Some NY moderate Republican congressmen denounce judge’s ban of abortion pill mifepristone

Two moderate New York Republican congressmen on Monday denounced a right-wing Texas federal judge’s ruling that could impose a nationwide ban on the most commonly used drug used for medication abortion.

Rep. Anthony D’Esposito and Rep. Marc Molinaro issued similar statements rejecting Friday’s decision by U.S. District Court Judge Mark Kacsmaryk that overturned the 23-year-old approval of mifepristone by the Food and Drug Administration.

“I think this is a dangerous precedent for a federal district court,” Molinaro said in a statement. “I supported expanding access to this medication as a member of the state Assembly and support access now.”

D’Esposito said he is “deeply concerned” by Kacsmaryk’s ruling and called the abortion drug mifepristone “key to safeguarding women’s health.”

“We are currently reviewing ways Congress can best ensure women’s care is not interrupted by this ruling,” D’Esposito said.

The pair joined Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) in rejecting the ruling. They are among six newly elected Republican lawmakers in the New York City metro area, including controversial Rep. George Santos.

Santos did not respond to requests for comment on the abortion pill ruling. Neither did Long Island’s Rep. Nick LaLota or Rep. Tom Kean Jr., who represents a nearby swath of New Jersey suburbs.

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y) also declined to comment even though he was outspoken in his assertion during his 2022 campaign that he would not seek to deprive New York women of their right to choose.

“I do respect the will of the state’s voters whom the Supreme Court have given exclusive jurisdiction over the abortion issue,” Lawler wrote in an opinion piece before his upset victory in a Democratic-leaning district in New York’s northern suburbs. “New York is a strongly pro-choice state. I get it.”

Even before Kacsmaryk’s explosive ruling, Democrats had vowed to make abortion rights a marquee issue in the 2024 elections.

They have targeted six seats in New York and Kean’s seat in New Jersey after the GOP succeeded in flipping them in the 2022 midterms. All of the districts voted for President Biden in 2020.

Democrats and abortion rights advocates believe the abortion pill ruling could be particularly harmful to Republicans of all stripes because it underlines the threat to the right to choose even in deep-blue states.

The Justice Department appealed Kacsmaryk’s ruling, calling the decision “extraordinary and unprecedented.”

The Biden administration in its filing with the conservative Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals said the Texas “court’s extraordinary and unprecedented order should” remain on hold while it appeals.

“If allowed to take effect, the court’s order would thwart FDA’s scientific judgment and severely harm women, particularly those for whom mifepristone is a medical or practical necessity,” the Justice Department wrote.

Kacsmaryk’s decision came at nearly the same time a separate federal judge in the state of Washington directed U.S. authorities not to make any changes that would restrict access to the drug in at least 17 states where Democrats had sued.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the use of mifepristone in 2000.

The whiplash of the conflicting court decisions could put the issue on an accelerated path to the Supreme Court.