Washington — A lawsuit challenging the abortion pill filed by anti-abortion rights advocates in federal court in Texas has put the spotlight on the judge assigned to the case and his record on hot-button issues.
The judge, Matthew Kacsmaryk, was nominated to the U.S. District Court in Amarillo first in 2017 and again in 2019 by former President Donald Trump. He was confirmed by the Senate in a nearly party-line vote, with one Republican, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, opposing his nomination.
Since taking his seat on the federal bench, Kacsmaryk has presided over a number of cases challenging President Biden’s policies on immigration, LGBTQ rights and abortion access. But it is the court fight over the Food and Drug Administration’s approval in 2000 of the abortion drug, mifepristone, that has renewed scrutiny of his record.
The lawsuit was filed in November by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal group, on behalf of physicians and medical associations, which argue the FDA erred in approving mifepristone more than 20 years ago. The groups have asked Kacsmaryk to order the agency to withdraw its approval of the abortion pill, a move that could have broad implications for abortion access nationwide, even in states that protect reproductive rights.
The Biden administration is urging the court to reject the request for a preliminary injunction, telling Kacsmaryk in court filings that the groups waited too long to file their suit, and limiting access to mifepristone would lead to worse health outcomes for patients.
Medication abortions have become more common over the years, accounting for more than half of all abortions in the U.S. in 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Kacsmaryk is the only judge in the Amarillo Division of the Northern District of Texas, and the decision by the medical associations to file their case there has led to accusations they engaged in forum-shopping, a practice in which a party will pursue a claim in the court most likely to be favorable to them.
“The plaintiffs who have no legitimate standing have hand-picked him to hear this case that has no merit because they know what they’re getting with Judge Kacsmaryk,” Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, said in a Senate floor speech last month.
A message left with Kacsmaryk’s chambers was not immediately returned.