Calls to ignore judge reveal Democrats as the real threat to rule of law
Democrats never stop warning about the right’s supposed threat to democracy and the rule of law, yet their calls to ignore a court decision Friday against an abortion pill show just where that threat really comes from.
Texas federal Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ordered the Food and Drug Administration to hold up its 2000 approval of the abortion drug mifepristone, accusing the agency of having “acquiesced on its legitimate safety concerns — in violation of its statutory duty.”
Kacsmaryk gave the government seven days to appeal; hours later, the Justice Department filed notice that it would.
The ruling, the first to overturn an FDA medical decision, seems highly dubious, and its prospects in the courts remain unclear — especially since another federal court in Washington, less than an hour later, ordered the government not to make changes that would restrict access to the drug.
Nonetheless, Dems immediately demanded the FDA, plus manufacturers and sellers, simply disregard Kacsmaryk — as if court decisions they dislike somehow lack the force of law.
“The Food and Drug Administration has the authority to ignore this ruling,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) claimed, insisting “the FDA, doctors and pharmacies . . . go about their jobs like nothing has changed.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Bx.-Queens) similarly argued the “the executive branch has an enforcement discretion.” Huh? Then a Republican prez could simply ignore court rulings she sees as vital?
Besides getting Kacsmaryk’s ruling struck down, several other legal options can still ensure the drug’s availability. Plus, another abortion drug, misoprostol, remains on the market.
Yet the Dems’ remarks still matter: They’re encouraging the very lawlessness and disdain for democracy they themselves keep railing about.
And they build on a worrisome trend, as the left increasingly seeks to flout the law and subvert democracy via patently illegal presidential orders, efforts to pack the courts, the weaponization of federal agencies like Justice and the IRS, control of social media and bogus criminal charges against foes.
The right is by no means entirely innocent here. But if Democrats truly mean to confront threats to democracy and law and order, they also need to confront . . . themselves.
