WTF Just Happened Today

Tuesday, April 9, 2024

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1/ Arizona’s Supreme Court upheld a 160-year-old near-total ban on abortion. The court ruled that a 1864 territorial law, which went into effect 48 years before Arizona became a state, supersedes the state’s 2022 15-week ban. Under the 19th-century law, abortion is outlawed from the moment of conception, except when necessary to save the life of the mother. It makes no exceptions for rape or incest, and doctors who administer an abortion face a mandatory prison sentence of two to five years. The court delayed implementation of the ban for at least two weeks to allow for additional legal arguments. The Biden campaign responded to the ruling, saying “this is what leaving it to the states looks like” – a reference to Trump’s suggestion that abortion restrictions should be a states’ rights issue. In a statement, Biden called the ban “cruel” and “a result of the extreme agenda of Republican elected officials who are committed to ripping away women’s freedom” and vowed to “continue to fight to protect reproductive rights.” In March 2022, the Republican-controlled Arizona Legislature enacted a 15-week trigger ban, which went into effect after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Arizona’s near-total abortion ban is one of the strictest in the nation, similar to laws in Texas, Alabama, and Mississippi. (NBC News / Arizona Republic / CNN / Washington Post / New York Times / Wall Street Journal / Axios)

2/ Special counsel Jack Smith urged the Supreme Court to reject Trump’s claim that he’s immune from prosecution for attempting to overturn the 2020 election. “The Framers never endorsed criminal immunity for a former President, and all Presidents from the Founding to the modern era have known that after leaving office they faced potential criminal liability for official acts,” Smith said. “The president’s constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed does not entail a general right to violate them.” The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on April 25, and a decision is expected by July. Trump faces four felony charges, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and obstruction. (ABC News / New York Times / Axios / Politico / CNN)

3/ The EPA issued new rules to force more than 200 chemical plants across the U.S. to reduce their cancer-linked t...

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