MSNBC host Joy Reid lashed out at Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito after the court’s decision to temporarily retain access to the abortion pill mifepristone Friday night.
The case was taken to the Supreme Court after a federal judge in Texas ruled on April 7 that FDA approval of the drug was not legal. Hours later, a Washington state judge issued the opposite ruling, paving the way for a Supreme Court decision.
On Friday, they voted 7 to 2 to continue allowing women access to the drug, which was approved by the FDA more than 20 years ago and is used in more than half of all abortions in the United States. Judges Alito and Clarence Thomas disagreed.
Reid on her MSNBC show Friday referred to the judge as “Mullah Alito,” comparing him to an Islamic extremist.
‘[T]he reads to me in such a way as to admit, “We don’t have an army, we don’t have the ability to enforce our decisions, and we’re not sure the government would even comply,” Reid said. That’s a pretty blatant admission of weakness and a pretty crass thing to write in your dissent. This man seems to be very much into his feelings that the American people are resisting his attempts to play mullah instead of Supreme Court Justice and ban abortion.”
MSNBC host Joy Reid lashed out at Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito following the court’s decision to temporarily retain access to the abortion pill mifepristone Friday night
She specifically criticized part of Alito’s dissent saying, “The government has not allayed legitimate doubts that it would obey even an unfavorable injunction in these cases, let alone choose to take enforcement action against which it has strong objections.’
Reid had previously referred to Alito as a mullah on her Wednesday night show.
The decision was sparked by the April 7 ruling by Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee, who found the FDA overstepped its authority when it approved the drug in 2000.
Kacsmaryk’s order was partially blocked by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, even though that court placed restrictions that would prevent mifepristone from being mailed to patients.
The Biden administration and Danco Labs, the manufacturer of mifepristone, warned of potentially far-reaching consequences if the FDA’s scientists were overruled by politicians and judges.
“If enacted, the lower court orders would thwart FDA scientific judgment and undermine widespread confidence in a health care system that relies on the availability of mifepristone as an alternative to more burdensome and invasive surgical abortions,” said attorney-at-law. General Elizabeth Prelogar v the Supreme Court in an application this week.
Alliance Defending Freedom, representing opponents of the abortion pill, countered the government’s concerns and amounted to a “air-falls” argument.
“If any other drug were involved in this lawsuit, there would not even be a debate as to whether this court should intervene with extraordinary relief,” their lawyers wrote in a petition to the court.
Reid specifically criticized some of Alito’s dissent saying, “The government has not allayed legitimate doubts that it would obey even an unfavorable injunction in these cases, let alone choose to take enforcement action against which it has strong objections.’
The case has divided the nation, with more than 150 Republican lawmakers supporting conservative prosecutors.
In contrast, Democrats and leading medical associations have pushed for the continued availability of mifepristone.
The original stay expired on Wednesday, but Judge Samuel Alito extended it until Friday midnight.
The judges met on Friday for a private conference, where they could discuss the matter.
The challenge for mifepristone, caused by abortion enemies, is the first abortion controversy to reach the nation’s highest court since the conservative majority rejected Roe v. Wade 10 months ago.
Since then, more than a dozen states have banned abortion outright, and several others have imposed heavy restrictions.
Associates of the group, Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising, Kristin Turner, of San Francisco, left, Lauren Handy, of Washington, and Caroline Smith, of Washington, right, demonstrate against abortion pills outside the Supreme Court
A new CBS News poll last week found that nearly two-thirds of the country want mifepristone to remain available, amid a fierce debate over abortion taking place across the country.
Abortion rights are expected to be one of the dominant issues in the 2024 presidential election.
In Texas, abortion opponents filed suit in November, arguing that the Food and Drug Administration’s original approval of mifepristone 23 years ago and subsequent amendments were flawed.
They won a ruling on April 7 U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, withdrawing the FDA approval of mifepristone. The judge gave the Biden administration and New York-based Danco Laboratories, the maker of mifepristone, one week to appeal and try to put his ruling on hold.
In response to a swift appeal, two more Trump appointees in the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals said the original FDA approval would be tentative.
But Judges Andrew Oldham and Kurt Englehardt said most of the remainder of Kacsmaryk’s ruling could take effect while the case progresses through federal courts.
Their ruling would effectively overturn changes made by the FDA from 2016, including the extension of seven to 10 weeks of gestation when mifepristone can be used safely.
The court also said the drug cannot be shipped or dispensed as a generic and that patients seeking it must make three in-person visits to a doctor. Women may also need to take a higher dosage of the drug than the FDA recommends.
The administration and Danco have said chaos will ensue if those restrictions come into effect as the case continues. Perhaps adding to the confusion, a federal judge in Washington has ordered the FDA to maintain access to mifepristone under current rules in 17 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia, which has filed a separate lawsuit.
Medical groups point out that mifepristone has been used by millions of women over the past 23 years with a low complication rate.
Common side effects of mifepristone include cramping, bleeding, nausea, headache, and diarrhea.
In rare cases, women may experience excessive bleeding that requires surgery to stop.
The mifepriston case is the first abortion case heard by the nine judges since the Conservative majority overturned Roe v Wade
According to the FDA, by June 2022, more than 5.6 million women in the US had taken the drug.
During that time, the agency received 4,200 reports of complications in women, or less than one-tenth of 1% of women taking the drug.
For now, the Supreme Court is only being asked to block lower court rulings until the end of the trial.
But the administration and Danco have a fallback argument if the court disagrees.
They are asking the court to accept mifepristone’s challenge, hear the arguments and decide the case by early summer.
The judge rarely takes such a step before at least one court has thoroughly examined the legal issues.
The New Orleans-based 5th Circuit has already ordered an expedited schedule for hearing the case, with arguments set for May 17.