AMARILO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) — Amarillo federal court is scheduled to hold a hearing Wednesday morning on a motion for preliminary injunction in abortion-related litigation in Amarillo.
U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk for the Northern District of Texas for the District of Amarillo will appear in Amarillo federal court at 9 a.m. Wednesday, according to documents filed Monday afternoon. Hear Oral Argument on Plaintiffs Motion for Preliminary Injunction.
As previously reported, the Amarillo-based nonprofit Hippocratic Medical Union, along with a group of doctors and other associations, filed a lawsuit against the FDA in Amarillo federal court over the use of mifepristone, or Mifeprex, and Misoprostol for chemical abortion.
Each side was allotted two hours to argue their respective positions in the case, the document states. Kacsmaryk said parties “should be prepared to discuss, explain and argue any issues raised in the briefing, including but not limited to:”
- Status: association, organization, area of interest;
- Censorability: The Doctrine of Reopening, Heckler v. Chaney, Exhaustion;
- Subsection H: History, Text, Applicability and Implementation;
- Agency decisions: restrictions, labelling, elements and conditions;
- Harm: irreparable, respect and third-party interests;
- Public interest: public health; police powers and FDA decision-making;
- Remedy: Injunction, Revocation, Revocation and/or Suspension.
How did we get here?
The plaintiffs in the case are asking Kacsmaryk to suspend the US FDA’s approval of the treatment and/or remove safeguards surrounding the use of the treatment they claim was canceled. Defendants responded at the time that the treatment was effective and safe, had been so since it was first approved for sale in 2000, and how it continued to be used under modified conditions.
Since the initial complaint, the two sides have debated whether an injunction hearing and trial should be kept together. According to previous reportsKacsmaryk ruled in late February that the injunction hearing and trial would be separate, explaining that it is generally inappropriate for a federal court to make a final judgment on the merits of a case at the preliminary injunction stage.
Monday’s filing follows objections from a group of media outlets, including NBCUniversal News Corp., which owns KAMR Local 4 News. Litigation Related to Abortion in Amarillo federal courthouse.This objection is Related to an article in the Washington Postwhich was released on Sunday, alleges that Kacsmaryk said on a conference call that a hearing on the case, scheduled for Wednesday, would not be on the agenda until later on Tuesday, “to minimize disruption and possible protests. ”
What did the objection say?
Several media outlets, including The Washington Post, NBC Universal News Corp., Gannett Co. and ProPublica, Inc., “objected to the court’s delay of the upcoming hearing in this case and its The parties are asked not to release the hearing schedule until it is scheduled…”
Through this dissent, the media group is urging the court to “immediately record notice of the hearing reportedly scheduled for Wednesday … and to promptly record notice of further litigation in this case in the future.” The delay in notice is unconstitutional, the filing reads, limiting increased public and press understanding of the proceedings.
“Across the ideological spectrum, there was a great deal of public interest in the case,” the filing read. “The court’s delay in recording Wednesday’s hearing notice and its request that the parties and their attorneys refrain from publicly disclosing the hearing schedule harms everyone, including those who support the plaintiff’s position and those who support the defendant’s position.”
The objections went on to say that while there were concerns about security, they said there was no reason to believe that existing security plans were insufficient to protect those at the hearing, as well as court staff.
