Indiscriminate yelling into the void!!
It’s almost like social media is designed to keep you mad…
Yesterday, the propaganda wing from “left” politicians, donors and talking heads yesterday went into overdrive with various themes on the above tweet from Senator Elizabeth Warren over the current case before the Supreme Court.
As I did in 2020 when Ms. Warren said she would ban frac’ing day 1 as President, or stop shipments of LNG to Europe in Nov 2021 before Ukraine, or with her making “billionaires pay their fair share” by implementing taxes on unrealized capital gains, I tend to respond to her tweets. I hate it about myself that I can’t just leave it alone but honestly, the rhetoric on her (and many others) behalf over these issues is literally designed to emote an angry reaction over “the abortion issue” and enrage those that only read headlines. It’s sad because this case is literally why the Supreme Court serves as a check and balance against administrative overreach. It’s beautiful, lovely and interesting and her fake rage couldn’t be more displaced. How do I know? I read the 5th Circuit Opinion under appeal before SCOTUS so let’s spend 3 minutes on it.
In the case, Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine Vs. The FDA, the plaintiff alleges that the FDA violated the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) in modifying the approval for use of a two step abortion drug - mifepristone- in 2016 and then again in 2021 and that ultimately it erred in approving the drug in the first place in 2000.
Originally, the District Court that heard tbis case ruled that the FDA shouldn’t have approved mifepristone under the conditions of use it did in 2000, and that it also shouldn’t have modified it’s use requirements in 2016 and 2021. The case was appealed to the 5th circuit court which vacated the ruling of the lower court on the original approval (on the grounds of the statute of limitations) but stayed the order that the FDA improperly modified the terms of use in 2016 and 2021. What does that mean? Until the court case is resolved, the drug is still available under the 2016 terms of use. The Supreme Court is hearing the FDA’s appeal of the 5th Circuits ruling.
The essence of the case is that mifepristone is a two stage abortion regime where one pill kills the embryo and the other causes cramping in the uterus to initiate a miscarriage. Under the original approval in 2000, the FDA had strict rules of it’s use.
The drug had to be used within 49 days of gestation
The drug had be prescribed by a doctor, in person.
That there be two follow up appointments with a doctor, in person.
That the prescribing doctor be capable of or have coordinated the availability of a qualified doctor to perform a surgical abortion as women in one of the two approval studies used showed that women needed surgical intervention 7.9% of the time.
The FDA also approved the drug under their accelerated approval guidelines “Subpart H” for serious or life threatening illnesses. Which means the FDA said pregnancy was an illness.
Then, in 2016, the FDA modified the approval of their 2000 use guidelines:
Finally, In 2021, the FDA removed the requirement to be prescribed the drug by a doctor in person, or that the prescribing doctor could perform an abortion, making the drug available by mail.
The plaintiffs contend that the FDA lacked the data to make these changes in 2016 and 2021 and that approving the drug until Subpart H was improper.
As required under the APA, Federal courts “must set aside unlawful agency actions that are found to be arbitrary, capricious or misdirected.” In this case, the FDA had no studies that supported that the changes they made to use of mifepristone in 2016 would cumulatively be “safe and effective” (their standard) and that in combination with getting the pill by Mail, more patients would end up in emergency rooms and “injure” the plaintiffs
So, the case isn’t about abortion per se. The Supreme Court is simply hearing the appeal on whether the FDA followed the APA, which the evidence has shown, it didn’t.
Like the CDC eviction moratorium, the Department of Education Secretary forgiving student loans or the OHSA COVID vaccine mandate, Federal agencies are massively outstripping their administrative authority without Congressional approval. So Elizabeth. Take a chill pill and how about you focus on that $3 trillion deficit and $35 trillion of debt?
"Take a chill pill and how about you focus on that $3 trillion deficit and $35 trillion of debt?"
I think the interest on the debt is now approaching or past $1T/year. And the Democrats as well as many Republicans don't seem to care at all . Nor does the general public seem to understand that this can't continue for much longer without some major economic pain.