Virginia Judge Rescinds His Radical Abortion Ruling Just 8 Days After Issuing It

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Who says we need to wait half a century to correct bad judicial opinions? Judge Henry Hudson of Virginia had the humility to admit his error just eight days later. Will other judges learn?

Last Monday, Judge Hudson issued a preliminary injunction against Virginia’s long-standing requirement that only licensed physicians may perform abortions. As I reported last week, that ruling was a straight-up violation of Supreme Court precedent not just on abortion, but on states’ powers to require that only licensed professionals perform an array of services, whether one agrees with their determinations or not. Instead, Hudson blithely dismissed any evidence of the need for a licensed physician to perform even the most dangerous surgical abortions, such as dilation and evacuation procedures.

Well, in an extraordinary reversal, Hudson issued an order on Tuesday admitting his error and vacating the original injunction. “On further review, the Court is of the opinion that summary judgment was improvidently awarded to the parties on Count IV based on the present record,” wrote Hudson in the order, reported by the Washington Post. “Rather, on further consideration, whether the ‘Physicians-Only Law’ presents an undue burden to Virginia women who seek an abortion is a material fact that is genuinely in dispute.”

Thank God Hudson doesn’t subscribe to the rules of the ancient Persian government described in the book of Esther (9:8), “For a writ that is written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be rescinded.”

This is welcoming news to those who are looking for some humility from the courts. We all understand that when legislatures pass bad laws or executives enact bad policies, there is robust public debate, and they are often forced to changes course in the face of widespread backlash. Yet we are told that somehow a single judge can flick his pen at any moment and nullify or legislate policies as even hundreds of legislators don’t have the power to do – and that somehow such an order is self-executing, universally binding, and irreversible.

Read the rest from Daniel Horowitz HERE.

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