting violators. Second, future Republican presidents may choose to reverse enforcement discretionary decisions and aggressively prosecute those who sell or prescribe pills. And third, even in the short term, a presidential challenge to court could scare doctors across the country from prescribing drugs.
“This is a very loose band-aid and does not really guarantee access to medical abortion,” the person said. “And if there is another option on the table, like an appeals process, that’s a pretty risky strategy.”
Additionally, a Texas judge suspended the ruling for a week to give the Biden administration time to appeal, so it’s possible that pills are still legally prescribed in much of the country, making such a drastic move. limited urgency to take appropriate action.
Sen. Pattie Murray (D-Wash) told reporters in a phone call Saturday that he was sympathetic to Wyden’s position but would not support anything that could jeopardize the government’s fight to overturn the district court’s ruling. Told.
“This is a really infuriating situation, so I understand the sentiment,” she said. The important thing we must do is ensure that this decision is promptly appealed and overturned in court.”
Murray and the Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer On Saturday, they indicated their intention to use the decision to mobilize their base in the 2024 election — claiming to pass legislation to overturn and restore the House of Representatives. Law vs Wade It is the best path to achieving more permanent protection than the temporary protection that the Biden administration can provide through administrative action.
“This battle will be fought by public opinion and votes at the ballot box from here until we move forward in 2024,” Murray said.
Schumer suggested that Democrats force a vote in the Senate in the coming months and “put Republicans on the record” on the issue.
“The American public is divided between the Democrats who fight relentlessly for women’s rights and make decisions about their own bodies, and the MAGA Republicans who do virtually nothing to enact a nationwide abortion ban without exception. You’re going to see a stark contrast for yourself,” Schumer told reporters on Saturday.
Biden himself appeared to support the strategy in the hours after the ruling, saying in a statement while the administration was appealing, “We will stop those who seek to take away the rights and freedoms of women in every state.” The only way to stop it is to pass a law to restore Law vs Wade.”
Even some abortion rights leaders who have previously criticized the Biden administration for not taking sufficient steps to protect access are taking a wait-and-see approach given the current judicial threat to the pill. He said he supports the strategy.
“They tend to be cautious,” NARAL President Mini Timaraju told POLITICO. “But with a bet like this, on these courts, it should be. They’re the defendants. We want Take care of them. Also, it has served them well in the past. So I am confident that the government is doing what it needs to do. ”
Some legal experts have also warned the administration not to defy decisions early in the process, lest future presidents ignore “future orders more firmly rooted in the law”. It states that a precedent may be created to provide a cover for
“Even if the FDA believes a court order is erroneous, it would be unwise to ignore it,” said Joan Rosen, an attorney and senior lecturer at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. They can start over the approval process for mifepristone and put it back on the market.”
But others in the legal community believe that the FDA has been given enforcement discretion by Congress and previous court rulings, and that if the FDA were ultimately ordered to rescind the approval of abortion drugs, the FDA would We are calling on the administration to take a tough line, arguing that we need to make the most of them. .
People in this camp said Friday night that another Washington court ruled, ordering the FDA to maintain the abortion drug status quo and restore access in the 12 blue states that posed the challenge. It points out that the FDA has prohibited These conflicting decisions, they said, would provide a cover for the Biden administration to defy Texas courts and maintain access to drugs, and if that decision holds.
“These are not radical,” said David S. Cohen, a professor at Drexel University’s Thomas R. Klein School of Law. “These are real strategies within the law.”
Other Senate Democrats, anticipating the decision, called on the Biden administration to “use all legal and regulatory means” to keep abortion drugs on the market. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) recently petitioned the White House to “use existing powers, such as enforcement discretion, to ensure that mifepristone remains available.”
“The FDA has previously used its authority to protect patient access to care and may do so again,” they wrote.
Timaraju sees increasing pressure from Democratic officials to ignore the court’s ruling as meaningful.
“Senators are doing their job. It’s their job to boost agencies like the White House and the FDA,” she said. “We need blue state legislators out there to bring public attention and awareness to this case. There is no safe state from
Adam Cancryn contributed to the report.
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