Three appeals court judges with a history of supporting restrictions on abortion will hear arguments on whether a widely used abortion drug should remain available.
A former Texas solicitor general, Ho is the first Asian-American to serve on the 5th Circuit and is a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. He was nominated to the 5th Circuit in 2017 by Republican President
. His opposition to abortion and abortion rights was clear early in his tenure, including referring to abortion as a “moral tragedy” in one 2018 opinion.In 2019, he wrote a 15-page grudging concurrence in a ruling that said a Mississippi abortion ban had to be struck down under then-existing court precedent. “Nothing in the text or original understanding of the Constitution establishes a right to an abortion,” he wrote.
He went on to cite “the racial history of abortion advocacy as a tool of the eugenics movement.” He harshly criticized a lower court for declining to consider arguments that a fetus can feel pain, and for displaying “an alarming disrespect for the millions of Americans who believe ... that abortion is the immoral, tragic, and violent taking of innocent human life.
Wilson voted for anti-abortion measures in 2016, including one to stop Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood facilities in the state — a measure rejected in court. In 2018 he voted for the Mississippi law that ultimately led to the demise of Roe v. Wade in 2022. The law prohibited most abortions after 15 weeks.
At the 5th Circuit, Wilson joined Elrod, Ho and a majority of the full court in 2021 in upholding a Texas law outlawing an abortion method commonly used to end second-trimester pregnancies. He had voted for a similar law in the Mississippi Legislature.Associated Press reporter Emily Wagster Pettus in Jackson, Mississippi, contributed to this report.
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