A CHALLENGE to the US government’s approval of a pill used for abortions is one of the latest high-profile lawsuits to be filed by conservative advocates in a Texas court that essentially guarantees them a sympathetic judge, a one-time Christian activist.
Anti-abortion groups seeking a nationwide ban on the pill sued the Biden administration in November in Amarillo, where a local order assigns 95% of federal civil cases to the lone US district judge there, Matthew Kacsmaryk, an appointee of former Republican President Donald Trump.
Kacsmaryk previously served as deputy general counsel for First Liberty Institute, a Christian conservative legal group that pursues religious-liberty cases, including those he said aimed to “defend unborn human life.”
A standing order allows litigants in his court to avoid the typical US system of randomly drawing a judge from a federal district that includes multiple judges.
“It’s judge shopping on steroids,” said Sarah Lipton-Lubet, executive director of the progressive legal advocacy group Take Back the Court.
Kacsmaryk, whose courthouse has become a favored destination for Republicans seeking to challenge aspects of Democratic President Joe Biden’s agenda, could not be reached for comment.
Since October, Kacsmaryk has blocked an end to Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” immigration program and ruled against Biden administration policies designed to protect LGBTQ people from discrimination in the workplace and doctors’ offices.
He has also ruled for birth control foes, holding in December that allowing minors to obtain free contraception though the Title X federal program without parental consent was unlawful.
Kacsmaryk is currently presiding over a lawsuit filed by the anti-vaccine group Children’s Health Defense and others accusing media companies, including Reuters, of violating federal antitrust laws by working with tech companies to censor information about COVID-19. A Reuters spokesperson has denied the allegations. — Reuters
