Media organizations object to Texas judge's attempt to limit public access to abortion pill hearing
Date
3/14/2023 5:12:11 AM
(MENAFN) A federal judge in Texas is facing backlash from a coalition of media organizations over his decision to delay notifying the public of a hearing involving the abortion pill. The lawyer representing the news outlets argued that the judge's attempt to withhold public notice of the hearing is unconstitutional and undermines the value of public access to judicial proceedings and court records.
The hearing, scheduled for Wednesday, has attracted public interest from both sides of the ideological spectrum. However, the judge has delayed docketing notice of the hearing until late Tuesday to limit disruptions and protests. The media groups, including the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, The Washington Post, NBCUniversal News Group, ProPublica, the Texas Press Association, The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, The Markup and Gannett Co., which publishes eight Texas-based newspapers, called on the judge to immediately docket notice of the hearing, disclose future proceedings, and release the lawyers involved in the legal fight from his request not to discuss the hearing schedule publicly.
The judge's concerns about security have been addressed by the federal government's security plan, which has been effective in the past. The media coalition argued that there is no reason to believe that the security plan is insufficient to protect all hearing participants and court staff.
The lawsuit involves a challenge to the Food and Drug Administration's approval of mifepristone, one of two drugs used to terminate a pregnancy before 10 weeks gestation. The lawsuit was filed by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal organization, on behalf of anti-abortion medical associations. They argue that the FDA erred in determining the abortion drug's safety and effectiveness and approving it under a federal rule that allows accelerated approval of certain drugs that treat "serious or life-threatening illnesses."
The FDA issued its approval of mifepristone in 2000, and medication abortions account for more than half of all abortions in the U.S. in 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The protocol involves two drugs, mifepristone, which blocks the hormone progesterone, and misoprostol, which brings on contractions.
Lawyers for the Biden administration argued that "removing access to mifepristone would cause worse health outcomes for patients who rely on" its availability to safely terminate their pregnancies. The lawsuit is the latest attempt by anti-abortion rights advocates to limit access following the Supreme Court's June decision ending the constitutional right to an abortion. In addition to bans by gestational age and method, Republican-led states have also enacted laws limiting medication abortion.
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