The Worst Judge in America Could Outlaw the Abortion Pill Nationwide. It Gets Worse.
By Episode 28’s Dahlia Lithwick, coauthored with Mark Joseph Stern
Originally posted on Slate.com on Feb. 6, 2023
BY DAHLIA LITHWICK AND MARK JOSEPH STERN
Dobbs Was Always Just the Beginning
A single judge could outlaw the abortion pill nationwide. And that’s not even the worst of it.
When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, it promised to “return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.” In virtually every instance in which it’s been returned to the people, which has mostly happened by ballot initiative and referendum, the people have acted to protect reproductive rights. Perhaps that explains why less than a year after the fall of Roe, conservative activists are trying to put the issue of abortion access into the hands of a single man for whom no one ever voted: a federal judge in Texas named Matthew Kacsmaryk. In the coming weeks, there is a very real possibility that Kacsmaryk will single-handedly outlaw medication abortion in all 50 states, massively disrupting access to reproductive health care across the entire country. Worse, there is a substantial likelihood that higher courts—including the Supreme Court—will let him get away with it.
Let’s be clear that the legal battle over medication abortion became inevitable the moment Roe fell. Over the past 50 years, reproductive health care has undergone a dramatic shift: A majority of American patients now terminate their pregnancies with pills rather than by undergoing a procedure at a clinic. This makes good sense, as medication abortions are 18 times safer than childbirth, very reliable, and easy to access. In the 23 years since the FDA first approved the “abortion pill,” the agency has slowly loosened restrictions on prescriptions (though regulations remain irrationally stringent for the minimal risks of these pills). Meanwhile, a booming gray market for the medication has sprung up online following the end of Roe. Today, virtually anyone anywhere in the United States can order pills to their door, legally or otherwise. This infuriates anti-abortion activists who wanted to see this issue settled with the clinic closures and vigilante laws that followed S.B. 8 and Dobbs.
Latest Episode
Ep. 28 Looking Forward on the Final Episode of Season 1 with Mini Timmaraju, president of NARAL, and Dahlia Lithwick, activist author
Mission Statement
Lady Liberty is V.E.R.Y.* Pissed Podcast awakens women in America to the significance of the loss of their reproductive rights and voting rights, and to the lack of women’s equal rights in the U.S. Constitution. When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, our worst fears about our loss of liberty were confirmed. Our purpose is to educate listeners about how our reproductive rights, voting rights, and equal civil rights are linked, and how to rise up and fight strategically to re-claim women’s equality. Join our army and fight with us to protect these inalienable rights in this crucial midterm election year — and save our democracy!
*Voting rights, Equal rights, Reproductive rights, Yes!
Hosts
Blog Posts
Opinion: Think you already know crazy? Meet the House GOP Class of ’22.
Written by Dana Milbank Can we have order in the House? Not if this crowd takes over. Much of the public focus in the midterm elections has been on the, er, exotic nature of the Republican nominees in Senate and gubernatorial races, and understandably so. There’s Mehmet Oz’s crudite, Doug Mastriano’s white supremacists, and Herschel…
Keep reading
Warning! Your Voting Rights Are at Risk –
Read This ASAP to Make Sure Your Vote Will Be Counted
Take the Lead has partnered up with some fantastic organizations to provide you with information on how to register to vote, check your registration, find your polling place and anything else you need to get out to the polls this midterm election.
Keep reading
All Host Responses to President Biden’s Sept 1st Speech
Each of our hosts watched the broadcast of President Biden’s speech in Philadelphia on 9/1/2022. Read the President’s full remarks per the White House website here. Dr. Betty Spence has been an advocate for women’s advancement in the private and public sectors for 30 years. An expert on women in leadership, she wrote the top-selling book Be…
Keep readingLoading…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
Our theme song: “Rise” by BETTY
Podcast Producers
Logan Broussard leads the creative and branding services team for Broussard Global C2CEO. Logan is known for branding corporate, industrial and consumer products.
He has created award-winning branding for Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP), the Dallas Press Club’s Hugh Aynesworth Awards, the Cinderella CEO On Air podcast and Cinderella to CEO Awards. As an adjunct professor at New York University, he taught advertising and marketing.
Cary is one of the top global advocates for women in diversity and business. Her book, From Cinderella to CEO, is published in 10 languages, and her podcast CinderellaCEO On Air can be found on iTunes and Spotify.
Dow Jones described Cary’s work at Wyndham Worldwide as head of the company’s Women On Their Way program as “the gold standard of women’s marketing for Wall Street companies.” Currently, Cary and her team design and teach courses with an emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion and corporate social responsibility.
Amy is a consultant specializing in content writing and podcast production. She graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio with an English degree and a concentration in technical and creative writing. Her company, Amy Yoder Content Services, works with clients to reach diverse audiences, communicate their vision and products, and build community.
She specializes in project management to ensure that her clients identify and then achieve their organizational goals.