Abortion Pill Access Case: Judge Wants ‘Less Advertising’

A federal judge overseeing a high-stakes case that could jeopardize access to medical abortion across the country asked attorneys “politely” not to release pending arguments, according to a court transcript released Tuesday, which revealed new details of the move, which, according to experts, is outside the country. norm for the US judiciary.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kaczmarik, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump and is known for his conservative views, told attorneys during a high-profile conference call on Friday that because the case has sparked death threats and protests, “the less publicity for this hearing, the better.” . ‘, reads the transcript of the meeting.

“And due to limited security and staff resources, I will ask the parties not to disclose the date of the hearing going forward,” the transcript reads. “This is not a non-disclosure order, but simply a request for courtesy given the death threats and harassing phone calls and voicemails this unit has received.”

Kachmarik did not specify who threatened.

“We want a smooth hearing so that all parties are heard. I think it’s better to have less publicity for this hearing,” the judge said, asking lawyers not to tweet about the hearing so that the court could avoid “any unnecessary circus atmosphere of what should be more of an appeal trial.”

The judge said he planned to issue a hearing order late Tuesday night, the day before the hearing in Amarillo, an area of ​​the Texas Panhandle that has several direct flights and is more than four hours from the nearest major city. Kaczmarik ultimately issued the order on Monday after The Washington Post reported on his attempt to keep the hearing under wraps.

Protests are scheduled in Amarillo on Wednesday, with the Women’s March advocacy group urging people to rally outside a federal courthouse dressed as judges and kangaroos to denounce Kachmaryk.

Terry Maroney, a professor at Vanderbilt University Law School who studies federal judges, said they often have security issues in high-profile cases, but the way Kaczmarik handled such issues was unusual.

“I haven’t heard of anyone doing this,” Maroni said of Kaczmarik trying to delay public notice of the hearing. “It really strikes me as unusual and wrong.”

Maroni said that although Kaczmarik noted that his request to avoid publicity was not an order, most lawyers would nonetheless be inclined to comply when the judge framed the request as a matter of security. “Functionally, it acts like a non-disclosure order,” she said.

University of Oklahoma law professor Joseph Tai called it “deeply disturbed” by a federal judge’s attempt to keep the public in the dark.

“The fact that a Trump-appointed judge is addressing a highly political issue, potentially depriving millions of women across the country of safe and effective abortion pills, makes it all the more important to ensure public attention and access to hearings where their rights will—or not—be heard.” ‘ Tai said. “What is at stake is nothing less than the legitimacy of the judiciary.”

A closely watched lawsuit is challenging more than 20 years of FDA approval of mifepristone, one of two drugs used in medical abortions, which account for more than half of US abortions.

The lawsuit was filed by a group that helped fight Roe v. Wade, which the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed last year, stripping women of constitutional protections for abortion.

The consequences of the decision against the FDA may take years to show. This could affect states whether or not they legalize abortion.

Arthur Hellman, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, said that if Kaczmarik had issued a non-disclosure order, lawyers could have appealed it, but there was no way for judicial review of his request for “courtesy” silence. “It gives the impression that he is somehow trying to keep the hearing under wraps,” Hellman said. “It just looks bad.”

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Bleiberg reported from Dallas.

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