barbara mcquaid is back with me.urt suggested a general standard could be applie bond this case. here's what the times writes about that. the court agreed the state finding that the good faith standard had been applied by the lower court in error and that the correct standard under the law is reasonable medical judgment. it asked the texas medical board to provide guidance to any confusion. help us to understand all of that. >> yes. so, what they're asking the executive branch to do is so provide more context and guidance for the courts. they say this law requires all three branches of government to do their job and suggests that the executive branch has not done that. what this case really says to me is how untenable it is for government to make decisions involving individual cases of abortion and health and when someone's life is at stake. you know, there's an exception for the life of the mother. what does that mean? does it mean that someone who has a 50% likelihood of dying of some sort of cancer has to forgo tr

joining us now, nbc news senior legal correspondent laura jarrett and msnbc legal analyst barbara mcquaidrmer u.s. attorney in michigan. what more can you tell us about the supreme court's announcements this morning? >> we have been tracking this abortion pill case for quite some time now. and it is really about all of the ways in which the fda tried to make this pill easier to get, by getting it through the mail, not having to go to your doctor's office and a lower court said all of those ways that the fda tried to make it easier to get are invalid, they're no good. as of right now, access to the pill hasn't changed at all because the supreme court put a stay on everything to maintain the status quo while this case has been working its way through the various courts of appeal and now up to the supreme court and so now, jose, now that they agreed to take the case, they will hear oral arguments as they do in most cases, and then sometime within the coming months, likely next spring or summer, they will issue their final ruling on the case. >> so, barbara, what do you read into the court de

attorney and msnbc contributor barbara mcquaid and state attorney for palm beach county, florida, davequest from jack smith? is he trying to short circuit the argument that might come from the trump defense team here? >> yes, this is a really interesting strategy. i have to say i didn't see it coming, but it is a really shrewd move on the part of jack smith. he's trying to leapfrog the court of appeals because if this case were to play out in the normal course, there could be a delay of many months, which would jeopardize that march 4th trial date. and so, what jack smith is essentially saying here is, look, we all know that this is the kind of question that is going to the supreme court anyway. so, there is no need to waste our time going to the court of appeals. it is a rare move, willie, but not unprecedented. it happened 49 times in the last 100 years and it happened 25 times in the past five years. usually it is for cases with some urgency like covid cases or gerrymandering cases, but also used for student loans and so when time is of the essence, this is a move that makes a lot o