Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade

Law enforcement officers used tear gas during protests outside the Arizona Senate Building after part of a door was broken, the state Department of Public Safety said.

“Earlier tonight a crowd of protesters were pounding on the glass doors of the Senate Building. Part of a door was broken. Tear gas was deployed,” DPS spokesman Bart Graves said in an email.

Gas was used a second time after monuments were allegedly vandalized at a nearby plaza, he said.

There were no arrests, he said.

Arizona Senate Republicans, which are the majority party, tweeted that the Senate was secure but that gas had entered the chambers and they were making other arrangements. The Senate session later resumed and was ongoing Friday night.

A truck hit a person in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Friday evening, where people were marching after the Supreme Court decision.

Citing preliminary investigations, Cedar Rapids police said a group of protesters was legally crossing the street in front of the U.S. District Court Federal Courthouse when the traffic lights changed.

After a confrontation between the protesters and a driver, a truck "made contact" with a pedestrian, police said.

The pedestrian had injuries that appeared minor, and was taken to a hospital for evaluation, according to police.

Both the driver and pedestrian were interviewed by police. No additional information was released.

Video shows people attempting to stop the truck outside the courthouse.

In St. Louis, demonstrators from the staunch right and progressive left used a Planned Parenthood clinic as a gathering place Friday to mark the Supreme Court's Roe reversal.

Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the couple known for waving guns from their lawn at social justice demonstrators in 2020, celebrated Friday's ruling, according to NBC affiliate KSDK of St. Louis. Mark McCloskey is running for the U.S. Senate in Missouri as a Republican.

Among the crowd at the clinic were members of Defenders of the Unborn. "I never thought I would see this day when Missouri would not kill its children," said the group's president, Mary Maschmeier.

U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, who represents the city as a Democrat, voiced frustration and anger about the court's ruling.

"They can strike down Roe v. Wade, but they can’t strike down our voices," she told the crowd outside the clinic. "You have the people of St. Louis. We’re going to care for one another."

She discussed the abortion she had after she was raped at age 17. She said that without the procedure, she would have been forced to give birth to a child "I was not ready for, that I could not provide for."

After her speech, demonstrators chanted "My body, my choice."

The Planned Parenthood location in St. Louis had been the state's only abortion provider. Missouri's trigger law took effect Friday, making abortion a felony.

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Friday that the State Department would work to ensure access to reproductive health services to all its employees.

“This Department will do everything possible to ensure that all our employees have access to reproductive health services, wherever they live,” Blinken said. “We will not waiver from this commitment.”

Blinken's statement did not address abortion services specifically, but he said he was compelled to comment after the Supreme Court ruling because it raised "understandable questions and concerns" within the agency's workforce and across the world.

Blinken said in his statement that the department would also continue to advance reproductive rights around the world.

Attorney General Merrick Garland indicated Friday that the Justice Department would combat any Republican efforts to restrict access to abortion pills after the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, setting the stage for potential legal battles with some GOP-led states.

“The Justice Department will work tirelessly to protect and advance reproductive freedom,” Garland said in a lengthy statement after the Supreme Court ruling.

He said the agency is “ready to work with other arms of the federal government that seek to use their lawful authorities to protect and preserve access to reproductive care. In particular, the FDA has approved the use of the medication Mifepristone. States may not ban Mifepristone based on disagreement with the FDA’s expert judgment about its safety and efficacy.”

The two-drug regimen of medication abortion, as it’s clinically known, was first approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2000. People have been able to get mifepristone by mail since last year, when, due to the pandemic, the FDA suspended a requirement that it be administered in person. The agency made that option permanent in December.

Read the full story here.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A ban on most abortions at the first detectable fetal heartbeat became the law in Ohio on Friday following the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

Enforcement of Ohio’s 2019 “heartbeat” ban had been on hold for nearly three years under a federal court injunction. The state attorney general, Republican Dave Yost, asked for that to be dissolved because of the high court’s ruling, and a federal judge agreed hours later.

Critics had argued that the measure essentially prohibits abortions because the first detectable fetal heartbeat can occur as early as six weeks into pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant.

The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade could pave the way for states to restrict access to some contraceptives, two legal experts said.

“The states that are trying to limit abortion from the moment of conception — not even from the moment of pregnancy, as the medical profession would define it — could well try to challenge Plan B, emergency contraception, potentially even IUDs,” said Wendy Parmet, director of the Center for Health Policy and Law at Northeastern University.

Those forms of birth control could be an easier target for restrictions than traditional birth control pills, she said, because they prevent implantation — when a fertilized egg attaches to the womb — in addition to fertilization. Some people already consider them abortion-inducing medications for that reason.

Read the full story here.

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has requested that the state's "heartbeat law," which bans abortion once a heartbeat can be detected, take effect, according to a court notice filed Friday.

Carr, a Republican, said in a statement announcing the filing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th circuit court, that he believes "in the dignity, value and worth of every human being, both born and unborn."

“The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs is constitutionally correct and rightfully returns the issue of abortion to the states and to the people — where it belongs," Carr said.

Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed the bill into law in 2019, but it was immediately challenged in court. 

The abortion battle further intensifies the gubernatorial race in the state.

Kemp is facing pressure to call a special legislative session ahead of the election to enact even stricter abortion laws. If Stacey Abrams, a Democrat, wins in November, any such legislation passed by the GOP-led state house during the regular session, would almost certainly be vetoed. 

The musician Lizzo said Friday she is pledging $500,000 from her upcoming tour in support of abortion rights following the Supreme Court ruling that ended the constitutionally protected right to abortion in the U.S.

Lizzo, who is set to go to on tour in September, tweeted that Live Nation would match the donation to make it $1 million.

The “Truth Hurts” singer tweeted that the donation would be to "Planned Parenthood and Abortion Rights."

She also said proceeds would be donated to the National Network of Abortion Funds, which works to help people with costs, transportation and other forms of support.

Live Nation announced the matching funds and also said it would pay for employees who have to travel out of state for healthcare, and will pay bail for employees arrested for protesting peacefully.

Other celebrities also expressed shock and outrage over the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Taylor Swift tweeted in part that “I’m absolutely terrified that this is where we are.” Mariah Carey said she would have to explain to her 11-year-old daughter that “women’s rights are disintegrating in front of our eyes.”