Judge Bans Abortion Pill - Latest Legal Attack on Abortion Rights

WASHINGTON - April 7, 2023 - PRLog -- Matthew J. Kacsmaryk, a federal judge in Texas with long-held anti-abortion views, has blocked FDA approval of mifepristone, a key abortion medication first cleared from use in the U.S. in 2000.

This is only the latest legal attack on abortion rights, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf, who has won over 100 cases protecting women's rights.  Here are some examples.

A bill introduced by almost two dozen South Carolina legislators would redefine "person" under the state's criminal law to include a human fertilized egg, with the result that a pregnant woman who underwent an abortion - as well as those who performed it or otherwise assisted - could (although there are limited exceptions) be charged with murder and possibly even face the death penalty.

This is only one of several new and emerging legal strategies to eliminate - or at least severely limit - abortions, including even in states where such procedures are legal, notes public interest law professor John Banzhaf, who has predicted and chronicled these new strategies.

For example, just days ago activists sued three friends who helped a woman obtain abortion pills to end her pregnancy.  The theory of this lawsuit, filed in Texas, is that abortion constitutes murder under an abortion ban, so that a father can bring a civil wrongful death action against anyone who aided his ex-wife to cause her own abortion by taking pills.

If successful, such lawsuits could slash abortions in states where abortions are now prohibited but women avoid the ban by using pills, says Banzhaf, noting that there are several other novel lawsuits also being brought by anti-abortion activists which have largely avoided attention by pro-choice advocates.  being forced to pay over $1 million in damages."

With so much effort and attention now being focused on blocking proposed legislation which would severely restrict abortions, it's not surprising that abortion rights advocates have largely not yet focused on three other new emerging legal threats to reproductive freedom and the rights of women, says lawyer John Banzhaf, who has won over 100 legal actions battling discrimination against women.

For this reason, Banzhaf has authored an analysis of these new legal threats:
(1) fetal personhood laws and bills,
(2) lawsuits brought on behalf of the estates of fetuses which were aborted, and
(3) lawsuits purporting to be on behalf of a living fetus against the still-pregnant woman

All of this is explained and analyzed in a comprehensive legal report by Professor Banzhaf published on Law&Crime entitled:
How Fetal Personhood and Fetal Estate Lawsuits Threaten Abortion Rights (https://beta.lawandcrime.com/opinion/how-fetal-personhood...)

http://banzhaf.net/   jbanzhaf3ATgmail.com   @profbanzhaf