Texas lawsuit aims at taking abortion pill off market in every state
WASHINGTON — A Texas lawsuit with a key deadline this month is posing a threat to the nationwide availability of medication abortion, which now accounts for the majority of abortions in the U.S.
The case, filed by abortion opponents who helped challenge Roe v. Wade, seeks to reverse a decades-old approval by the Food and Drug Administration.
If a federal judge appointed by former President Donald Trump sides with them, it could halt the supply of the drug mifepristone in all states, both where abortion is banned and where it remains legal.
“It could have an immediate impact on the country,” said Mini Timmaraju, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. “In some ways this is a backdoor ban on abortion.”
On Friday, a group of 22 Democratic-led states weighed in, saying the consequences of reversing the approval could be “nothing short of catastrophic.”
A similar-sized group of Republican states also filed briefs supporting the reversal, saying the ability to order pills by mail undermines their laws banning abortion.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk has not indicated when or how he will rule, but groups like Timmaraju’s have been preparing for a possible decision shortly after a Feb. 24 filing deadline. There is scant precedent for a lone judge overruling the FDA’s scientific decisions. A swift appeal of any ruling is likely.
The lawsuit was filed by the group Alliance Defending Freedom, which was also involved in the Mississippi case that led to Roe being overturned.
They argue the FDA overstepped its authority in approving mifepristone by using an accelerated review process reserved for drugs to treat “serious or life-threatening illnesses.” But in its legal response, the agency said it didn’t accelerate the drug’s approval, which came four years after the manufacturer first submitted its application to market the pill.
Biden pregame interview:
After a day of mixed signals, President Joe Biden will be sitting down for a pregame interview for the Super Bowl, which is being broadcast by Fox on Sunday.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had initially said that Biden had been “looking forward” to an interview with the littleknown streaming service Fox Soul, but that Fox opted out.
Later in the day, a Fox Corp. spokesperson said the interview was back on.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A presidential interview during the Super Bowl pregame show has become something of a tradition over the past two decades, usually conducted by the news division of the network broadcasting the game.
White House staff change:
President Joe Biden is getting a new communications director at the White House as he inches closer to an expected reelection campaign.
The administration tapped a veteran of the Obama-Biden years to lead the team, Ben LaBolt. He will replace Kate Bedingfield.
The communications director leads the White House’s strategy on messaging policies and goals and
generally works behind the scenes.
Bedingfield is expected to be key in Biden’s likely reelection campaign as a consultant, according to a person familiar with the president’s plans who was not authorized to speak publicly about them and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Bedingfield was Biden’s communications director when he was vice president and served as his deputy campaign manager during his 2020 presidential run.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has agreed to apologize and pay $3.3 million in taxpayer money to four former staffers who accused him of corruption in 2020, igniting an ongoing FBI investigation of the three-term Republican.
Under terms of a preliminary lawsuit settlement filed Friday, Paxton made no admission of wrongdoing to accusations of bribery and
Texas AG settles:
abuse of office, which he has denied for years and called politically motivated.
But Paxton did commit to making a remarkable public apology toward some of his formerly trusted advisers whom he fired or forced out after they reported him to the FBI. He called them “rogue employees” after they accused Paxton of misusing his office to help one of his campaign contributors, who also employed a woman with whom the attorney general acknowledged having an extramarital affair.
The deal comes more than two years after Paxton’s staff accused him of misusing his office to help Austin real estate developer Nate Paul, whose business was also under federal investigation.
But the investigation, accusations and a separate 2015 securities fraud indictment for which Paxton has yet to face trial have done little to hurt him politically. He easily defeated challenger George P. Bush in a contested GOP primary last
spring, went on to decisively beat his Democratic opponent and secure a third term in November and has filed a steady stream of legal challenges to the administration of President Joe Biden.
India Valentine’s Day: India’s government on Friday withdrew its appeal to citizens to mark Valentine’s Day next week not as a celebration of romance but as “Cow Hug Day” to better promote Hindu values.
The appeal had attracted widespread criticism from political rivals and on social media.
Young, educated Indians typically spend Valentine’s Day crowding parks and restaurants, exchanging gifts and holding parties.
Devout Hindus, who worship cows as holy, say the Western holiday goes against traditional Indian values.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has been pushing a Hindu agenda, seeking the religion’s supremacy
in a secular nation known for its diversity.
Pilots subpoenaed: Federal investigators said Friday they have issued subpoenas to force the pilots of an American Airlines jet to sit for recorded interviews about a close call in January on a runway at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it tried to interview the crew members three times, but a union representative said the pilots refused to have their statements recorded.
The NTSB said the American Airlines Boeing 777 crossed an active runway Jan. 13 without approval from air traffic controllers, and that led to a close call with a Delta Air Lines Boeing 737 that was taking off on the same runway.
Disaster was averted when an air traffic controller, using an expletive, urgently told pilots of the Delta jet to stop their takeoff.