The Implications of Judicial Interference with Mifepristone

In a society where many readily throw aside their morals for the sake of profit, it is imperative to have an unbiased and impartial institution that is making sure companies aren’t compromising the safety of their products for the sake of increased production, or even knowingly releasingunsafeproductsforthesakeofprofit.Itis also important to make sure that those involved in this process are qualified to make unbiased, scientific decisions, and that decisions are fueled solelybytheintentiontokeepthepublicsaferather than to receive money from lobbyists or to push a personal agenda or belief. Finally, if a decision by thisgroupisbelievedtobeincorrect,overturningit should require scientifically sound evidence proving that the decision made was incorrect. Otherwise, we open the factors behind these decisions to the world of greed, and ultimately place the validity of these decisions in jeopardy. Unfortunately, this seems to be happening in the caseofmifepristone.

In the year 2000, scientists at the FDA (a federal agency not dissimilar from the one described above) conducted a 6-month review on mifepristone, a drug used widely across the US to safely terminate a pregnancy, ultimately determining it safe to use. Their decision is backed up by two decades of consistent, safe performance. However, earlier this month, Texas federal judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk, a man with no degree in any scientific field and no experience testing the safety of drugs, invalidated the FDA’s approval. UnliketheFDA’sdecision,whichwasbackedupby months of rigorous tests and various studies, Kacsmaryk’s decision was “backed up” by extreme rhetoric and noncredible sources. This decision is beingraisedtotheSupremeCourt,wheretheentire scientificcommunitywillbefightingtooth

By Brandon Choyce |Politics&WorldChair and nail to protect the

integrity of the scientific industry.

If this decision is allowed to stand, it could carry horrible implications for the scientific industry as a whole. Allowing judges to overturn rulingsbytheFDAbecausetheydisagreewiththem opens the door for the return of scenarios parallel to that of lead-lined gasoline or radium-filled toothpaste. How would people know that the products they buy are actually safe when decisions are made by any politician with an opinion rather than credible scientists? Why should opinion be valued over fact? If the Supreme Court chooses to uphold Kacsmaryk’s decision, it could ultimately spell unprecedented doom for the scientific community as a whole. Who’s to say politicians would stop at mifepristone? There’s already so much political pressure against vaccines, anti-depressants, and other various drugs. What would happen if politicians against vaccines were suddenly given the power to stop anyone from receivingthembyblockingtheFDAfromapproving them?Imagineif,atthebeginningoftheCOVID-19 pandemic, politicians were able to prevent anyone from receiving a COVID vaccine instead of just whining about them. The scientific fact would be readilydiscardedforopinion,assometimesopinion is more profitable. Facts don’t care about your feelings? No, my feelings don’t care about your facts. The entire FDA would be pointless as if they rulethatacompany’sproductisunsafetoconsume, a judge funded by that company could simply overturn the decision, allowing unsafe products to runrampant.

Yes, the mifepristone case is, at the surface level, an abortion issue. But it can’t be stressed enough how big of an impact this case could carry, anditrunsmuchdeeperthanabortionrights.

What’s so important about science is that it’s just that:science.Therearenoopinionsintruescience, only facts. When you mix opinions with science, you end up with eugenics, flat earthers, climate change deniers, and other dangerous ‘fields’ of pseudoscience.Thereinliesthedanger:byallowing personal belief and opinion to judge the decisions of the FDA, we risk turning food safety, a

Oscars Recap: Number 95

In a historic Oscars ceremony on March 12, 2023, a number of films took home awards amongst a variety of celebrities at the Dolby TheatreinLosAngeles,California.Theceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and notable attendeesincludedMalalaYousafzai,Elizabeth Olsen, Florence Pugh, Andrew Garfield, and decidedlynotTomCruise,whodecidedtostay home despite Top Gun: Maverick garnering six nominations.

Thenightstartedoffwiththepresentation of the Best Animated film award by Emily Blunt and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, which was critically acclaimed after its release. The next award to be presented wastheSupportingActoraward,whichwenttoKe Huy Quan from Everything Everywhere All At Once (EEAAO), a fan and critic favorite. He thankedhismotherrightoffthebatandwentonto detail how thankful he was A24 and the directors of EEAAO, in addition to his wife and brother, in anemotionalspeechthathadeveryonetearingup.

The award for Supporting Actress created a little bit more of a controversy when Jamie Lee CurtiswonforEEAAOinsteadofAngelaBassettor Stephanie Hsu. Many fans of the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever movie thought Bassett should win instead, as her performance was incredibly moving and this was Bassett’s second Academy Award nomination. Similar feelings were expressed towards Hsu’s performance, which was also for Everything Everywhere All At Once, althoughherrolewasdecidedlybiggerthanCurtis’ and more relatable towards audiences who felt their mother-daughter experiences were reflected inhercharacter.

There was a quick break where Cara DelevingneintroducedSofiaCarsontosing “Applause” from the 2022 release, Tell It Like A Woman. After this, Best Documentary Feature Film was announced and the award went to the documentary Navalny

By Kelsey Lind |Secretary

During this time, Jimmy Kimmel also amused himself by making numerous slap jokes referencing the Oscars last year when Will Smith went up on stage and slapped Chris Rock for making a joke about Jada Pinkett-Smith, Will’s wife.

After Navalny, the Best Live Action Short Film was presented to the film An Irish Goodbye, with a teaser for Disney’s Live Action version of The Little Mermaid airing afterwards. Michael B. Jordan and Johnathan Majors then presented the Best Cinematography award to All Quiet on the Western Front,whichwentontosweepcategories Best International Feature Film, Best Production Design, and Best Score. In between those presentations, Stephanie Hsu performed her musical number “This Is a Life” from Everything Everywhere All At Once and The Whale won Best Makeup and Hairstyling. Jenny the Donkey from Banshees of Inisherin, who was shot to Twitter fameaftershestoletheshowinascenewithColin Farrell, also appeared on stage, much to Farrell’s delight, although it was later revealed that it was not Jenny the Donkey who shot with Farrell, and the Oscars just wanted to capitalize on a relevant popculturejoke.

Best Costuming was presented to Ruth E. Carterfor BlackPanther:WakandaForever, whichwashersecondBestCostumingwinwiththe franchise.Afterthis,thesong“NaatuNaatu” and dance number from the movie RRR, was performed, much to delight of the audience members. The Academy plugged their movie museum,atacademymuseum.organd The Elephant Whisperers went on to win Best DocumentaryShortFilm.Thenextawardtobe presented was Best Animated Short Film, which wentto TheBoy,TheMole,TheFox,andThe Horse.

Lady Gaga went on to perform a stripped versionofhersongfrom TopGun:Maverick, “HoldMyHand,”and remindedeveryoneathome ofherpreviousOscarsperformanceof “Shallow” withBradleyCooperforAStarisBorn. went on to win Best Visual Effects, to no one, including James Cameron’s surprise. Danai Gurira introduced Rhiannatosing“LiftMeUp,”from BlackPanther: Wakanda Forever, which then led into the Best OriginalandAdaptedScreenplaycategories,which went to Everything Everywhere All At Once and WomenTalking,respectively. TopGun: Maverick won Best Sound and RRR won for Best Original Song, especially deserved after their performanceattheceremonyitself. Next, the Oscars’ “In Memoriam” section was presentedbyJohnTravolta,whogavea teary tribute to Olivia Newton-John, before the rest of the dedications commenced. While many iconicactorslikeJamesCaanandAngelaLansbury were mentioned, others, like Paul Sorvino and CharlbiDean,werenot.

The awards that everyone was waiting for werepresentedattheendofthenight.Fan andcriticsfavoriteMichelleYeohwonBestActress for Everything Everywhere All At Once and gave an emotional speech encouraging young Asian-Americanstonevergiveupontheirdreams. Brendan Fraser won Best Actor for The Whale, detailingtheextentofhiscomebackafterhispause from acting that started in the late 2000s. Harrison Ford presented the Best Picture Award, ultimately went to Everything Everywhere All At Once. EEAAO sweeped at the Oscars, winning a total of seven awards after being nominated for eleven (Best Film Editing went unmentioned earlier), and garnering even more praise for its headway towards Asian and Asian-American representationinHollywood.

While the 95th Oscars may not have been asexcitingasthe94th,itsimultaneously provided viewers at home with a “return to normal” for movies, while showcasing the strides Hollywood has made in recent years in becoming less white and male focused, towards more diversityinbothgenderandethnicity.

There Is Not Safety In Numbers

By: Ava Rener |Co-EditorInChief

Time Magazine announces: there have been 199 mass shootingsintheUnitedStatesasofMay6th,2023.These shootings have resulted in the death of 578 teens and children.

These startling statistics have sunk into the consciences of millions of Americans who woke up on Saturday, May 6th to the news that yet another mass shootingoccurredinTexasthatday.Saturdaymarkedthe dayin2023whenthenumberofshootingssurpassedthe number of days in the year. Not a day has gone by where someonearoundtheUnitedStateshaslostalovedoneto gunrelatedviolence.Thesheeramountofshootingshave made it impossible for the media to keep up with, and many stories and incidents have not found their way into thenewscycle.Despitethis,thecountryisfacinganissue thatisyettobedealtwithinanyway,andkillsmoreteens in the state of Texas than vehicle accidents, according to CNN.Tothesestatistics,itisimportanttoquestion,have we had enough? When will the number of deaths and incidents become high enough for immediate change to be enacted by our lawmakers? To these statistics, it is important to make these statements; we are angry. We are legally powerless. There is no change happening. Somethingneedstogive.

Living in a state that has some of the most unrestricted gun laws poses a threat to not only school agedchildren,butevenmorenow,people just spending their day at an outlet mall or in public spaces. Our generation, despite our inability to vote, needs to be the one to make significant noise about the issue, because unfortunately we are the ones it affects. This happens due to the fact that our lawmakers are too busy fighting a ivory-castle protected ideologicalwarintheHousethatdoesnothingbut turn a blind eye to the violence permeating throughout the country’s daily lives. Our lawmakers often make the argument that gun violence is next on the agenda of “problems to solve”, right after they attempt to criminalize the existence of minorities. Their opinionated to-do list should not be dictating the importance of someofthemostpressingdisruptionsinthestate. Thepolarizedrealityofourpoliticshaverisentoa dangerous level, where issues that should not fall on “party-lines” do, and cause legislation to come to a stand still, where the ideological warfare continues.Thisis not anewidea.Ithasexistedfor decades, but has reached a point where sides become radicalized to an extent where nothing gets done. However, as long as we keep arming 18-year-old mentally unwell individuals and our lawmakers continue to meddle in useless politics, kids will keep dying. This is what our country has become;aviolent countrywherefranklyout-of-touchpoliticiansdecidethe worthofourlives,basedonhowyoulabelyourself.Here is someone who does not see blue or red: an intruder in yourschoolwithanautomaticrifle.

Enough debate, and enough with the fearful statements. Here is what we, despite our legal position, can do. We can decide that this issue is one that affects every person, and that we have a responsibility to solve it,becauseourgovernmentisslowlybeginningtofailus. After making this decision, we can become activists for the cause. Here is a list of resources that allow us to shareourvoices.

1. MarchForOurLives-Policywebpage

2. SandyHookPromise-TakeActionwebpage

3. Giffords-Lobbyingwebpage

4. Change.org-Consistentlyhaspetitionstosign

5. ActionNetwork-Petitions

6. You!Writealettertoyourdistrictrepresentative or any lawmaker. Make known the vast number ofstudentsatAndersonthatsupportchange.

Becausewhatourstatisticshavemadeclearisthatthere is unsafety in these numbers. With the youth’s collective action,therecanbeasingle,unifiedvoiceinnumbers,if wetakeaction.