WTF Just Happened Today

Monday, January 22, 2024

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1/ The Biden administration announced new steps to expand access to contraception, abortion medication, and emergency abortion care at hospitals on the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Eighteen months after the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade, Biden called on Congress to “stop playing politics with a woman’s life and freedom” and codify Roe v. Wade into law. The Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services announced new guidance to “clarify standards” and make sure FDA-approved contraceptive medications are available for free under the Affordable Care Act. The Office of Personnel Management will offer new guidance to insurers to strengthen access to contraception for federal workers, retirees, and family members. HHS also announced a “comprehensive plan” to increase awareness and understanding about the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, which requires patients to receive emergency medical care regardless of their ability to pay. “We need to understand the horrific reality that women face every single day,” Harris said. “As we face this crisis and as we are clear-eyed about the harm, let us also understand who is responsible, shall we? The former president handpicked three Supreme Court justices because he intended for them to overturn Roe. He intended for them to take away your freedoms. And it is a decision he brags about.” (NBC News / Washington Post / New York Times / ABC News / CNN / Bloomberg)

2/ The Supreme Court allowed Border Patrol agents to cut through or move razor wire along the Mexican border that Texas installed to keep migrants from crossing into the state. The ruling, by a 5-to-4 vote, vacates a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ injunction and reinstates federal authority over the international boundary between Mexico and Texas. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh dissented. (NPR / New York Times / NBC News / CNN / Wall Street Journal)

3/ Trump warned the Supreme Court that removing him from Colorado’s 2024 ballot would “unleash chaos and bedlam.” Trump urged the court to “put a swift and decisive end” to lawsuits that say he is ineligible to serve as president because he “engaged in insurrection” on Jan. 6. The Colorado ruling was the first to find that the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause applies to Trump, which prohibits someone from holding “any office […] under the United States” if they “engaged in insurrection” after taking an oath to support the Constitution. The Sup...

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