By Brendan Pierson and Jacqueline Thomsen
All three of the judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel that will hear the Biden administration's appeal to keep the abortion pill mifepristone on the market are staunchly conservative, with a record of opposing abortion rights. Here is a look at their records.
Jennifer Walker Elrod
Appointed by: George W. Bush
Year appointed: 2007
Previous positions: Judge, 190th District Court of Texas
Notable cases:
- In January, she wrote the majority opinion for the full 5th Circuit striking down the federal ban on so-called bump stocks, which allow rifles to be fired more rapidly.
- In 2020, she was part of the majority in a 5th Circuit panel decision that let Texas curb medication abortions after the state said it wanted to conserve medical resources due to the pandemic.
- In 2019, she co-authored a majority opinion for the full 5th Circuit that upheld a Texas law that effectively banned the most common abortion procedure for terminating second-trimester pregnancies.
- Also in 2019, she wrote a majority panel 5th Circuit opinion invalidating the Affordable Care Act's mandate requiring individuals to purchase health insurance.
- In 2015, she was part of a panel that upheld Texas's restrictions on abortion clinics that made it more difficult for them to operate.
James Ho
Appointed by: Donald Trump
Year appointed: 2017
Previous positions: Partner, appellate practice co-chair at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher; Solicitor General of Texas
Notable cases:
- In 2021, he was in the majority of a 5th Circuit panel that allowed a Texas law banning abortion after about six weeks to take effect.
- In 2019, he was part of a 5th Circuit panel that rejected Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban, but in a concurring opinion argued against the constitutional right to abortion. The U.S. Supreme Court later used the case to overturn its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that had legalized the procedure nationwide.
- In 2018, he voted to uphold a Texas law requiring burial or cremation of fetal remains. In a concurring opinion, he called abortion a "moral tragedy."
Public statements:
- Speaking to the Federalist Society in Dallas last month, Ho called U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, whose order suspending mifepristone's approval the government is appealing, a "friend" and defended him from claims of acting unethically in taking his name off an anti-abortion law review article shortly before his judicial confirmation hearing.
Cory Wilson
Appointed by: Donald Trump
Year appointed: 2020
Previous positions: Judge, Mississippi Court of Appeals; member of the Mississippi House of Representatives
Notable cases:
- In February, he wrote a panel opinion holding that people under domestic violence orders have a constitutional right to own guns.
- In October 2022, he wrote a panel opinion ruling the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding apparatus is unconstitutional and threw out a Trump-era regulation aiming to crack down on abusive practices in the payday lending industry.
Public statements:
- As a state legislator, he supported a ban on abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy.
- In a 2007 questionnaire circulated to state legislative candidates by a Mississippi anti-abortion group, he expressed support for a total ban on abortion and on stem cell research.
(Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York and Jacqueline Thomsen in Washington, D.C., Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Bill Berkrot)
