I Dunno, Judge...

“Pregnancy is not a serious illness,” Judge James Ho said, later adding, “When we celebrated Mother’s Day, were we celebrating illness?” https://t.co/vqD04oY1Fk

— The Hill (@thehill) May 19, 2023

You tell me:

Hospitals in two states denied an abortion to a miscarrying patient -- investigators say they broke federal lawhttps://t.co/mQfXAB6kC2

— Raw Story (@RawStory) May 19, 2023

Mylissa Farmer knew her fetus was dying inside of her. Her water broke less than 18 weeks into her pregnancy last August, and she was desperate for an abortion.

But according to federal documents, during three emergency room visits over two days in Missouri and Kansas, doctors repeatedly gave Farmer the same chilling message: Though there was virtually no chance her fetus would survive and the pregnancy was putting her at high risk for life-threatening complications, there was nothing they could do for her.

Here, by the way, is what Judge Ho was getting at:

Judge James Ho, an appointee of former President Trump, expressed doubts about the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) use of an expedited process to approve mifepristone more than 20 years ago. The accelerated approval process is typically reserved for medications used to treat serious or life-threatening illnesses.

“Pregnancy is not a serious illness,” Ho said, later adding, “When we celebrated Mother’s Day, were we celebrating illness?”

Danco lawyer Jessica Ellsworth rejected this premise, noting that the FDA has used the words “illness,” “condition” and “disease” interchangeably when discussing the rule for expedited approval.

“I agree, your honor, that is the language that is used in the regulation itself,” Ellsworth said. “But as I said, in the preamble and in the discussion of the comments that were submitted in conjunction with that rulemaking, there is discussion about it applying to conditions.”

“It has applied to other things that I think you would not typically think of as a serious illness, like acne and infertility,” she added.

It's clearly a medical condition.  And not all medical conditions are an "illness."  I am treated, and have been for decades now, for hypertension and hypothyroidism.  I don't consider either condition an "illness," especially since both are chronic and incurable.  But they can be treated.

And then there are women whose pregnancies threaten their lives.

One might also add Judge Ho seems to think his definition of "illness" (whatever it is!) should be applied by the FDA.  Sure, Judge, and maybe you want to share with the rest of the class?

Jackass.