Texas Judge Wants To Force Elimination of Medical Abortion Pill Mifepristone

If Texas Federal Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk has his way, the Food & Drug Administration will withdraw its approval of the popular drug Mifepristone, one of two pills in wide use for medical abortions. The ruling by Kacsmaryk, a Trump-appointed who is known for his anti-abortion stance, is set to go into effect on April 14 which allows the Biden administration an opportunity to petition the court for emergency relief.  

According to the Guttmacher Institute which supports the right of women to choose, 53 percent of all pregnancy terminations in the U.S. are by medication abortions. Mifepristone is also helpful for women who are victims of miscarriages. Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, many women now receive the drug in the mail. Both the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Medical Association support the use of the drug as prescribed. “Mifepristone is a safe, effective and important component of treatment and management for early pregnancy loss…and induced abortions,” wrote the two association’s leaders to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, M.D.in 2022. 

Also today, April 7, in a separate case U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice of Washington State issued a ruling that Mifepristone is safe and effective and that the FDA should continue to allow the use of Mifepristone in 17 states and the District of Columbia which are litigating to allow the continuation medical abortions.

Did Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas Knowingly Break the Rules?

Senior Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is thought to have frequently enjoyed lavish trips paid for by third parties. His failure to report the value of those trips as part of recently revised U.S. Supreme Court public disclosure policies has elicited a response from Thomas himself. On Friday, April 7, Thomas declared that he “always sought to comply” with the regulations. On numerous occasions Thomas and his wife Ginni have been guests of Texas billionaire and Republican super donor Harlan Crow on his yacht around the world and have flown on Crow’s personal jet.  

Supreme Court Justices are expected to report all gifts that exceed $415 with one exception – gifts of “hospitality” at the personal residence of that individual or at facilities owned by that individual. Ginni Thomas was involved in efforts to keep President Trump in power after the 2020 elections. 

Virginia Rescinds Policy That Allowed Former Felons To Vote

Bucking a trend in policy that has been broadly enacted across the U.S., Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, has reversed a policy that gave formerly convicted persons the right to vote after their sentences had been completed. Prior to his reversal, Youngkin had restored the voting rights of more than 4,000 individuals. The Supreme Court in North Carolina is reviewing the legality of restoring voting rights in that state. In Florida, the state legislature recently overturned a 2020 citizen-led initiative in that state which granted voting to a large number of the formerly convicted. On the other end of the spectrum, officials in Minnesota and New Mexico recently approved legislation to expand voting rights for former felons.

Consuming Alcohol Has Negative Health Effects

A new analysis published in late March 2023 in the Journal of the American Medical Association Network Open contradicts decades of previous scientific studies which alleged that the moderate consumption of alcohol was actually beneficial to a person’s health. According to research, women who drink 25 grams of alcohol per day (about the equivalent of two 5-ounce glasses of wine) have a greater risk of dying prematurely. Men have a slightly greater tolerance. It takes three drinks per day to increase their risk of premature death.  

Researchers reviewed in excess of 100 studies of almost 5 million adults to reach the revised conclusions.  The number of Americans who completely abstain from alcohol – including for religious reasons – are relatively few. Early in 2023, the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction issued new guidelines that warned people that alcohol consumption is unhealthy regarding the amount of alcohol imbibed.