“Confirmed Judges, Confirmed Fears” is a blog series documenting the harmful impact of President Trump’s judges on Americans’ rights and liberties. It includes judges nominated in both his first and second terms.
Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, nominated by President Trump to the district court for the Northern District of Texas, issued an order that authorizes three states to proceed with a challenge to FDA rules and make it much harder for people nationwide to get access to abortion pills. The January 2025 decision was in Missouri v FDA.
What happened in this case?
In 2023, Kacsmaryk invalidated the approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the abortion pill mifepristone, a decision later reversed on procedural grounds by the Supreme Court. In late 2024, however, the states of Missouri, Idaho, and Kansas filed another lawsuit on the issue, this time seeking to invalidate nationwide FDA rules that have improved access to mifepristone by allowing telehealth prescriptions and other methods.
Even though the case has no specific relationship to Texas or to Amarillo, the three states through their filing tried to intervene in the previous abortion pill case filed in that city, ensuring that the case would be heard by Kacsmaryk. The FDA moved to dismiss the case, and the three states filed a motion to file an amended complaint. The FDA argued that the states’ motion should be denied because it was clearly improper for them to have tried to file their case in Amarillo.
How did Judge Kacsmaryk rule and why is it harmful?
Judge Kacsmaryk granted the three states’ motion, allowing the case to continue in his court. He claimed that the FDA and the Justice Department did not show that the states’ complaint would “surely” fail a motion to dismiss, which he stated must be filed again now that the motion to amend has been granted.
The result is that the states’ efforts to restrict the abortion pill will continue in front of Kacsmaryk. Now that Trump has taken over the Department of Justice, it is uncertain whether DOJ will file a motion to dismiss the states’ case and whether DOJ will continue to resist this latest attack on the abortion pill, seriously harming reproductive rights.
This decision illustrates the importance of our federal courts to health and welfare and the significance of having fair-minded judges on the federal bench.