feminist law professor
@DrexelKline
, reproductive rights activist, avid cyclist, husband, dad, indie rock enthusiast, Vermont lover, Phillies fan, he/him
WOOHOO!! The article
@GreerDonley
@RRebouche
& I have been working on is FINAL in
@StanLRev
.
And "Abortion Pills" is perfectly timed. EVERYTHING in one place you need to prep for the upcoming SCOTUS case challenging mifepristone.
Get it while it's hot!
If Harris is President for 8 years she likely replaces 4 Supreme Court Justices, including 3 Republicans. That would give liberals our own 6-3 supermajority.
DREAM BIG, PEOPLE!!
HUGE WIN for abortion rights in PA today! The PA Supreme Court overturned a 1985 case that said the state’s Equal Rights Amendment has no impact on abortion. The ban on Medicaid funding will now be reviewed as sex discrimination. We hope it will soon be found unconstitutional. /1
Connecticut just became the first state to move an Abortion Provider Protection Act through a house of the legislature. HB 5414 passed the state House tonight in a bipartisan vote. Read on for the important things it does to ensure abortion access in a post-Roe world. /1
Only Justice Sotomayor voted to stay SB8 pending oral argument. Not Breyer or Kagan. Not Roberts. Hard to imagine a good outcome when only 1 of the 9 thinks the law is worth stopping now.
Bottom lines:
1) SB8 is still in effect.
2) Patients continue to be denied their constitutional right to abortion.
3) Texas continues to successfully circumvent the Constitution.
People on here nitpicking whether 303 Creative applies here are missing the point. This hair salon owner, if sanctioned, will raise free speech as a defense. And the same folks defending 303 Creative will defend her, trying to carve out an even greater exemption. THAT'S THE GOAL!
Amicus brief filed with SCOTUS today in the mifepristone case by antis makes it clear - they read the Comstock Act as a total ban on abortion. Note the parenthetical here about devices and equipment, not just pills. /1
Here’s Trump saying at his rally in Kentucky last night that Matt Bevin losing “sends a really bad message” and pleading with his fans, “you can’t let that happen to me!”
Welp, it happened.
Montana Supreme Court strikes down the state's parental consent statute for abortion "because a minor’s right to control her reproductive decisions is among the most fundamental of the rights she possesses."
State supreme courts FTW!
Supreme Court denies cert in the Pittsburg abortion clinic buffer zone case. Which means the buffer zone, as interpreted by the Third Circuit, can remain. Victory for abortion access!
This article from
@mjs_DC
gets it. "Connecticut's H.B. 5414 fights fire with fire. It is the gold standard for pro-choice legislation in the post-Roe era."
via
@slate
And the Holocaust unit will teach how Jews learned a lot about mourning, resilience, and methods of mass murder. While also instructing students to remember that some Jews committed violence against Germans.
VERY IMPORTANT distinction with Supreme Court abortion pills case.
What they will review: standing for the challengers, the 2016 and 2021 changes in restrictions.
What they will not review: the original 2000 approval of the drug.
/1
Dobbs is terrible. But amidst it is this ridiculously big professional accomplishment I want to share -- the dissenting Justices (Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan) cited the draft article that
@GreerDonley
,
@RRebouche
, and I have been working tirelessly on for the past year. /1
SOME GOOD REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS NEWS! Today, New York became the second state to enact protections for abortion in a post-Roe environment. Connecticut did this first, but New York follows suit with even broader protections. Read on for what's involved. /1
Under this law, only FDA can withdraw approval for a drug, not a court. Don’t believe me? Here’s an excerpt from a brief filed by food and drug law scholars (incl.
@greerdonley
) explaining this process. You can read more for yourself here. /4
Returning law students, how about we law professors share the grades we got in the courses we teach? Maybe my colleagues are different, but I think it will show you grades aren't destiny:
Constitutional law - B+
Civil rights law - B+
Gender and the law - A-
What an honor for me,
@GreerDonley
, and
@RRebouche
to have our academic work featured as an essential part of this super important NYT Magazine cover story.
BUT, as real as that fear is, there are theories out there that whatever he does won’t change anything, at least not soon. The first theory is that federal law has a very specific process for the FDA to withdraw approval of a drug and the judge cannot circumvent that process. /3
Just in love with the idea of a President Kamala Harris replacing 76 year-old Clarence Thomas and 74 year-old Voldemort—sorry, I meant Sam Alito—on the Supreme Court.
Today in the New York Times,
@greerdonley
@rrebouche
and I argue that it’s time for the Biden administration to use the executive power and act boldly to save abortion access. And we come with ideas, lots of ideas! A thread... /1
If FDA is ordered to start this process, it could take a long time to complete and FDA would be the final decision maker, with mife still on the market the entire time. EVEN IF the judge says it was improperly approved. /5
So now we have our answer as to why Sam Alito missed two opinion announcement days in June. He wasn't sick. He wasn't traveling. He wasn't tending to an emergency matter.
He was throwing a hissy fit over losing two majorities. Totally tracks.
@SenateDems
Can we now call this the
#HatchRule
and repeat it over and over, like the Republicans have tried to claim the "Biden Rule" about election-year confirmations and the "Ginsburg Rule" about non-responsiveness at confirmation hearings?
And, per a unanimous 1985 SCT case, Heckler v. Chaney, the FDA’s enforcement discretion in these situations is COMPLETELY UNREVIEWABLE. No equivocation or exception here - it’s entirely up to the FDA and courts can’t force them to enforce their law. /9
Background - this is the case challenging FDA’s approval of mifepristone, the first of two drugs taken for a medication abortion. This is before a rabidly antiabortion judge and the fear he will rule against the FDA is real. Very real. /2
FDA doesn’t manufacture or distribute mife. All it does is enforce federal law regarding drugs. If FDA decides not to enforce federal law with respect to distribution of this now-not-approved drug, it can do so. /7
NBC News is wrong. Comstock applies to “any article, instrument, substance, drug, medicine, or thing” — not just drugs. This correction needs to be corrected!
In fact, there are lots of drugs on the market without approval. The FDA even has a page about it where it says that it prioritizes enforcement action when there are serious safety concerns, which with mife we know there aren’t. /10
Think of it like a police officer deciding not to pull you over for going 60 in a 55. Prosecutorial discretion is a basic part of law, and that includes the FDA. FDA has published guidance like this on products as wide ranging as infant formula and fecal transplants. /8
But, what about the drug companies and providers? Won’t they have to follow the judge’s order? No, absolutely not. They aren’t parties to the case, and the judge can only bind parties (or their agents). /11
Four hours later and it's just sinking in how ABSURD it is that because people can drop newborn babies off at fire stations now, PROBLEM SOLVED and Roe v. Wade is going to be overturned.
Danco, the brand manufacturer of mife, is attempting to intervene, but even if they do, GenBioPro, the generic, is not a party. They will not be bound by anything the judge says. /12
Second, what if the judge ignores federal law and orders FDA to take the unprecedented action of withdrawing approval? That doesn’t mean mife disappears. Not at all! /6
We need to get used to this reality: with this Supreme Court, religion is consistently going to be a get out of jail free card. Or, at least, Judeo-Christian religions will be.
Tomorrow,
@womenslawPGH
and I will be arguing a case in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court challenging the state's ban on Medicaid funding for abortion. A 🧵: /1
Remembering Dr. David Gunn today. He was assassinated 26 years ago for no reason other than that he was helping women by providing quality medical care. Since that terrible day, 10 others have been killed for related reasons, most recently 3 in 2015.
#CelebrateAbortionProviders
Very excited to share that
@carolejoffe
and I have signed a contract with
@BeaconPressBks
to publish our next book, WE'RE DOING IT ANYWAY: HOW THE SUPREME COURT ENDED ROE BUT NOT ABORTION. If all goes as planned, it should be out in the first part of 2025. /1
Abortion case
#2
before the Supreme Court this term. Justice Alito sure was right that Dobbs meant the Court was getting out of the abortion business. And by "right" I mean "horribly wrong."
This week,
@WomensLawProj
& I filed a brief in the mife case before SCOTUS on behalf of myself &
@rrebouche
making arguments that have largely been absent -- that plaintiffs don’t have standing because they lack causation and redressability. Here’s why these args are crucial: /1
@JSalisburyNBCS
@Phillies
this is embarrassing. He's a young ace, you have "stupid money," and you're jerking him around over $2M? Quit that shit and pay the man.
Abortion pills will dominate the news now.
@GreerDonley
@RRebouche
and I have all the info you need in this forthcoming
@StanLRev
article. It will be updated soon, but this version has the essentials.
Well, Justice Thomas today in his crazy dissent about abortion and eugenics trotted out one of those anti-abortion myths, citing the esteemed George Will.
The bill protects abortion providers and their helpers in CT, who are caring for patients from other states in CT, from being roped into criminal or civil cases in other states. This ensures they will care for abortion travelers without fear. /2
NEW: A Wisconsin first-grade teacher publicly complained about her school district banning students from singing "Rainbowland" (a Dolly Parton & Miley Cyrus song about hope and togetherness).
Now, in retaliation, the district just voted 9-0 to fire her.
@kurteichenwald
My kids ask me this from time to time and I have THE one and only correct answer: to the best of my knowledge, he regularly turns oxygen into carbon dioxide, which is good for the Earth's flora.
It also makes sure that abortion records are protected from being discovered by other states trying to prosecute abortion crimes and prohibits CT law enforcement from cooperating with other states investigating abortion crimes as well. /3
@AP
In an alternate universe:
BREAKING: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is condemning sexual misconduct as a "shameful, shameful abuse campaign" usually engaged in by men against women.
NEW from me,
@GreerDonley
, and
@RRebouche
-- it's time NOW to introduce a bill to repeal the Comstock Act. This has to be the
#1
priority of Democratic members of Congress this year. /1
Today marks 4 weeks since the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the Texas SB8 cases - still no decision. This is the amount of time from conception to not being able to get an abortion in Texas. The Supreme Court is acting with much less urgency than a patient in TX needs to!
Of course, they can ultimately review anything they want in the case before them. But, what they did this morning is a VERY STRONG indication that the original approval of mifepristone is safe . . . for now. /end
So what's been going on in abortion-supportive states these days in response to Dobbs? Lots. Here's a 🧵 about encouraging developments that are protecting abortion providers in certain states. And an important caveat at the end too. /1
Confirmation question for Amy Coney Barrett: "How can we trust you have good judgment when you took part, maskless and with no distancing, in an event that flouted every scientific recommendation and caused the President and many other leaders to get COVID?" 1/2
And, as a cherry on top, it expands who can provide abortions in CT to include advanced practice clinicians (registered nurses, nurse-midwives, physician assistants). Full bill here. /6
What a bizarre profession we're in - EVERYONE in the room knows the answer is "Barrett" but no one will come out and say it. And we lawyers know we shouldn't say it, even though THAT IS THE ANSWER.