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Assclown Alert: Sticking it to Planned Parenthood with Texas Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk

The same judge who tried to outlaw the widely used abortion drug mifepristone is now preparing to hear a dubious legal case that would slap Planned Parenthood with $1.8 billion in fines.

By Sanford Nowlin on Wed, Jun 21, 2023 at 9:23 am

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Jaime Monzon

People march for abortion rights in the streets of downtown San Antonio last year.

Assclown Alert is a column of opinion, analysis and snark.

Anybody remember Trump-appointed anti-abortion, anti-LGTBQ+ rights, anti-birth control Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk?

Yep. He's the federal court judge in Texas who tried to outlaw the widely used abortion drug mifepristone, claiming he knew more about its safety risks than experts at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Even the conservative-dominated Supreme Court saw problems with that and blocked his ruling.

Now, anti-abortion litigants have again sought out Kacsmaryk in hopes he'll do their bidding in another suit that would be handily rejected in virtually any other courtroom.

The recently filed Doe v. Planned Parenthood suit wants to slap Planned Parenthood with up to $1.8 billion in fines and turn over much of that cash to anti-abortion group Center for Medical Progress. Brought by an anonymous anti-abortion activist and backed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, that stiff penalty would be financially devastating to Planned Parenthood.

The litigation makes the absurd claim that Planned Parenthood should have to repay all the money it received for providing care to Medicaid patients in Texas and Louisiana during a time when those states were under federal court orders to continue working with the organization.

No serious judge would consider the possibility that a healthcare organization be pushed to the brink of bankruptcy for engaging in the work it was approved to do under a court order. Then again, Kacsmaryk has repeatedly proven his willingness to rule based on ideological vendettas rather than the law.

Elect an assclown like Trump, expect him to fill the bench with assclowns. As bad as things are now, just imagine the state judiciary if the former Insurrectionist-in-Chief is allowed four more years to sully it with extremist ideologues.

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