Public access to federal court proceedings is a key principle of the American judicial system, and Kacsmaryk’s apparent delay in placing the hearing on the docket is highly unusual. Several people close to Kacsmaryk say the judge and his family have faced security threats since he ascended to the federal bench in 2019, and those threats have intensified ahead of the abortion pill ruling. Leading organizations of physicians and other public health professionals have strongly disputed those allegations and have told Kacsmaryk that reversing FDA approval of mifepristone would “cause profound and irreparable harm to patients across the country