On the sheer misogynist idiocy of Matthew Kacsmaryk’s Führer Directive
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Jill Filipovic observes that if you take the logic of Matthew Kacsmaryk’s Good Friday diktat seriously, virtually no FDA drug approval could hold up:
If the principle of this decision holds, there are remarkably few medications in the country that could survive a court challenge. The anti-abortion movement simply made up a lie that the FDA fast-tracked Mifepristone and has refused to account for its safety. That would be convenient for their aims, but it’s just not true – what the FDA has done with Mifepristone is a matter of fact and public record. And the fact is that the FDA process for approving Mifepristone was far more onerous and drawn-out than the FDA’s typical drug-approval process, exactly because the anti-abortion movement has so thoroughly politicized abortion-inducing drugs. Even after approval, Mifepristone has been subjected to a much stricter regulation scheme than the vast majority of drugs that receive FDA approval, despite Mifepristone’s pretty incredible safety record. There have been more than 100 studies on the safety of abortion-inducing medications, and all of the legitimate ones have found that these drugs have very good safety records. Even some of the studies cited by the anti-abortion plaintiffs in this case still find that abortion pills are safe, but abortion opponents have twisted them and lied about their findings — arguing, for example, that bleeding is a “serious side effect,” when abortion pills by definition induce a miscarriage, which means significant bleeding.
Nearly 10 times as many people in the US died from taking Viagra in the first eight months after that drug’s approval than have died from abortion pills in 23 years. And of course the opposite of abortion is not “nothing” but continued pregnancy and childbirth, which is nearly five times as dangerous as ending a pregnancy with abortion pills.
You can feel however you want about abortion, but there are also basic facts at hand. The fact is that Mifepristone is far safer than many of the drugs Americans take every day, from penicillin to Viagra. And it is far, far safer than childbirth.
Republicans sure have a compelling response, though:
Rep. Tony Gonzales: "Women have a whole lot more other issues than just abortion. Let's have those real conversations. And let's talk about the other things that are happening in this world." pic.twitter.com/gl6hlIjhGg— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 9, 2023
Approaching a year of Dobbs, and Republicans have no better answer than “can we please talk about something else?”, because there isn’t one.
…Paul in comments: “The chin scratching profiles in the NYT and the WAPO about this religious lunatic’s “jurisprudential commitments” somehow reminds me of how David Irving was for decades considered a legitimate historian, even though he believed things like Hitler was not an anti-Semite and wasn’t aware the Holocaust was happening.”