Anti-abortion judge worried about ‘aesthetic injury’ to anti-abortionists

Abortion medication access won’t immediately change following a Wednesday ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, but it’s still worth paying attention to. If this ruling ever goes into effect, it will significantly reduce access to medication abortion. But a partially dissenting opinion from one judge highlights just how far right-wing judges are willing to go to make their political preferences the law.

The appeals court was looking at the April decision by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk purporting to nullify the Food and Drug Administration’s authorization of the medication mifepristone, part of a two-drug abortion protocol. Two of the three judges on the panel ruled against Kacsmaryk’s complete ban on mifepristone, though they would impose significant limits. The third, though, is another matter.