Something is really out of kilter in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

You’ve probably heard about an imminent decision on abortion. The reason I’m writing about it now is that no matter what I’ve read or heard, I still haven’t come across a sensible explanation concerning how this situation evolved—let alone how it can stand in 21st Century America.

There’s a single judge in Texas, a guy named Matthew Kacsmaryk, who’s pretty definitely about to tell women and the medical professionals who care for them—throughout the US, regardless of where they live or what their state laws say—that the abortion pill the FDA approved twenty-three years ago is—well, verboten.

How does one man (a D Trump appointee, part of the wondrous lasting legacy) get to make this far-reaching decision? The medication in question—mifepristone—is currently used in a…