Episode

3/27 Mifepristone and “Chevron Doctrine” at SCOTUS; Oregon Nurses Labor Action

March 27, 2024

It’s Hump Day! Sam speaks with Lisa Heinzerling, law professor at Georgetown University, to discuss the impact of the Supreme Court’s upcoming rulings on Loper Bright Enterprises  v. Raimondo & Relentless v. Department of Commerce, as well as the court hearing arguments yesterday regarding mifepristone and medication abortion. Then, Sam speaks with Heather Herbert, a hospice registered nurse at PeaceHealth Medical Center in Springfield, Oregon and member of the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA),  to discuss the recent strike action at the hospital and the new labor complaints they’ve filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). First, Sam runs through updates on the US public’s disapproval of Israel’s genocide, the US State Department, Texas’ fascist border power grab, labor action across the US, legal woes for Trump and Co., and Ronna McDaniel’s brief NBC tenure, before diving into details of the collision that collapsed Francis Scott Key in Baltimore, and the profiteering that drives disasters like this one. Professor Lisa Heinzerling then joins, diving right into the context of the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine’s suit against the FDA, including their objections to the FDA’s relaxation of requirements for Mifepristone, the most common abortion medication in the US, and the overwhelming scientific evidence for the efficacy and safety of the drug. Expanding on this, Professor Heinzerling looks at this case within the broader context of the Supreme Court’s attack on the administrative state, fitting neatly into a pattern of cases with very vague and obscure claims of injury resulting in massive shakeups to the legal and political structure in the US, something also reflected in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, before walking through the greater idea of the Chevron Doctrine and administrative deference. After assessing where this current iteration of the Roberts Court stands among the most extreme activist courts, Lisa and Sam wrap up the interview with a brief conversation on the reaction of legal institutions and law schools to the myriad ongoing Supreme Court scandals. Nurse Heather Herbert and Sam then dive into the context of ONA’s ongoing labor action, with contract negotiations stalling for over a year as PeaceHealth attempted to force lower pay on some 125 hospice and home care workers, despite the same qualifications as hospital nurses with additionally extensive and expensive training required. After expanding on the serious hit this process took on these Nurses, Herbert dives into the hospice Nurses’ difficult decision to strike, tackling the clear unfair labor practices exercised by PeaceHealth in response, and wrapping up with a conversation on the strike’s support from and impact on patients and community members.

And in the Fun half: Sam admires the growing protests against US complicity in the genocide of Gaza, including actions against Reps Jeffries and McGovern and President Biden, and watches the right-wing attempt to spin the Francis Scott Key Bridge disaster into a diversity issue instead of a capitalism one. Casey in DC uncovers some odd coincidences in Rep. Bill Johnson’s (R-OH) post-congress career path, Bobby from Georgia explores the perception of inflation under Biden alongside rising housing costs, and Fox News hosts react to the Ronna McDaniel saga. Dylan from Ft. Collins on the slow journey out of right-wing conspiracy, Pep from Texas on Blinken’s Zionism, and Stephen Crowder’s workplace and domestic abuses come to the fore, plus, your calls and IMs!

Check out some of Lisa’s writing here: https://www.bostonreview.net/authors/lisa-heinzerling/

Find out more about the ONA here: https://www.oregonrn.org/

https://www.oregonrn.org/page/SHHCSStrike

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Check out this GoFundMe in support of Mohammad Aldaghma’s niece in Gaza, who has Down Syndrome: http://tinyurl.com/7zb4hujt

Check out the “Repair Gaza” campaign courtesy of the Glia Project here: https://www.launchgood.com/campaign/rebuild_gaza_help_repair_and_rebuild_the_lives_and_work_of_our_glia_team#!/

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