Those following the news know that a federal judge in Texas recently ruled that the abortion drug mifeprestone, currently in wide use in the U.S., was not properly approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and therefore is banned from the market nationwide. At the same time a federal judge in Washington state ruled that mifeprestone must remain available. These conflicting ruling caused the Texas case to go up on emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. There the court ruled that the drug can remain available for now without restrictions until the Court of Appeals in Texas considers the U.S. Government’s appeal of the lower court ruling.

This case really isn’t about the FDA or its approval process. As we all know, it’s a power play by the anti-abortion crowd, which includes the Texas judge, a Trump appointee who has been outspoken on the issue before being appointed. To be fair, they see any and all abortions to be baby murder and feel morally justified in any actions that stop it, even if that involves breaking the law, or ignoring democratic fairness. Polls show about 70% of Americans want mifeprestone to remain available. Abortion is legal in most states, but many so-called “red” states have been passing laws banning it altogether or with severe restrictions. These legislatures are comprised largely of older white men.

My wife has come up with a solution. She has suggested that some “blue” state should sue the FDA to ban Viagra and other erectile dysfunction pills. The same approval process was used by the FDA in both cases. When Viagra is thus banned, the courts can and should lump the cases together on appeal to decide the FDA’s powers and the court’s authority to overrule them. I believe that as soon as that happens, all those red states will drop their objections to mifeprestone.