Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich blasted a ruling from a Texas judge regarding an abortion pill and said it impacts concerns the county has about protecting women’s health.
Last week, a federal judge halted FDA approval of mifepristone, an abortion drug, according to The Associated Press. The Justice Department has appealed the ruling.
“The judge has absolutely zero qualifications to make that ruling,” Elrich said during a media briefing Wednesday. “This precedent not only puts at risk access to reproductive rights, but also means that any drug on any other health issue could be recalled by our judicial system if a crackpot judge is convinced by people that there’s some reason that it ought to be illegal.”
“This is not the way the medical system works. This is an absolute intrusion of the judicial system into something they have no business intruding in,” he said.
Elrich said the decision not only impacts concerns the county has regarding protecting women’s health but also economic impacts for life science communities and the economy.
“We are home to FDA, many of our residents, businesses work in this industry that save countless lives through science and innovation. This is clearly judicial activism of the most unprecedented nature from a group that’s hellbent on controlling people’s personal health choices,” he said.
Elrich also spoke out regarding two Black lawmakers who were expelled from their seats in Tennessee. He said the expulsion was “just appalling in its brazenness.” Both have since been reinstated.
