Since Kacsmaryk's ruling in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration the injunction was suspended pending Supreme Court review. Pro-life physicians and advocates argued that the FDA did not follow the proper procedures when approving mifepristone in 2000. The FDA failed to respond to the official complaint process and stonewalled physicians for over 20 years; finally culminating in this lawsuit.
Pence's alleged death threat against Kacsmaryk was made shortly after hearings in the case were scheduled, but before any rulings were issued. She is charged with threatening interstate communication and influencing a federal officer by threat. She is scheduled to make an initial appearance before a judge on November 22, 2023.
Though Judge Kacsmaryk is not named in the DOJ's indictment, he is the only federal judge in Amarillo, Texas, where Pence made the threatening phone call.
