AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) — There are two planned protests set to take place in Downtown Amarillo on Saturday, regarding a federal lawsuit on abortion medications.

Background on the litigation:
An Amarillo nonprofit organization, Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, filed a lawsuit with a group of doctors and other associations, against the FDA surrounding the use of Mifepristone and Misoprostol for chemical abortions.

The lawsuit was filed on Nov. 18, 2022, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas Amarillo Division. The plaintiffs are asking Matthew J. Kacsmaryk to suspend the FDA’s approval of chemical abortion drugs and/or put back in place safeguards for the individuals who take this drug that they claim were taken away.

Saturday’s protests:
The Protest, hosted by the Women’s March, is set to begin at around 3:00 p.m. on Feb. 11 starting outside of the Potter County Courthouse and then heading to the J.M. Jones Federal Building.

Executive Director of the Women’s March, Rachel O’Leary Carmona, said they are working with Women’s March Amarillo, as well as several other local groups and activists.

“We have folks from local churches and congregations. We have folks from abortion access Amarillo, who are coming through,” said O’Leary Carmona. “So, we have statewide ties, local ties, and then, of course, our national ties that, you know, work with us on all of our mobilizations and that will be coming through as well.”

Carmona said she believes people should be concerned regardless of how they feel about abortion.

“Encroachments into personal autonomy, and reproductive freedom, and constitutionally protected rights, should worry anybody,” O’Leary Carmona said. “I think that every person has to just make the decision of where are you going to be? Are you going to be on the couch? Or are you going to be fighting for your values and fighting for the future that you want your family to have? And that’s really the choice. There’s no middle ground.”

Another event called Stand for Life, an anti-abortion protest in support of the lawsuit, will also be held tomorrow. It starts Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at the federal building.

Mark Lee Dickson, the director of Right to Life East Texas, will be a featured speaker. According to Dickson, the event will be sponsored by Right to Life of East Texas, West Texas For Life, and Abortion on Trial, as well as other organizations.

“Whether we have a small number or many in attendance, it is clear that the whole state of Texas has already spoken on this issue,” Dickson said. “There are 50 cities throughout the great state of Texas that have ordinances on their books that say that they don’t want abortion in their community and we have state legislation, that definitely makes that clear as well.”

Dickson said the event will be a rally against what he called President Biden’s aggressive abortion agenda.

“We want an America where every human being, from the point of conception, has protection and so that’s why we’re standing up against the Biden administration, which is aggressively trying to do everything they can to push for abortion access in every zip code.”

Both O’Leary Carmona and Dickson talked about the far-reaching implications this lawsuit could have.

“We need to understand the stakes here and we need to understand that what’s happening in Amarillo, Texas right now will impact everybody in every state because abortion is not the only reason to use Mifepristone,” said O’Leary Carmona. “You could use it in instances of other, you know, miscarriages or even other medical diagnoses.”

Dickson said when his group heard Women’s March was mobilizing in opposition to the case here in Amarillo, they felt it was necessary to also mobilize in support of the anti-abortion position.

“The way I see this case, it’s one that really has a whole lot to do with America as a whole. And the decision made by this court in Amarillo could affect every single state in America,” he said. “And that’s why this is so important and so we are paying very close attention.”