|
As the aftershocks of the Dobbs decision continue to ripple across the country, states and regulators have confronted both foreseen and unforeseen consequences.
-
In Wisconsin, a woman bled for more than 10 days from an incomplete miscarriage after E.R. doctors would not remove the fetal tissue because of the confusing “legality” of the procedure. A woman with a life-threatening ectopic pregnancy traveled to the University of Michigan Hospital because doctors in her home state would not treat it due to the presence of a fetal heartbeat, despite the fact that ectopic pregnancies are not viable. An OB-GYN in Texas reported that doctors are delaying induced miscarriages in women with severe pregnancy complications until the women seem “sick enough,” due to fear of law enforcement. An estimated 30 percent of pregnancies end in miscarriage, and the methods of managing a miscarriage are the same as abortion. Doctors in Texas, which has a total 6-week abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest, report that pharmacists have begun questioning patients about miscarriage medications, suspecting they may be used instead for abortions.
-
Court battles must be fought according to each anti-choice state’s unique constitutional provisions, making inter-state restrictions a multi-headed monster. In Missouri, for instance, pregnant women effectively cannot get divorced. A West Virginia county circuit-court judge granted an injunction to the only abortion clinic in the state, blocking enforcement of a 150-year old state law that makes providing or obtaining an abortion a felony punishable up to 10 years in prison. Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R-WV) decried the ruling and said his office will appeal the decision to the state supreme court, even though the old law has been superseded by multiple modern laws regulating abortion that acknowledge a right to the procedure, including a 2015 state law, which allows abortions until 20 weeks. A similar restraining order in Louisiana is still in place for now, but will also likely end up before the Louisiana state supreme court.
-
Legal precedent dictates that states cannot ban an FDA-approved drug, but Republican lawmakers could still attempt to make abortion pills illegal, or make getting them harder by passing telemedicine restrictions, and demand for abortion pills post-Roe is higher than ever. In fact, some clinics have stopped offering the pills to out-of-state patients fearing legal retribution against providers from unfree states. A telemedicine startup specializing in abortion pills, HeyJane, said in a statement that in the days after Roe was overturned, its site traffic "grew almost 10x and patient demand more than doubled" compared to May. As so often happens with the internet, the telemedicine-abortion-care has been able to outrun certain regulations, but there’s no doubt Republicans are doing everything they can to catch up.
|
|
|
Faced with these literal life-and-death challenges, reproductive health advocates and congressional Dems alike are crafting ways to fight back.
-
On Friday, a lawyer representing Dr. Caitlin Bernard, the Indiana OB-GYN who performed an abortion in June on a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio, sent a cease and desist letter to Attorney General Todd Rokita (R-IN) demanding he stop smearing Dr. Bernard. Rokita’s statements on Fox News last week “cast Dr. Bernard in a false light and allege[d] misconduct in her profession,” according to her lawyer. He also said in the interview that he was "gathering the evidence" against Dr. Bernard, "including looking at her licensure.” If Rokita does not comply, the doctor could file a defamation claim against him. And if his statements don’t convince you that Rokita is one of the nation’s biggest scumbags, I’m not sure what will.
-
For its part, Congress has begun a meaningful legislative response to the Dobbs case, including by advancing legislation to codify other rights under GOP threat, like same-sex marriage. SCOTUS gargoyle Clarence Thomas has already opined that Obergefell should be “revisited” and Sen. Ted “Gargoyle” Cruz (R-TX) said on his podcast (the horrors don’t end: he has a podcast) that the decision was “clearly wrong.” Democrats thus introduced the “Respect for Marriage Act” which would repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act and require federal recognition for same-sex marriage and (what year is it) interracial marriage. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said he looks forward to bringing it to the floor this week, and Senate Dems have signaled it will be a top priority for them when it makes its way to the upper chamber.
It’s clear that the far right is pulling out all the stops to undo any civil-rights advancements made in the past half-century. In order to have a prayer of blocking their efforts, Dems will need to use all the political power they have, or risk losing the confidence of their already-beleaguered base.
|
|
|
In 2015 Putin’s number one public enemy, Boris Nemtsov, was shot and killed in front of the Kremlin. He was a relentless critic of Putin, corruption, and war in Ukraine. Then, he was assassinated.
In the newest Crooked podcast Another Russia, his daughter, journalist Zhanna Nemtsova, and co-host Ben Rhodes, tell his story to find out what happened to an entire country and to explore the question: Is another Russia possible?
New episodes of Another Russia drop each Monday starting July 25th. Check out the trailer & subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
|
|
|
The first comprehensive assessment of law-enforcement response to the school shooting in Uvalde, TX, cites major systemic failures from local, state, and federal officers who did not act at the scene resulting in the death of 19 elementary-school children and two teachers. The 77-page report concludes that many of the 400 officers who arrived at the scene that day could have taken charge at the scene far earlier than they did, after detailing that only a small group of them who arrived later in the day finally confronted the shooter. As has been widely-reported, the time that elapsed between the shooter first opening fire and police entering the classrooms at Robb Elementary School was 77 minutes. State-Rep. Dustin Burrows (R-TX) spearheaded the investigation, and said yesterday, “several officers in the hallway or in that building knew or should have known there was dying in that classroom, and they should have done more, acted with urgency.” The report found that none of the officers who learned of 9-1-1 calls coming from children inside the classroom (who reported a teacher had been wounded) appropriately shifted to an active shooter-style response or more urgently tried to get into the classrooms, including the acting chief of the Uvalde Police Department, who has been placed on administrative leave following the report’s release.
|
|
|
The January 6 Committee expects to have all of the subpoenaed Secret Service text messages (including the ones they deleted for what we’re all sure were totally legitimate reasons!!!) by tomorrow.
White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci plans to retire by the end of president Biden’s term.
Multiple cases of Marburg, another highly-infectious, deadly virus (are you kidding me at this point) were reported in Ghana, according to the World Health Organization.
Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland is recovering after breaking her leg in a hiking accident in Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park.
Families and survivors of the September 11 terrorist attacks criticized disgraced former president Donald Trump for hosting the LIV Golf series, which is funded by Saudi Arabia, at one of his golf clubs in Bedminster, NJ. Given his, you know, whole life, it’s unclear why anyone would expect Trump to be moved by appeals for him to conduct business with morality in mind, but best of luck.
Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA) has been subpoenaed to testify before a special grand jury investigating former President Trump’s alleged interference in the 2020 election.
Three people were killed and two wounded after a shooter opened fire in a shopping mall in suburban Indianapolis.
Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelensky fired two of his top officials whose departments were collaborating with Russia. Just a quick update that Zelensky is in fact still wearing his signature t-shirt in all presidential business.
|
|
|
A record-setting heatwave in Europe has become a continent-wide emergency. Making jokes about British people having to endure sweltering temperatures they’re unaccustomed to isn’t even fun anymore. The U.K. Royal Air Force has halted flights in and out of its largest base because “the runway has melted”. Okay well that one’s sort of funny and we can’t help it. But all jokes aside, the heatwave is rightly causing panic in the region and probably a big “I told you so,” from climate-change scientists. The heatwave is projected to demolish all-time national record-high temperatures in both France and the U.K. and is expected to leave a shocking death toll across Western Europe. Over 1,000 people in Spain and Portugal have died of heat-related causes. Seven of the top 10 hottest days ever recorded in the U.K have happened in the past 20 years. Wildfires are raging across France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Croatia, and Slovenia. As numerous climate studies have shown, the global-average surface temperature has increased by 1.2 Celsius degrees in the past one hundred years, dramatically increasing the odds of extreme heat events and their intensity and duration. But of course there’s no need for us to take necessary, dramatic action to meet this increasingly-horrifying moment in global history; Joe Manchin is worried about the deficit!
|
|
|
What A Day Newsletter is brought to you by Helix.
- Helix Sleep has a quiz that takes just two minutes to complete and matches your body type and sleep preferences to the perfect mattress for you. Why would you buy a mattress made for someone else? With Helix, you’re getting a mattress that you know will be perfect for the way YOU sleep.
- Helix has soft, medium, and firm mattresses, mattresses great for cooling you down if you sleep hot, mattresses great for spinal alignment to prevent morning aches and pains, and even a Helix Plus mattress for plus-sized sleepers.
- You take the quiz, you order the mattress that you’re matched to, and the mattress comes right to your door shipped for free. You don’t ever need to go to a mattress store again.
Helix was awarded the #1 best overall mattress pick of 2021 and by GQ and Wired Magazine AND recommended by multiple leading chiropractors and doctors of Sleep Medicine as a go-to solution for improving sleep.
Just go to Helixsleep.com/world, take their two-minute sleep quiz, and they’ll match you to a customized mattress that will give you the best sleep of your life. Helix has a 10-year warranty and you get to try it out for 100 nights, risk free. They’ll even pick it up for you if you don’t love it - but you will. There are even financing options and flexible payment plans so a great night sleep is never far away.
For a limited time, Helix is offering up to $350 off all mattress orders AND two free pillows for our readers. This is their best offer yet, so hurry over to Helixsleep.com/world.
|
|
|
|
|
