President Biden announces he’s running for reelection – see video!

Dear Commons Community,

President Biden is running for reelection. He made it official in a video released this morning, exactly four years after he tossed his hat into the 2020 race.

In the three-minute video, Mr. Biden repeated familiar themes, saying, “When I ran for President four years ago, I said we are in a battle for the soul of America – and we still are. The question we are facing is whether in the years ahead we have more freedom or less freedom, more rights or fewer. I know what I want the answer to be. This is not a time to be complacent. That’s why I’m running for reelection.”

Over images of the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol and such Republicans as former President Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the president said, “MAGA extremists are lining up to take on … bedrock freedoms.”

The announcement comes after months of debate among the president’s closest aides and allies and across the Democratic Party. While many Democratic leaders and activists expected Mr. Biden to announce his campaign shortly after the year began, party leaders were anticipating the president would wait until at least the summer, enabling him to continue touting his agenda while Republicans on Capitol Hill squabbled over issues like raising the federal debt limit and as GOP presidential candidates continued sparring in early primary states. The recent indictment of former President Donald Trump also encouraged Democratic Party leaders, who believed Mr. Biden didn’t need to rush with his top potential Republican opponent facing legal peril.

The president’s campaign is expected to host major campaign donors in Washington this week, with an event including the president on Friday and continuing during the day on Saturday. Top administration officials, including some Cabinet secretaries, will brief donors, according to multiple Democrats familiar with the plans. One of the Democrats said they were invited by way of a phone call — no written invitation is being circulated in order to keep details of the gathering more discreet. 

The retreat coincides with the weekend of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, when many top party donors from New York and the West Coast are already scheduled to be in town for various events and the dinner itself.

Should he win the presidency, Mr. Biden, now 80, would be 82 years old at the beginning of a second term and 86 by the end of it. He is already the oldest person ever to win the presidency.

Mr. Biden will run with significant legislative achievements, but even so, high inflation is still hurting American budgets and there is a special counsel investigation into the discovery of classified documents at his former private office and Wilmington home. The announcement also comes as Democrats and Republicans appear to be in a stalemate over how to raise the debt ceiling before the nation risks a potentially catastrophic default. 

We wish him well!

Tony

President Biden honors nation’s teachers: Says teaching should not be ‘life-threatening’ job!

President Joe Biden, accompanied by first lady Jill Biden, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and Rebecka Peterson, 2023 National Teacher of the Year, right, walks from the Oval Office to attend a ceremony honoring the Council of Chief State School Officers' 2023 Teachers of the Year in the Rose Garden of the White House, Monday, April 24, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

President Joe Biden, accompanied by first lady Jill Biden, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and Rebecka Peterson, 2023 National Teacher of the Year, right, walks from the Oval Office to attend a ceremony honoring the Council of Chief State School Officers’ 2023 Teachers of the Year in the Rose Garden of the White House, Monday, April 24, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Dear Commons Community,

President Joe Biden honored the nation’s best teachers yesterday, saying they go above and beyond by providing food and supplies out of their own pockets and often find themselves “explaining the unexplainable, from banned books to duck-and-cover drills.”

“Teaching should not be a life-threatening profession,” Biden said, referencing deadly school shootings that plague the United States. “And educators should not need to be armed to feel safe in the classroom.”

He spoke at a Rose Garden event that honored the Council of Chief State School Officers’ 2023 teachers of the year from each state. Tulsa, Oklahoma, math teacher Rebecka Peterson was named overall teacher of the year.

Biden spoke of the challenges of the modern-day teacher, including gun violence and a growing movement from the right to ban books in classrooms, particularly those that reference gender and sexual identity. Attempted book bans hit an all-time high in 2022.  As reported by the Associated Press.

“I never thought, as a student of history, I’d be a president that’s fighting against elected officials banning books,” he said. “Empty shelves don’t help kids learn very much.” He said parents and teachers should stand up against ”politicians who try to score political points by banning books.”

Bills facilitating the restriction of books have been proposed or passed in Arizona, Iowa, Texas, Missouri and Oklahoma, among other states. In Florida, where Gov. Ron DeSantis has approved laws to review reading materials and limit classroom discussion of gender identity and race, books pulled indefinitely or temporarily include John Green’s “Looking for Alaska,” Colleen Hoover’s “Hopeless,” Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel “The Handmaid’s Tale” and Grace Lin’s picture story “Dim Sum for Everyone!”

Peterson, the teacher of the year, spoke of how she works to lift up her students and how she hopes the profession can bring people together. At Tulsa’s Union High School, she runs the blog “One Good Thing,” where she posts something good from her classroom every day, hoping to inspire her students to reflect on joy.

“In the end, maybe we’re all — all of us — just walking each other home,” she said in a speech that referenced her Swedish and Iranian heritage. She became a U.S. citizen when she was 20 and said her immigrant view helps her see the beauty in the nation.

“I teach because it gives me life to offer the American Dream to the next generation,” she said.

BRAVA!

Tony

Don Lemon out at CNN!

Don Lemon fired from CNN, two months after Nikki Haley comments

Dear Commons Community,

Longtime CNN host Don Lemon is out at the cable news network a little over two months after apologizing to viewers for on-air comments about Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, CNN announced yesterday

“CNN and Don have parted ways,” CNN chair and CEO Chris Licht said in a memo to staff that was also posted on the network’s communications Twitter account yesterday. “Don will forever be a part of the CNN family, and we thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years. We wish him well and will be cheering him on in his future endeavors.”

CNN did not provide a public explanation for Lemon’s departure. But on the “CNN This Morning” own Twitter account, Lemon contended the news came as a surprise to him and characterized it as a firing. He had appeared on his show that morning. As reported by the Associated Press.

“I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been terminated by CNN. I am stunned,” he wrote in a statement posted shortly after 12 p.m. Eastern. “After 17 years at CNN I would have thought that someone in management would have the decency to tell me directly. At no time was I ever given any indication that I would not be able to continue to do the work I have loved at the network.”

Around 45 minutes later, CNN issued a rebuttal on its PR account: “Don Lemon’s statement about this morning’s events is inaccurate. He was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter.”

Lemon’s ouster came the same day that Fox News announced it was abruptly parting ways with its most popular host, conservative personality Tucker Carlson.

In mid-February, Lemon caused an uproar when, during a discussion on “CNN This Morning” with co-hosts Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins about the ages of politicians, he said that the 51-year-old Haley was not “in her prime.” A woman, he said, was considered in her prime “in her 20s, 30s and maybe her 40s.”

Harlow challenged Lemon, trying to clarify what he was referencing: “I think we need to qualify. Are you talking about prime for childbearing or are you talking about prime for being president?”

“Don’t shoot the messenger, I’m just saying what the facts are,” Lemon responded. He brought up the subject again an hour later, and was rebutted by commentator Audie Cornish.

Lemon issued a statement the same day saying he regretted his “inartful and irrelevant” comments. He was subsequently absent from the show for three days, returning the following week with a tweeted apology but no mention of the episode on air.

Licht told staffers in a memo at the time that Lemon would undergo “formal training,” but did not specify what that would entail. Licht added that it was important to him that the network “balances accountability with … fostering a culture in which people can own, learn and grow from their mistakes.”

Lemon used to host the prime-time “Don Lemon Tonight” but moved to the mornings when the network launched “CNN This Morning” last November, just before the U.S. midterm elections, as one of the first major programming moves under Licht. But the show hasn’t had the intended ratings effect, and CNN leadership urged patience last month amid downturn in viewership across the board.

Haley, who had criticized Lemon’s statements as sexist and used the incident to fund-raise in February, took to Twitter on Monday to call Lemon’s ouster “a great day for women everywhere.”

Lemon’s ouster was predictable.  There were too many incidents past and present.

Tony

Tucker Carlson ousted at Fox News following network’s Dominion’s $787 million settlement!

What to know about Tucker Carlson's exit from Fox News

Dear Commons Community,

In a four-sentence statement, Fox News announced yesterday that prime-time star Tucker Carlson is leaving the network, effective immediately.

“FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways,” the network said in a statement released by a spokesperson. “We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.”

Fox said Carlson’s last day hosting his show was Friday, April 21. Yet on Monday morning after Fox released its statement, the network was still promoting an interview between Carlson and presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy that was to have aired later that night.

Carlson had signed off of Friday’s show by wishing viewers the “best weekend” and telling them he’d be back on Monday. He did not respond to a request for comment from NPR.

The ouster of Fox’s top opinion host comes less than a week after Fox settled an epic defamation lawsuit by an election technology company for more than $787 million. Dominion Voting Systems sued over segments promoting bogus claims that election fraud cheated then-President Donald Trump of victory in 2020.

Carlson featured in Dominion Voting Systems’ lawsuit. Yet he is also the focus of a lawsuit from his former senior booking producer, Abby Grossberg, who filed two separate suits.

In a lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York, Grossberg accused Carlson and Fox of sexism and harassment, alleging that his show’s workplace was replete with examples of misogyny. Her lawsuit claims, among other things, that mocked-up photographic images depicted then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “in a bathing suit revealing her cleavage” and that staffers were polled — on two separate occasions — on which of two female candidates for Michigan governor they would rather have sex with.

“Tucker Carlson’s departure from Fox News is, in part, an admission of the systemic lying, bullying, and conspiracy-mongering claimed by our client,” said Tanvir Rahman, one of Grossberg’s lawyers, in a statement Monday afternoon. “Mr. Carlson and his subordinates remain individual defendants in the S.D.N.Y. case and we look forward to taking their depositions under oath in the very near term.”

Grossberg’s other lawsuit, filed in Delaware, focuses on the actions of Fox’s legal team. She says the attorneys pressured her to lie in her sworn statements for the defamation case about what she witnessed at the network.

Fox vigorously denied the accusations against its lawyers. It fired Grossberg after she filed her suits, alleging that she disclosed privileged information amid the defamation litigation that she was not legally entitled to make public.

“This is a step towards accountability for the election lies and baseless conspiracy theories spread by Fox News, something I witnessed firsthand,” said Grossberg in the statement about Carlson’s ouster. “This is some justice for the American people and for Fox News viewers who’ve been manipulated and lied to for years, all in an attempt to boost the channel’s ratings and revenue.”

Documents made public before the settlement with Dominion Voting Systems reveal a clear divide between what Carlson said on air and behind the scenes. On his show, he raised skeptical questions over the lack of evidence for assertions made by a key Trump ally, Sidney Powell. In January 2021, however, he hosted a leading advertiser, My Pillow founder Mike Lindell, who repeated the false claims once more. In his private communications to a colleague, Carlson called Powell an exceptionally vulgar and denigrating term for a woman.

Fox says a rotating cast of personalities will fill in during the prime-time slot until the network names a permanent replacement.

Carlson was by far the network’s most prominent personality, stepping in smoothly to replace former star host Bill O’Reilly after a series of sexual harassment allegations forced his departure. (O’Reilly has denied those accusations.)

Carlson has also established a major footprint at Fox Nation, its streaming site that caters to an even more pronounced right-wing sensibility.

Despite his shocking departure, Carlson had endured more controversies than most cable news stars could hope to survive professionally. In July 2020, his top writer was forced out after it was discovered he had posted racist, sexist and homophobic commentaries. Last month, the Daily Dot found that one of Carlson’s staffers had the habit of “liking” posts from VDare, a site for white nationalists.

His show has been condemned by civil rights leaders for broadcasting racist, antisemitic and anti-immigrant ideology.

His work on his show — accentuated by specials on the streaming service — also sparked a firestorm by seeking to exonerate people who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, siege of the U.S. Capitol as civic-minded people who were being politically persecuted.

That contributed to the decision by several prominent Fox figures to depart — including Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace and conservative commentators Steve Hayes and Jonah Goldberg.

Good riddance to Carlson whose forte was to use lies to enrage his viewers!

Tony

 

30 northern US states might be able to see the northern lights tonight!

An aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, is seen in the night sky on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023, near Washtucna, Wash.

An aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, as seen in the night sky on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023, near Washtucna, Wash.

Dear Commons Community,

USA Today is reporting that it could be a colorful night sky for people in the northern U.S. as the aurora borealis, or northern lights, could make an appearance in more than half of the country.

The possibility of seeing the dazzling display comes after the sun had a solar flare erupt on Friday that was directed toward Earth, according to the NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center. As a result, 30 states may have the chance to see the aurora borealis, stretching from Washington to Maine, and as far south as Kansas, the Space Weather Watch says, as long as weather conditions permit.

“All in all, you can anticipate good conditions for auroral displays,” EarthSky said.

Where will the northern lights appear?

The northern lights will be possible to see in 30 states, depending on weather conditions like cloud coverage.

“Aurora viewing is likely in the United States tonight (04/24/23) as Earth is impacted by a strong solar storm. The most favorable cloud conditions look to be over the Midwest, Plains and parts of the Great Lakes and less favorable conditions in the Northeast and Northwest,” the Space Watch said.

Here’s the states where it’ll be possible to see the northern lights Sunday night:

  • Washington
  • Oregon
  • Idaho
  • Montana
  • Wyoming
  • Utah
  • Colorado
  • North Dakota
  • South Dakota
  • Nebraska
  • Kansas
  • Minnesota
  • Iowa
  • Missouri
  • Wisconsin
  • Illinois
  • Michigan
  • Indiana
  • Ohio
  • Kentucky
  • West Virginia
  • Pennsylvania
  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • Massachusetts
  • Connecticut
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont
  • New Hampshire
  • Maine

“Chances for aurora may be as far south as California, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Alabama, etc. if the storms hold in intensity headed into this evening, otherwise, a good portion of the U.S. should still have a chance to see something,” the Space Weather Watch said.

What time will the northern lights appear?

The NOAA says the best time to see the northern lights is between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time. At that time, officials advise people to get away from the glow of city lights.

Let’s hope for clear skies!

Tony

Fox News’ Howard Kurtz Admits Dominion Case Has Been ‘Embarrassing’

Howard Kurtz | Fox News

Howard Kurtz

Dear Commons Community,

Yesterday morning, I watched Fox News’ Media Buzz featuring Howard Kurtz.  In a summary of the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit, Kurtz  admitted the case was “embarrassing” for the right-wing network after defending Fox News’ coverage of the trial and accusing other news outlets of siding against it.

“The overwhelming majority of media outlets were strongly against Fox, and therefore were aiding Dominion,” he said.

As evidence, he cited reports in media outlets such as Politico, the New York Times and the Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal that said the outcome was a disappointment. (Many media commentators and onlookers have expressed dismay over the $787.5 million settlement after Fox News was not forced to apologize for amplifying lies about the 2020 election and only vaguely admitted it had broadcast falsehoods).

Kurtz, the network’s media expert, also made a point of noting that he had covered the lawsuit. In February, Kurtz had told viewers the network had barred him from reporting on it, but that rule appeared to change in the lead-up to last week’s scheduled trial.He called reporting that accused Fox News of ignoring the trial on air “just false,” arguing that “I’ve been covering it for weeks.”  [I would say that Kurtz and Fox News minimally covered the lawsuit.]

A Washington Post analysis of the network’s coverage of the trial found “only a handful of Fox programs discussed the lawsuit’s blockbuster conclusion at all.”

Kurtz also summarized the part of Fox News’ statement that read: “We acknowledge the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false.” According to Kurtz, this statement recognized that the network had broadcast falsehoods.

“I said Fox had acknowledged in its statement Judge Eric Davis’ findings that some on-air comments about Dominion were false,” he said. “And that Dominion CEO, with more pejorative terms, told reporters that Fox had lied.”

“Now this is important because Donald Trump insisted and continues to say without proof almost two and a half years later that the election was rigged against him,” he added.

He admitted that “it’s been embarrassing” seeing “the gap” between what certain Fox News hosts were saying publicly and privately about the 2020 election. Private correspondence unearthed during the lawsuit revealed top Fox News talent and executives were skeptical of the claims they were allowing Trump allies to spread on air.

And though Kurtz said the network had “taken a hit in the court of public opinion,” he wondered: “What’s been the impact of this difficult chapter on Fox News? It was last week, once again, the highest-rated network on basic cable.”

His last comment is  telling and supports the attitude that ratings and profits are all that Fox News cares about.  Truth be damned!

Tony

Chris Christie Slams “The Donald” – A Trump rerun would be worse than the original show!

 

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie slammed Donald Trump on Thursday, sounding like the prosecutor he once was and the presidential candidate he might become again.

“Tonight is the beginning of the case against Donald Trump,” Christie said in New Hampshire, where he devoted his entire opening remarks at a town hall meeting to pounding on the former president he once supported.

“You’re not going to beat someone by closing your eyes, clicking your heels together three times and saying, ‘There’s no place like home.’ That’s not going to work,” he said. “In American politics you want to beat somebody? You have to go get them.”  As reported by the Associated Press.

Christie called out several Republican candidates and potential candidates — including former Vice President Mike Pence and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley — for barely uttering Trump’s name and argued that Trump’s policy and character failures would only grow if he returns to office.

“Donald Trump is a TV star, nothing more, nothing less,” he said. “Let me suggest to you that in putting him back in the White House, the reruns will be worse than the original show.”

As he nears a decision on his own campaign, Christie is spending two days in the state where he finished sixth place in the 2016 GOP primary. He endorsed Trump soon after dropping out of that year’s race and later worked on his presidential transition team. In 2020, he worked with Trump on his debate prep against Joe Biden but broke with Trump after he refused to accept his loss of the election and spurred the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Since then, Christie has emerged as one of the few prominent GOP Trump critics, largely via his position as an ABC political analyst.

He said Thursday he won’t stand by and let Trump win.

“If I decide to run, I’ll be able to try to do something directly about it. And if I don’t, then I’ll be still on ABC-TV every Sunday,” he said.

Run, Christie, Run!

Tony

Gayle King and Charles Barkley to Host New Live CNN Prime-Time Show!

Gayle King Charles Barkley

Gayle King And Charles Barkley

Dear Commons Community,

It was announced yesterday that TV journalist, Gayle King, and NBA Hall of Famer, Charles  Barkley, will co-host a weekly live show on CNN on Wednesdays titled “King Charles.”

King and Barkley discussed their new show during an appearance on “NBA Tip-off,” a TNT show Barkley co-hosts.

The former NBA player said he wants the show to be “nonpolitical,” although he and King clarified that they would discuss politics, along with other topics, such as pop culture and food.

“We don’t want to say ‘we’re a liberal, conservative, Republican, Democrat,’ that’s one of the things that’s already ruined television in general,” he said. “I know she’s going to be a straight shooter, you know I’m going to be a straight shooter.”

Barkley later added, “I know she’s going to be fair and honest, and you know I’m going to do the same thing.”

King said she wants conversations on the show to have “decorum and courtesy and kindness.”

She added: “Everybody I know has an opinion about something. I just think we have to figure out a way to have a good conversation without tearing each other down. And I think that we can do that.”

King will keep her current position as a co-host on “CBS This Morning,” and Barkley will continue his hosting job on TNT.

“King Charles” is set to debut this fall.

Good luck to King and Barkley with the new show. Two interesting celebrities!

Tony

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey ousts education director over ‘woke’ training book!

Gov. Kay Ivey renounces pre-k educator resource book, ADECE secretary  resigns

Kay Ivey and Barbara Cooper

Dear Commons Community,

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced yesterday she replaced, Barbara Cooper,  the director of early childhood education, over the use of a teacher training book, written by a nationally recognized education group, that the Republican governor denounced as teaching “woke concepts” because of language about inclusion and structural racism.

Cooper was forced out as as head of the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education after Ivey expressed concern over the distribution of the book to state-run pre-kindergartens. Ivey spokesperson Gina Maiola identified the book as the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Developmentally Appropriate Practice Book, 4th edition. Maiola said she understands that the books have been removed from the state classrooms.  As reported by the Associated Press.

“The education of Alabama’s children is my top priority as governor, and there is absolutely no room to distract or take away from this mission. Let me be crystal clear: Woke concepts that have zero to do with a proper education and that are divisive at the core have no place in Alabama classrooms at any age level, let alone with our youngest learners,” Ivey said in a statement.

Ivey’s statement comes as conservative politicians have made a rallying cry out of decrying so-called “woke” teachings, with schools sometimes emerging as a flashpoint over diversity training and parents’ rights.

The governor’s office said Ivey first asked Cooper to “send a memo to disavow this book and to immediately discontinue its use.” Ivey’s office did not say how Cooper responded but that the governor made the decision to replace Cooper and accepted her resignation. Cooper could not immediately be reached for comment.

The book is a guide for early childhood educators. It is not a curriculum taught to children.

The governor’s office, in a press release, cited two examples from the book — one discussing white privilege and that “the United States is built on systemic and structural racism” and another that Ivey’s office claimed teaches LGBTQ+ inclusion to 4-year-olds. Those sections, according to a copy of the 881-page book obtained by The Associated Press, discuss combating bias and making sure that all children feel welcome.

“Early childhood programs also serve and welcome families that represent many compositions. Children from all families (e.g., single parent, grandparent-led, foster, LGBTQIA+) need to hear and see messages that promote equality, dignity, and worth,” the book states.

The section on structural racism states that “systemic and structural racism … has permeated every institution and system through policies and practices that position people of color in oppressive, repressive, and menial positions. The early education system is not immune to these forces.” It says preschool is one place where children “begin to see how they are represented in society” and that the classroom should be a place of “affirmation and healing.”

NAEYC is a national accrediting board that works to provide high-quality education materials and resources for young children. In an emailed response to The Associated Press, the group did not address Ivey’s statements but said the book is a research-based resource for educators.

“For nearly four decades, and in partnership with hundreds of thousands of families and educators, Developmentally Appropriate Practice has served as the foundation for high-quality early childhood education across all states and communities. While not a curriculum, it is a responsive, educator-developed, educator-informed, and research-based resource that has been honed over multiple generations to support teachers in helping all children thrive and reach their full potential,” the statement read.

Cooper is a member of the NAEYC board. In a previously published statement on the organization’s website about the latest edition of the book, Cooper said that book teaches, “applicable skills for teaching through developmentally appropriate practices that build brains during the critical first five years of life.”

Alabama’s First Class voluntary pre-kindergarten programs operates more than 1,400 classrooms across the state. The program has won high ratings from the National Institute for Early Education Research.

What insanity!

Tony

 

US Supreme Court preserves access to abortion pill, Mifepristone, for now!

Supreme Court preserves access to abortion pill for now - ABC News

Dear Commons Community,

The US  Supreme Court yesterday preserved women’s access to Mifepristone, the drug long used as the most common method of abortion.  In doing so, the Court  rejected lower-court restrictions while a lawsuit continues.

The justices granted emergency requests from the Biden administration and New York-based Danco Laboratories, maker of mifepristone. They are appealing a lower court ruling that would roll back Food and Drug Administration approval of the drug.

The drug has been approved for use in the U.S. since 2000 and more than 5 million people have used it. Mifepristone is used in combination with a second drug, misoprostol, in more than half of all abortions in the U.S.  As reported by the Associated Press.

The court’s action yesterday almost certainly will leave access to mifepristone unchanged at least into next year, as appeals play out, including a potential appeal to the high court.

Justices Samuel Alito, the author of last year’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, and Clarence Thomas voted to allow restrictions to take effect. The other seven justices (Sonia Sotomayor, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., Elena Kagan, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil M. Gorsuch, Brett M. Kavanaugh, and Ketanji Brown Jackson) voted not to allow.  

The justices weighed arguments that allowing restrictions contained in lower-court rulings to take effect would severely disrupt the availability of mifepristone.

The Supreme Court had initially said it would decide by Wednesday whether the restrictions could take effect while the case continues. A one-sentence order signed by Alito on Wednesday gave the justices two additional days, without explanation.

The challenge to mifepristone, brought by abortion foes, is the first abortion controversy to reach the nation’s highest court since its conservative majority overturned Roe v. Wade 10 months ago and allowed more than a dozen states to effectively ban abortion outright.

In his majority opinion last June, Alito said one reason for overturning Roe was to remove federal courts from the abortion fight. “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives,” he wrote.

But even with their court victory, abortion opponents returned to federal court with a new target: medication abortions, which make up more than half of all abortions in the United States.

Women seeking to end their pregnancies in the first 10 weeks without more invasive surgical abortion can take mifepristone, along with misoprostol. The FDA has eased the terms of mifepristone’s use over the years, including allowing it to be sent through the mail in states that allow access.

The abortion opponents filed suit in Texas in November, asserting that the FDA’s original approval of mifepristone 23 years ago and subsequent changes were flawed.

They won a ruling on April 7 by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, revoking FDA approval of mifepristone. The judge gave the Biden administration and Danco Laboratories a week to appeal and seek to keep his ruling on hold.

Responding to a quick appeal, two more Trump appointees on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the FDA’s original approval would stand for now. But Judges Andrew Oldham and Kurt Englehardt said most of the rest of Kacsmaryk’s ruling could take effect while the case winds through federal courts.

Their ruling would effectively nullify changes made by the FDA starting in 2016, including extending from seven to 10 weeks of pregnancy when mifepristone can be safely used. The court also said that the drug can’t be mailed or dispensed as a generic and that patients who seek it need to make three in-person visits with a doctor. Women also might be required to take a higher dosage of the drug than the FDA says is necessary.

The administration and Danco have said that chaos would ensue if those restrictions were to take effect while the case proceeds. Potentially adding to the confusion, a federal judge in Washington has ordered the FDA to preserve access to mifepristone under the current rules in 17 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia that filed a separate lawsuit.

The Biden administration has said the rulings conflict and create an untenable situation for the FDA.

And a new legal wrinkle threatened even more complications. GenBioPro, which makes the generic version of mifepristone, filed a lawsuit Wednesday to preemptively block the FDA from removing its drug from the market, in the event that the Supreme Court doesn’t intervene.

The Supreme Court was only being asked to block the lower-court rulings through the end of the legal case.

The New Orleans-based 5th circuit already has ordered an accelerated schedule for hearing the case, with arguments set for May 17. The court gave no timetable for a ruling.

Any appeal to the Supreme Court would follow within three months of a ruling, but with no deadline for the justices to decide whether to review the case.

A temporary reprieve.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out with the conservative leaning justices – John G. Roberts, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil M. Gorsuch, and Brett M. Kavanaugh.

Tony