WASHINGTON (OSV News) — This week in Washington, the U.S. Supreme Court said it would take up a case concerning the abortion pill, the first major case involving abortion on its docket since the high court overturned its previous abortion precedent last year. Also this week, the House moved to formalize an impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden, and negotiations among lawmakers on a bill to provide aid to two U.S. allies are leading to compromises that put some Catholic priorities in conflict.
Supreme Court agrees to review legal challenge to abortion pill
A coalition of pro-life opponents of mifepristone, which is the first of two drugs used in a medication or chemical abortion, originally filed the suit that is now before the Supreme Court in an effort to revoke the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the drug, arguing the government violated its own safety standards when it first approved the drug in 2000.
The FDA has argued the abortion drug poses little risk to the mother’s life in the early weeks of pregnancy.
A federal judge in Texas ruled April 7 to suspend the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, but that ruling was later blocked by the Supreme Court, which left the abortion pill on the market while litigation proceeds.
In taking the case, justices indicated their review would be of the lower court’s ruling, not the FDA’s initial approval of the drug in 2000, as they did not take up the challengers’ petition for review on that decision.
The timing of the abortion pill case could result in the court issuing its decision next summer amid the 2024 presidential campaign.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a Dec. 13 statement by USCCB spokesperson Chieko Noguchi saying the “destruction of innocent human lives and the loosening of vital safety standards for vulnerable women through the use of the abortion pill is not the answer.” Noting the Catholic Church’s consistent “teaching on upholding the dignity of all life,” she said, “We need to put women and families first, serve women in need, and pray for the day when ending the lives of preborn children will become unthinkable.”
White House’s offer on border deal for Ukraine aid alarms migrant advocates
The U.S. Senate will continue its negotiations on an emergency aid bill for Ukraine and Israel next week as Republicans seek changes to U.S.-Mexico border policy, as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters he plans to hold a vote on the matter before Christmas.
CBS News reported that the Biden administration on Dec. 12 told congressional lawmakers that it would be willing to support a new border authority to expel migrants without asylum screenings, as well as increases to the detention and deportations of migrants, in order to provide defense and humanitarian aid to the two U.S. allies.
The bill puts some Catholic priorities at odds, as some Catholic immigration activists have raised alarm about the potential changes to border policy, while some Catholics have called for aiding Ukraine’s defense to fend off Russia’s invasion — noting the Catholic Church is already facing persecution in Russian-occupied Ukraine.
Negotiations among lawmakers are ongoing, but the White House is seeking a deal before the end of the year when aid to Ukraine runs out.
“The proposals on the table, taken together, would make it virtually impossible for a person to receive protection from persecution in the U.S.,” J. Kevin Appleby, senior fellow for policy at the Center for Migration Studies of New York and the former director of migration policy for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told OSV News, adding, “Many lives would be placed in jeopardy by these changes.”
In a joint White House press conference Dec. 12 with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin “is banking on the United States failing to deliver for Ukraine.”
“We must, we must, we must prove him wrong,” Biden said.
Two days later, Putin also held his annual press conference in Moscow, stating that more than 600,000 Russian troops were now fighting in Ukraine and that “there will be peace when we achieve our goals.”
House formalizes Biden impeachment inquiry
The U.S. House of Representatives voted Dec. 13 to formally authorize its ongoing impeachment inquiry into Biden in a 221-212 vote along party lines.
The probe concerns whether Biden improperly benefited from his son Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings. The vote came shortly after the younger Biden refused to testify behind closed doors, coming to Capitol Hill to call for a public hearing instead.
The White House has called the investigation politically motivated and argued House Republicans have yet to provide evidence of illegal conduct on the part of the president. The move follows two votes by the House to impeach Biden’s predecessor, former President Donald Trump, and comes as the two men potentially face a rematch election in 2024.
Should the House actually impeach Biden, the move will almost certainly fail to remove him from office as the Senate would then have to vote to convict him on any charges by a two-thirds majority. The upper chamber is currently controlled by Biden’s fellow Democrats.
Poll finds few Americans want Biden-Trump rematch
Although Trump is leading the GOP primary field by a wide margin, few Americans want the same two candidates on the ballot next year as in 2020, according to a new Monmouth University Poll.
Just one in four voters expressed at least some enthusiasm about a rematch between Biden and Trump next year, the poll found. At least one out of five are considering possibly voting for independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“There’s a desire among some Republicans to exact revenge for what they see as a stolen election. But for most voters, 2020 is an election they’d rather not have to relive,” Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute, said in a statement. “The question is whether this discontent creates an opening for someone else.”
Trump has yet to formally secure his party’s nomination for president, but he leads the field even amid ongoing criminal investigations into his attempts to thwart Biden’s 2020 victory and his handling of classified documents, amid other allegations of misconduct. The first contests in the nomination process will take place in January in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Should Biden, the nation’s second Catholic president, win re-election in November, he would make history as the first Catholic president to secure a second term.
