BY MATT BERG
& CROOKED MEDIA

THURSDAY
OCTOBER 24, 2024

I stopped wars with France.” 

— Donald Trump [explaining what he did]([link removed]) in the White House during to a Turning Point USA event.

(BIRTH) CONTROL FREAKS

Donald Trump keeps saying he won’t enact a national abortion ban if elected. But there are plenty of other ways he and Republicans could curtail reproductive rights if they win. 

- Former President Donald Trump has flipped his position on abortion so often, you’d think it was a cell phone from 1999. In fact, that was the year he declared himself “very pro choice,” two decades before trashing abortion protections in America by appointing Supreme Court justices who repealed Roe v. Wade. Lately, he’s saying he’ll leave the decision to the states, while absurdly referring to himself as “father of IVF” (a claim that hardly passes the laugh test). His inconsistency, to the point of incoherence, shows that nothing he says on this issue can be trusted. Pro-choice advocates widely believe that he’d fall in line with the far-right Project 2025 agenda, which outlines ways to [aggressively restrict abortion]([link removed]). But, here’s the thing: Even if he kept his word about not signing a national abortion ban, he and his MAGA crew would have plenty of other options for rolling back reproductive rights even further.
 

- High on the list: A dusty, old, horse-and-buggy-era relic called the Comstock Act. The anti-obscenity law from 1873 theoretically prohibits mailing or receiving of stuff like pornography and abortion medication, although it’s been largely dormant for decades. (We can all agree that going back to 19th century standards of obscenity sounds like a super fun idea, I’m sure. What’s next, will right-wingers demand we all start riding around on those old-timey bicycles with one huge wheel?) Implementing this law could [restrict access]([link removed]) to abortion pills, which are now involved in a majority of abortions in the U.S. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court dismissed a case in which anti-abortion advocates argued that mifepristone, a widely used abortion pill, should be outlawed under the Comstock Act — but the conservative majority has signaled that they’d be willing to hear similar cases again. Trump angered anti-abortion advocates this summer when he said the federal government “should have nothing to do with this issue.” But the Comstock Act is a key part of Project 2025, which includes scores of people who would likely staff his administration and want the law implemented.

Nothing says democracy like enforcing a 150-year-old law that [most Americans don’t know exists]([link removed])! But there are other ways to target mifepristone, too. 

- The Trump administration could, in theory, deploy top health officials to target scientists at the Food and Drug Administration and override their views on abortion pills, Mary Ziegler, a professor at UC Davis Law, told What A Day. Mifepristone, the most common abortion pill, is [safer than Viagra and penicillin]([link removed]). But that might not matter if Trump’s MAGA minions get to decide what’s safe and what isn’t. While barring access to mifepristone over spurious safety concerns or other pretexts wouldn’t equal an abortion ban, “it would still have a pretty significant national impact, because well over half of all abortions in blue and purple, as well as red states, take place involving this drug,” Ziegler said. This is especially bone-chilling, considering Trump has floated naming roadkill enthusiast Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of health and human services if elected.

- Then, there’s the long game: The concept of “fetal personhood.” The idea that a fetus, embryo, or fertilized egg should have the same rights as a human has shifted from the fringe far-right[​]([link removed]) to mainstream politics in recent years. It’s anti-abortion advocates’ “new North Star, meaning the thing you use to guide you, but something that's going to take you a while to actually reach,” Ziegler said. Seventeen states currently have fetal personhood on the books, according to Pregnancy Justice[​]([link removed]), a non-profit that defends abortion rights. With a Republican president and GOP control in Congress, it would be easier to appoint federal judges who could consider fetal personhood down the line. The Supreme Court likely wouldn’t consider the measure within the next few years, Ziegler added, but Trump could start laying the groundwork for a legal challenge — like he did with Roe v. Wade, which was overturned during the Biden administration.

Donald Trump has options to attack reproductive rights if he wins, and each of them would harm everyday Americans.

 
 

FLORIDA'S VLAD BOY

Just when you thought Russian spies had tried every disinformation trick in the game… they teamed up with their very own Florida Man. 

That would be former deputy Palm Beach County Sheriff John Mark Dougan, who reportedly now resides in Moscow, after what I assume must have been a series of very interesting life choices.    Documents obtained by European intelligence services found that Dougan has been working alongside the Russian military to circulate disinfo and create deep fakes of Kamala Harris, according to veteran Moscow correspondent Catherine Belton writing for the [Washington Post]([link removed]). For instance, Dougan is believed to be behind a recent fake viral video smearing[​]([link removed]) Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), Harris’s running mate.

“Compared with other Russian disinformation campaigns, Dougan has a clear understanding of what would resonate with Western audiences and the political atmosphere, which I think has made this more effective,” McKenzie Sadeghi, a researcher at NewsGuard, told the outlet.

Creepy stuff. And it gets weirder. Russian state media and social media accounts have been amplifying misleading claims about Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton in an attempt to divide Americans ahead of the election, [researchers found]([link removed]). “These are not situations that foreign actors are creating,” Melanie Smith, one of the researchers, told the Associated Press. “They’re simply pouring gasoline on fires that already exist.”

It feels like this is becoming an American tradition of sorts. Like baseball, or hot dog eating contests, except not as fun. 

 

WHAT A SPONSOR

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MEANWHILE ON
THE POD...

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WHAT ELSE?

An Israeli strike on a shelter in the Gaza Strip killed 17 people today, mostly women and children, [according to Palestinian health officials]([link removed]). Meanwhile, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel has completed its goal of “effectively dismantling” Hamas, and that ceasefire talks resume “in the coming days.” 

Republican candidates running in key Senate and House races [have embraced]([link removed]) Trump’s proposal to shutter the Education Department, which is also explicitly called for in Project 2025. Former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos — who it’s important to remember has zero education background and was simply an anti-public school advocate prior to the Trump administration — has said she’d work for Trump again if the goal is to close the agency. 

Trump said he [would fire]([link removed]) special counsel Jack Smith, who criminally charged Trump over his alleged attempt to steal the 2020 election, “in two seconds” if elected. “I don’t think they’ll impeach me if I fire Jack Smith,” Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. Dunno buddy, they say the third time’s the charm! 

The world is on track [to hit 3 degrees Celsius]([link removed]) of global warming by the end of the century, the United Nations warned, which would dramatically worsen natural disasters and cause sea levels to rise. An uninhabitable earth: That’s the future Republicans want!

LOOK NO FURTHER THAN CROOKED MEDIA

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LIGHT AT THE END
OF THE EMAIL

Los Angeles’s district attorney [recommended a resentencing]([link removed]) for the Menendez brothers, who have been jailed for the killing of their parents in 1989. Erik and Lyle — the subjects of a popular Netflix documentary about the case — have argued that their parents were plotting to kill them to prevent people from learning that their father was sexually abusing Erik. Their extended family has pleaded for their release, as well as activists and celebrities. Their claims of sexual abuse have also been substantiated by several people close to the family. 

Billionaire conspiracy theorist Elon Musk’s pro-Trump super PAC [skipped its daily $1 million sweepstakes]([link removed]) on Wednesday following a warning from the Justice Department that it might be illegal. 

Chase Strangio, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, will be the [first openly transgender lawyer]([link removed]) to argue before the Supreme Court (about a law that bans medical treatment for transgender youth). Go Chase!

The Environmental Protection Agency [imposed new limits]([link removed]) today on lead paint exposure, aimed at protecting children living in older homes and at child-care facilities.
 
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YOU SURVIVED

SEE YOU FRIDAY

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