The Supreme Court seemed poised to reject an injunction against the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) abortion pill regulations during oral argument yesterday Multiple justices questioned whether the doctors bringing the challenge even had standing, or encountered the type of injury that would allow them to sue over the regulations in court.
Notwithstanding the legal soundness of the FDA regulations themselves, the Supreme Court could leave the regulations (from 2016 and 2020) open to future challenges but from different individuals. The Biden administration and multiple justices indicated that the doctors presented a theory of standing that was too speculative rather than showing direct harm from the regulations.
U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on March 22, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times
Mifepristone, one of the drugs in the abortion pill regimen, was approved by the FDA in 2000 and has garnered attention as a potential alternative for women seeking abortions in states with pro-life restrictions. The Supreme Court refused to review a lower court decision effectively upholding the initial approval but decided to review whether later deregulation, including requiring in-person dispensing, was inconsistent with the sound regulation.
The Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine argued that the FDA had engaged in the type of rulemaking that was subject to judicial review under the Administrative Procedure Act. It also asserted that the FDA’s deregulatory actions were irresponsible and put women’s health in danger.
The Fifth Circuit, which issued a nationwide injunction on the regulations, seemed to encounter criticism from Justices Neil Gorsuch and Ketanji Brown Jackson—both of whom suggested that its sweeping halt on the regulations was too broad given the limited connection to the doctors who were challenging them.
Justice Gorsuch seemed frustrated with the Fifth Circuit’s decision, indicating to Erin Hawley, Sen. Josh Hawley’s wife and the attorney representing the doctors, that lower courts had issued too many universal injunctions. “You’re asking us to extend and—and pursue this relatively new remedial course, which this Court has never adopted itself. Lower courts have kind of run with this,” he said.
Justice Elena Kagan was fairly direct in her disapproval of the doctors’ standing argument. She told Hawley that her theory of standing sounded “very probabilistic,” relying on various circumstances to potentially converge before one of the doctors involved suffered harm.
Justice Samuel Alito seemed the most sympathetic to the doctors. He suggested the Court had upheld more probabilistic standing in a prior case, and asked Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar: “Is there anybody who can sue and get a judicial ruling on whether what FDA did was lawful?”
—Sam Dorman
2024 presidential contender Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks with his vice presidential pick Nicole Shanahan in Oakland, Calif., on March 26, 2024. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times
RFK JR. NAMES SHANAHAN AS VP PICK
Silicon Valley lawyer Nicole Shanahan is independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s pick for his running mate, the candidate announced on March 26.
At a campaign event in Oakland, California, Kennedy heralded Shanahan, 38, as someone who shares his values and vision for the future.
“I wanted a partner who is a gifted administrator, and also possesses the gift of curiosity, an open inquiring mind and the confidence to change even her strongest opinions in the face of contrary evidence. I wanted someone with a spiritual dimension, and compassion, and idealism, and above all, a deep love of the United States of America,” Kennedy said.
Shanahan also founded the Bia-Echo Foundation, which invests in projects surrounding women’s reproductive health, criminal justice reform, and environmental causes.
Kennedy also highlighted his running mate’s age as a key factor in his decision. His hope, he said, was that Shanahan would be “a champion for the growing number of millennials and Gen Z Americans who have lost faith in their future and lost their pride in our country.”
Shanahan, a former anti-war activist, credited her upbringing on government assistance as the source of her compassion for the less fortunate and her previous support for the Democratic Party.
“That was supposed to be the party of peace, the party of compassion,” she said. “Many Democrats, we still believe in those ideals. But unfortunately, as an institution, it has lost its way.”
Identifying herself as a “disillusioned Democrat,” Shanahan called on others dissatisfied with the Democrat and Republican parties to support her and Kennedy in their “movement to unify and heal America.”
—Jeff Louderback and Samantha Flom
FEARS RISE OVER GROWING CHINESE INFLUENCE IN PANAMA
The Pan-American Highway, if it’s ever completed, will stretch about 18,000 miles from Alaska to Argentina, opening up a land corridor the length of the Americas.
The project has gone unfinished for decades due to American and Panamanian concerns over the environment, crime, and disease—and more recently, mass migration.
Still, construction grinds on in the Darien Gap, where bridging the rivers has been considered one of the major obstacles blocking the completion of the highway.
The construction, part of China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), aims to create an alternate trade route around the Panama Canal. But as work continues, some fear the consequences for the United States.
“If China displaces the United States in the Western Hemisphere as the dominant economic power, then we lose our leverage,” Mike Howell, director of The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project, told The Epoch Times.
And Andrés Martínez-Fernández, The Heritage Foundation’s senior policy analyst for Latin America, said China’s attempt to minimize or control the Panama Canal’s strategic importance to the United States could be significant should a military conflict arise.
Two of Panama’s five main ports are controlled by China. Meanwhile, work being conducted by Chinese companies on the Amador Pacific Coast cruise terminal is nearing completion.
In short, China’s growing influence in Latin America, Martínez-Fernández said, should not be underestimated.
“What happens in the Western Hemisphere, I would argue, has more direct impacts on the United States than in most parts of the world because of those direct ties on the avenues of migration, economy, and security.”
—Darlene McCormick Sanchez and Samantha Flom
BOOKMARKS
A mere four days after signing former RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel on as an on-air contributor, NBC has reversed its decision after growing backlash from its staff.
The judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s hush money case in New York has issued a gag order on him, The Epoch Times’ Catherine Yang reports. The order comes a day after the judge set a trial date of April 15, rejecting the candidate’s requests for a longer extension.
Federal Election Commission filings show former presidential candidate Nikki Haley outraised the Republican National Committee (RNC) in February, The Epoch Times’ Jack Phillips reports. Collectively, her principal campaign committee and the pro-Haley political action committee SFA Fund Inc. raised $16.1 million—nearly $5 million more than the RNC.
Prosecutors dropped a long-running securities fraud case against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on March 26, The Epoch Times’ Tom Ozimek reports. The move comes as part of a $300,000 restitution deal that did not require an admission of guilt.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the United States must fulfill Latin American countries’ requests for aid to end the flow of illegal immigrants across the border, The Epoch Times’ Jack Phillips reports. His remarks drew criticism from House Republicans.
The New York City Council has appealed a ruling declaring a 2022 law allowing noncitizens to vote in municipal elections unconstitutional, The Epoch Times’ Caden Pearson reports. The appeal was filed with the state’s Supreme Court.
