Baldwin says Texas judge was part of ‘extreme Republican’ effort to ban abortion

Editor’s note: This article has been updated with a correct photo for Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.).

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) said the Texas judge who ruled against the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of mifepristone is part of an “extreme Republican” effort to ban abortion.

Baldwin told NBC’s Chuck Todd in an interview on “Meet the Press” that will air Sunday that judges, politicians and government should not be able to tell women “what sort of health care they can have.”

“What we have in Texas [is] a judge who was not guided by science, but is part of [an] extreme Republican concerted effort to ban abortion nationwide,” she said.

Baldwin was referring to U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who ruled last week that the FDA improperly rushed the approval process of mifepristone, one of two abortion pills approved for use in the United States more than 20 years ago. He found that the FDA violated federal standards and allowed a dangerous drug regimen to make it to the market.

The Biden administration appealed the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which allowed the pill to remain available but with certain restrictions on access in place. The administration then turned to the Supreme Court, which allowed the status quo to remain until at least Wednesday to give it time to review the government’s request for an emergency stay.

Baldwin said the drug has been proven to be safe and effective since the FDA approved it in 2000, and she does not believe “there should be second guessing of the scientific-based process the FDA” has.

The Wisconsin Democrat said she and other abortion rights advocates will “keep on fighting” to protect abortion rights, using methods like the Women’s Health Protection Act. Baldwin reintroduced the bill along with other Democrats last month to federally protect abortion access after the overturn of Roe v. Wade last year.

“We’re going to keep on fighting to pass that legislation and to stop rogue judges, like the one we have in Texas, from not really basing a decision at all on science, but instead, trying to be a part of this, what I think is an extreme approach to try to ban access to abortion care throughout the country,” she said.

–Updated on April 17 at 5:44 a.m.

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