Wednesday, April 24, 2024
BY JULIA CLAIRE & CROOKED MEDIA
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- Trump lawyer Alina Habba giving us a word salad/Beetlejuice moment
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The Supreme Court heard arguments on Wednesday in a landmark case that could weaken the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act.
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At the center of the most consequential Supreme Court case since the disastrous Dobbs decision is Idaho’s ultra-restrictive abortion ban, which the Biden Administration claims violates federal law. Idaho’s abortion ban does not provide exceptions for serious pregnancy-related medical complications, unless the patient is so compromised that they face imminent death. Therefore, the government argues that the ban infringes on a patient’s right to a screening examination and stabilizing emergency medical care under EMTLA.
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The Court’s three liberal justices closely scrutinized the lawyer representing Idaho, Joshua Turner. When Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked if the state’s ban would prevent abortion in a situation in which a woman would otherwise lose an organ or have serious medical complications, Turner said, “Yes, Idaho law does say that abortions in that case aren’t allowed.” The Court’s most conservative Justice (or at least in a tie with Justice Clarence Thomas) Samuel Alito was not persuaded by the arguments of the federal government or his liberal female colleagues, and said they were just giving hypothetical examples. There go those hysterical women again, amiright fellas! Justice Elena Kagan shot back that Idaho’s largest hospital alone needed to to transfer six women out of state for emergency abortions since January.
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Idaho’s lawyer and Alito both made “fetal personhood” arguments, with Turner saying “there are two patients to consider,” when pregnant women seek emergency care. The federal government’s lawyer, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, pointed out that the mentions of “unborn child” in EMTLA refer only to when a woman goes to an emergency room and her pregnancy is in danger but her own health is not at risk—not for the fetal life to take precedence over the mother’s. She also pointed out that life-threatening pregnancy emergencies that require an abortion almost always involve a non-viable fetus, or no possibility for a live birth. In such cases, she said, “what Idaho is doing is waiting for women to wait and deteriorate and suffer the lifelong health consequences with no possible upside for the fetus. It stacks tragedy upon tragedy.”
The decision is expected in late June.
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If you’ve ever dreamed of following a podcast around like the Grateful Dead, this is your year! Pod Save America has a ton of great shows coming up on their Democracy or Else tour, headed to Brooklyn, Boston, Madison, Phoenix, Philly, and Ann Arbor. They will also be at the LA Times festival of books on April 21st with appearances by Dan Pfeiffer, Tommy Vietor, Jon Favreau, and Hysteria’s own Erin Ryan! To get tickets, head to crooked.com/events now.
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GOP Speaker Mike Johnson emerged from the tree where he makes cookies on Wednesday to do a publicity stunt visit at Columbia University as the student protests there continue. Johnson was repeatedly and loudly booed by students and faculty during his press conference, in which he called for the university’s President Nemat "Minouche" Shafik to resign. For his part, President Biden is pursuing a cautious, middle-of-the road approach in an effort to navigate the delicate response to the antiwar protests popping up at college campuses all over the country. (If you missed Monday’s newsletter, we did a full rundown of the current landscape).
The University of Texas at Austin called in Texas Department of Public Safety to arrest pro-Palestinian student protesters on Wednesday. DPS—the same department known for their “cascading failures of leadership, decision-making, tactics, policy and training” in the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, TX in 2022—arrived at the scene in full riot gear. Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX)—the “free speech on college campuses” guy—said the pro-Palestinian protesters “belong in jail.” Thanks for clarifying what you mean by “free speech,” Greg!
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