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As a Texas federal judge deliberates his decision in a high-profile case that could impose a nationwide ban on a leading abortion drug, reproductive rights activists are now raising scrutiny about a member of the plaintiffs’ legal team: Erin Morrow Hawley, an attorney and the wife of Missouri senator Josh Hawley.
The case, which is playing out in a courtroom in rural Texas, could have the most far-reaching ramifications on abortion access in the United States since the fall of Roe v. Wade. Should the judge, Matthew Kacsmaryk, rule in favor of the plaintiffs in the case and issue a preliminary injunction, it could effectively block the use of mifepristone, one of two drugs used in medication abortions, which account for more than half of all abortions in the US. Hawley is one of the main lawyers arguing on behalf of conservative legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom, which sued the Food and Drug Administration last November for its approval of the abortion medication.
“They are partners in this crusade,” a reproductive rights advocate said of Josh and Erin Hawley in an interview with Vanity Fair, noting the congressman’s conservative record on abortion in the Senate and his wife’s work to ban abortion and limit access through litigation. “Their political partnership shows how coordinated the antiabortion movement is—working at all levels of government to take away access—even after we lost the fundamental right to abortion.”
Hawley’s involvement in conservative legal causes is well documented. As The Kansas City Star reported, she serves as senior counsel at the ADF, which was involved in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case that ultimately led to the fall of Roe v. Wade. Indeed, as the newspaper noted, Hawley’s appearance at Georgetown Law earlier this month—an event titled “After Dobbs”—drew criticism from student groups and reproductive rights activists.
The fact that the wife of a senator is involved in a high-profile lawsuit is not necessarily noteworthy on its face. But notably, before his ascension to the federal bench, Kacsmaryk, a Trump-appointed judge, donated $500 to Josh Hawley in 2018, according to data from OpenSecrets. Taken in whole, Kacsmaryk’s donor history paints a picture of an individual active in supporting conservative politicians and causes, with political donations also made to Texas senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, as well as Republican governor Greg Abbott.
Senator Hawley, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, has played a significant role in shaping the nation’s courts; he previously threatened to block the confirmation of a judge whom he deemed insufficiently antiabortion, and he has pushed for nominees to have records indicating the belief that the ruling in Roe v. Wade was wrong. “Republican elected officials have been promising for years to appoint pro-life judges to the bench,” Hawley said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times in fall 2020. “And over and over, we see judges get appointed, they turn out not to be for life when it really comes down to it. So I just gave voice to what people have been saying for years and a deep frustration they feel.”
Senator Josh Hawley’s office, the Alliance Defending Freedom, and Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk did not respond to Vanity Fair’s requests for comment.
Notably, both Hawleys spoke before Congress on abortion access in America post-Roe. “We need to come alongside women and support them. We need to provide them with the resources that are necessary for them and their children to survive. The Dobbs decision is not only a legal victory, but it is a rallying cry: We must become a culture that values life, that values women’s lives,” Erin Hawley Affair-” class=”external-link” data-event-click=”{"element":"ExternalLink","outgoingURL":"https://spectrumlocalnews.com/mo/st-louis/politics/2022/07/13/for-the-hawley-s–abortion-access-is-a-family-affair-"}” href=”https://spectrumlocalnews.com/mo/st-louis/politics/2022/07/13/for-the-hawley-s–abortion-access-is-a-family-affair-” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>told the House Oversight and Reform Committee in her capacity as a Republican witness and attorney with the ADF. The Couple has been open in their parallel efforts to ban abortion. In an interview with Spectrum News last summer, Senator Hawley said abortion was a topic often discussed at home and praised his wife’s work in the Dobbs case. “Erin was central to that effort, absolutely central, and I’m really, really proud of her,” he told the outlet.
The crux of the Texas case is whether the FDA improperly approved mifepristone more than two decades ago. The ADF brought the suit on behalf of four doctors who have said they’ve prescribed mifepristone, as well as four antiabortion medical organizations. At the four-hour hearing before Kacsmaryk last Wednesday, during which both sides presented their arguments, Hawley characterized the approval process used as “agency gamesmanship” and argued that doctors with deeply held antiabortion beliefs were harmed by having to perform surgical procedures in patient cases where complications arose from use of mifepristone, as NPR reported.
“Antiabortion politicians will stop at nothing to advance their dangerous and supremely unpopular agenda. No one is fooled by their plea to make this a ‘states’ rights’ issue—especially when they are weaponizing our federal courts to ban mifepristone, one of the medications used in medication abortion, in states where abortion is legal,” the reproductive rights advocate said. “Their ultimate goal is to ban abortion nationwide, by any means necessary—which is why this case is so damn important.”
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