After a judge in Texas got the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, the drug used in medication abortions, suspended, access to the most commonly used method of abortion in the country is now in limbo on a federal level. And John Oliver is pretty mad about it.
Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a man appointed by the twice-impeached-and-now-indicted former president, Donald Trump, ordered a hold on federal approval of mifepristone, a shocking ruling considering the FDA has approved the drug for decades.
Unless the Supreme Court overrules it — something they might do, considering an Obama-era judge issued a ruling basically saying the exact opposite of Kacsmaryk over same the weekend — the ruling would affect women everywhere.
“It is not ideal that the dream team who overturned Roe v. Wade may soon decide whether to greenlight the sequel,” Oliver said angrily on Sunday. “Because overturning Roe was clearly never about returning it to the states. It was always a step toward banning abortion entirely. And it’s frankly both absurd and infuriating that such vital health care could be thrown into chaos for everyone all because of the badly reasoned decisions of this f—ing guy.”
The “Last Week Tonight” host was particularly angry that one man — “some Disney Channel vice principal from Texas” who “decided to play doctor for the entire f—ing country” — could have such power.
“It seems like abortion has become a Schrodinger’s right in this country, that people simultaneously do and don’t have, depending on where they live, who’s in the White House and what the sh—iest judge in America feels like doing,” he said.
“That is why it is so important for it to be protected by law, ideally in the Constitution, and for it to be recognized for what it is: a basic right, a human necessity and something that I hear — and I got this from a completely reputable website — could actually make you better at frisbee golf.”
Now, to clarify that odd third qualifier, Oliver was referring to a fake website his show created after mocking the results of a study saying an abortion changes a woman — from a website called “Abortion Changes You.”
