Abortion and the Law: Can One Judge Overturn the FDA…Using a 19th-Century Statute?

Apr 12, 2023

Abortion and the Law

Can One Judge Overturn the FDA…Using a 19th-Century Statute?

Renée Ann Cramer, Rebecca Kreitzer, Joshua C. Wilson, and Mary Ziegler

Hosted by Susan Liebell

Summary

Today’s Postscript focuses on abortion politics in the United States, with particular attention to the April 7, 2023 federal court decisions in Texas and Washington controlling access to mifepristone and the wider political forces at play. We have a slightly different format for today’s emergency podcast – spanning four time zones. First, legal historian Mary Ziegler, Martin Luther King Professor of Law at UC Davis, shares insights on the two cases – and why the Texas opinion is such a radical departure with regards to standing and legal language. Then Political Scientist Rebecca Kreitzer, Associate Professor of Public Policy and Adjunct Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, provides a deep dive on the role of the Comstock Act of 1873 and why this 19th century law helps us understand 21st century reproductive politics. The podcast concludes with two scholars of politics and law Dr. Renée Ann Cramer, Professor of Law, Politics, and Society at Drake University and Dr. Joshua C. Wilson, Professor of Political Science at the University of Denver). They pull back the curtain on the cases to expose the ways in which those who oppose abortion have created parallel organizations to provide the false expertise relied upon in the Texas decision. We also talk about the wider implications of banning approved medications for trans people.

Links mentioned in the podcast:

Mary Ziegler, The Texas Abortion-Pill Ruling Signals Pro-Lifers’ Next Push
New York Times graphic of the 100+ scholarly articles proving mifepristone safe
The opposing court opinions from the Texas and Washington courts
December 2022 Department of Justice Memo on Comstock, abortion, mifepristone, and misoprostol
Rep. Pat Schroeder’s 1996 speech calling for the part of Comstock regarding abortion to be overturned.

Rebecca J. Kreitzer and Candis Watts Smith, Washington Post, on Alito’s draft and research on women’s political power.

Susan Liebell is Dirk Warren '50 Professor of Political Science at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.