Thursday, June 13, 2024

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1/ The Supreme Court unanimously preserved access to the abortion pill mifepristone, rejecting a challenge to the FDA’s rules for prescribing and dispensing abortion pills. The court, however, took no position on the drugs safety, morality, or whether people have a right to bodily autonomy. Instead, the court said the anti-abortion group had failed to show they had been harmed and did not have legal standing to sue. “For that reason, the federal courts are the wrong forum for addressing the plaintiffs’ concerns about FDA’s actions,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote for the court, even though the plaintiffs have “sincere legal, moral, ideological, and policy objections.” Kavanaugh suggested that the plaintiffs take their issues to the president, lawmakers, and regulators to make changes. Although the ruling was unanimous, Missouri, Kansas, and Idaho, each of which has a Republican attorney general, have brought their own claims and have different arguments for standing. Mifepristone was used in nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the U.S. last year. (Washington Post / Associated Press / New York Times / CNN / NPR / NBC News / Politico / Axios / ABC News / Wall Street Journal)

2/ Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic bill to protect access to in vitro fertilization. Every though 49 Senate Republicans signed onto a letter voicing their support for IVF, the legislation failed 48-47. It needed 60 votes to advance. “Once again, Senate Republicans refused to protect access to fertility treatments for women who are desperately trying to get pregnant,” Biden said after the vote. “The disregard for a woman’s right to make these decisions for herself and her family is outrageous and unacceptable.” Last week, Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic measure to protect the federal right to access contraception nationwide. (Politico / Axios / Washington Post / New York Times /

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