Post-Roe America, Day One
America #America
With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross
We’ll now see a patchwork of abortion access across the country, “two Americas” on the issue. | Francis Chung/E&E News/POLITICO
Moments after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the fallout was swift. Thousands of Americans took to the streets protesting the decision, patients waiting in lobbies to get abortions were turned away, and politicians in both red and blue states worked to shore up abortion access or work on laws to ban or restrict it.
On the right, conservatives celebrated the triumph of a five-decade campaign — while recognizing that they now have to defend a position directly at odds with popular opinion. “Overturning Roe does not guarantee justice for the unborn: Pro-lifers know the work must continue,” National Review writes in an editorial titled, “A Stain Erased.” “What the Court has done is give pro-lifers the chance to make their case and prevail in democratic fora.”
IMMEDIATE IMPACT — First things first, we’re going to see a patchwork of abortion access across the country, “two Americas,” as advocates have warned for years. Four states banned or mostly banned abortion immediately: Missouri, Kentucky, South Dakota and Louisiana. Other red states are set to follow suit in the coming weeks.
— Our Megan Messerly and Lisa Kashinsky write: “Red state governors and attorneys general moved swiftly to ban access to the procedure and announced special legislative sessions to restrict abortion … Their blue state counterparts quickly issued executive orders and announced new policies to protect abortion and prevent abortion-rights opponents from prosecuting providers and patients for pregnancies terminated legally in their state’s borders.”
Three key sections of their story: Bans in some red states may take time … An uncertain future in purple states … Blue states move to become havens. Related: Abortion laws by state: Where abortions are illegal after Roe v. Wade overturned
Three stories to read on abortion patients caught in the “chaos” after the ruling who were turned away from what just minutes before was a constitutional right:
— “Patients sat in abortion clinic waiting rooms as Roe fell. They all had to be turned away,” by The 19th’s Chabeli Carrazana
— “‘We’re done’: Chaos and tears as an abortion clinic abruptly shuts down,” by WaPo’s Caroline Kitchener
— “Photos: Reactions as North Dakota’s sole abortion provider prepares to shutter,” by Myah Ward
LOOKING TO THE WHITE HOUSE — President JOE BIDEN derided the court in a speech just hours after the ruling. CNN’s Phil Mattingly, Kevin Liptak and Kaitlan Collins detail what happened as the news made it to the West Wing.
Biden has promised executive orders on abortion, but for the time being, ensuring women are able to obtain abortions by crossing state lines and expanding access to the abortion pill are the biggest aspects of the policy response.
— There’s also likely to be increasing pressure on Biden, who has “long prided himself as an institutionalist loath to challenge the validity of the court,” to take a “blowtorch” to the highest court in the land, our colleague Christopher Cadelago reports.
“Despite the sharp rhetoric, Biden advisers don’t anticipate that he’ll use the court itself as a battering ram in the coming midterms. … But calls are growing from outside the White House to turn the midterms into a referendum on the court itself and to do so by attacking the institution and its conservative justices as political players whose power needs to be curtailed by growing Democratic majorities in Congress,” he writes. Related: “Harris leans into abortion fight”
GOP PRIVATELY FRETS — Conservatives got what they wanted but, “behind the scenes, they just didn’t want it to come right now — not during a midterm election campaign in which nearly everything had been going right for the GOP,” David Siders writes in a must-read this morning.
— Key graf: “[E]ven if Roe alone is not sufficient to remake the midterms in Democrats’ favor, [they could wed] Roe with the court’s decision the previous day on gun control, among other issues, to depict the post-Donald Trump GOP as one still animated by extremes. On Friday, the court provided fodder for that line of attack, when Justice CLARENCE THOMAS, in a concurring opinion, argued the court ‘should reconsider’ protections for contraception access and same-sex marriage.”
Related reads: “The Man Most Responsible for Ending Roe Worries That It Could Hurt His Party,” by NYT’s Maggie Haberman and Michael Bender … “Trump publicly praises Roe’s repeal — but privately frets about impact,” by WaPo’s Josh Dawsey
Good Saturday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.
STATE SHOWDOWN— While both Biden and Democratic lawmakers have promised to do what they can to blunt the impacts of the Supreme Court decision, their options are limited given the makeup of the current Congress. In statement after statement Friday, Democrats implored voters to elect more Democrats to Congress so they can enshrine abortion rights into law.
But, the major action will likely play out in the states. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee arguably just became the most important party committee on the left. In a breaking news version of the Playbook video series “The Midterm View,” shot Friday in front of the Supreme Court, JESSICA POST, the president of the organization, talked about how the ruling has affected their strategy and the failure of national Democrats to focus on state elections for years.
—Her message to national Democrats: “There are folks that think that maybe with some more votes in the Senate that they can get this done. But the federal government’s not coming to save us. We’re going to have to protect reproductive rights in the states.”
— Best strategy for state legislature candidates: “Go and door-knock in your district and listen to what people are saying because they think what you’re going to hear people say is that women are concerned about having fewer rights, then there are children having fewer rights than they did. Listen to the folks in your community, listen to the language that they’re using, and then use that language.”
COURT FALLOUT — When now-Justice BRETT KAVANAUGH’s nomination seemed in peril, he received two critical votes from Sens. SUSAN COLLINS (R-Maine) and JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) after assuring them in private meetings that Roe was settled law. After Friday’s ruling, both senators essentially said they were duped.
NYT’s Carl Hulse has the deets on what Kavanaugh told Collins in her office when she pushed him on Roe. “Judge Kavanaugh worked vigorously to reassure her that he was no threat to the landmark abortion rights ruling.
“‘Start with my record, my respect for precedent, my belief that it is rooted in the Constitution, and my commitment and its importance to the rule of law,’ he said, according to contemporaneous notes kept by multiple staff members in the meeting. ‘I understand precedent and I understand the importance of overturning it. … I am a don’t-rock-the-boat kind of judge. I believe in stability and in the Team of Nine.”
On Friday, Collins said, “I feel misled” while Manchin, who is anti-abortion, released a statement saying, “I trusted Justice [NEIL] GORSUCH and Justice Kavanaugh when they testified under oath that they also believed Roe v. Wade was settled legal precedent and I am alarmed they chose to reject the stability the ruling has provided for two generations of Americans.”
— For years, both sides of the aisle have knocked the Supreme Court as becoming too politicized, and today, our SCOTUS guru Josh Gerstein has a deep dive on how Chief Justice JOHN ROBERTS lost control of his court.
He writes: “And with the tumultuous Roe decision, the Roberts court legacy takes on a historic taint of polarization that the chief justice may not be able to unwind as he stares down the remaining years of his term overseeing a court that he clearly can’t control or cajole. … But it’s just the latest in a series of blows Roberts has sustained in recent weeks that have fueled doubts about his ability to manage an increasingly fractious court.”
Related: “Emboldened Supreme Court majority shows it’s eager for change,” by WaPo’s Robert Barnes
WEEKEND LISTEN: ALEX HOLDER, the documentary filmmaker and Jan. 6 committee witness, told us that DONALD TRUMP took an interesting call nine days before the 2020 election.
“My memory is,” Holder told us, “that the chief of staff sort of came over and said that the interview couldn’t happen today because the president was on the phone. And I believe, if I remember correctly, that he said that he was on the phone to the president of Russia, VLADIMIR PUTIN, which is why the interview had to be postponed.” Listen to Playbook Deep Dive
BIDEN’S SATURDAY — The president this morning signed the bipartisan gun reform bill into law, which he said denotes “a monumental day” that will save lives. Biden is departing the White House this morning for Germany, arriving at Schloss Elmau (via Munich) at 5:45 p.m. Eastern time.
Biden also again addressed the overturning of Roe, calling it “painful and devastating.” Asked by a reporter if he thinks the Supreme Court is broken, Biden responded, “I think the Supreme Court has made some terrible decisions.”
Press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE and JOHN KIRBY will gaggle on the way to Germany.
VP KAMALA HARRIS’ SATURDAY — The VP has nothing on her public schedule.
PHOTO OF THE DAY
Democratic members of the House celebrate after passing new gun regulations Friday. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
9 THINGS THAT STUCK WITH US
1. LOOK WHO’S TALKING: “Stop the Steal” organizer ALI ALEXANDER testified before a federal grand jury that’s part of the DOJ Jan. 6 investigation for almost three hours Friday, ABC’s Ali Dukakis scooped. Alexander said in a statement that he repeated much of what he’d told the House Jan. 6 committee as a witness.
Related: A federal judge in D.C. on Friday told the Oath Keepers’ legal defense team that they need to come clean about whether SIDNEY POWELL or anyone else is funding them, WaPo’s Spencer Hsu reports.
2. HOW THE GUN DEAL HAPPENED: As Biden signs the bipartisan gun reform bill into law this morning, a pair of tick-tocks on how the improbable become reality: N.Y. Mag’s Gabe Debenedetti attributes the success to good timing, increased public agitation, a stronger pro-gun-regulation movement, years of bipartisan work on piecemeal legislation and some stores of trust between Sens. CHRIS MURPHY (D-Conn.) and JOHN CORNYN (R-Texas) and other pairs.
WaPo’s Mike DeBonis, meanwhile, reports that as the talks were nearly falling apart last week and Cornyn was getting booed by Texas Republicans, he texted Sen. KYRSTEN SINEMA (D-Ariz.), “We both know that when we’re doing what’s right, it doesn’t matter what other people think.”
Murphy on calling gun violence victims to tell them senators had secured a framework: “It was one of the most emotional nights of my life … There was a combination of relief but then a lot of sadness that it had taken this long. I mean, a lot of these parents wonder, ‘Why this didn’t happen after my kid was killed?’”
3. HABEMUS VAPEM: Juul has at least another couple of weeks for its e-cigarettes to stay on the market after a court stayed the FDA’s new ban Friday, giving the company time to ready its legal challenge to the existential regulatory decision. The judges said their move is not an indication of the merits of Juul’s main challenge, but their decision, writes Stat’s Nicholas Florko, constitutes “an early — albeit significant — setback for the FDA.”
4. 2024 WATCH, DEM EDITION: NYT’s Katie Glueck has a fun rundown of the various state pitches to a DNC committee to get a spot early in the presidential nominating line, which included a Red Arrow Diner mug and maple syrup from New Hampshire, ISIAH THOMAS and dried cherries from Michigan, and a PRINCE song from Minnesota. Many states offered up smooth video packages and spirited advocacy from big-name politicians. “Midwestern manners barely masked a deepening rivalry between Michigan and Minnesota.”
Interesting wrinkle: JIM ROOSEVELT, the chair of the committee, told CBS’ Aaron Navarro that states could be penalized if their top election administrator is a 2020 election denier: “You can’t count on them to follow the law for the primary process.” In Nevada and Michigan, GOP secretary of state nominees have promulgated lies about election fraud.
5. 2024 WATCH, GOP EDITION: Nashville is one of the final two contenders for the 2024 Republican National Convention, but tensions are running high in Tennessee over the prospect, NBC’s Natasha Korecki reports.
6. EMPIRE STATE OF MIND: In New York’s gubernatorial primary, incumbent KATHY HOCHUL has become a fundraising juggernaut: She’s pulled in $34 million and wants to hit $50 million to $70 million by November, NYT’s Dana Rubinstein and Jay Root report. That could make her bid one of the costliest in state history.Featured at a recent Hochul fundraiser: former Gov. DAVID PATERSON singing “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay,” whose lyrics he told the NYT “are quite existential.”
On the GOP side, candidates have to walk a difficult line between getting conservative enough to win next week’s primary without going so far right that they snuff out their general-election chances in a blue state, report NYT’s Jesse McKinley and Nicholas Fandos from Poughkeepsie. Rep. LEE ZELDIN appears to be the primary frontrunner, but ANDREW GIULIANI (who’s done the least to moderate his positions) and two others are keeping the race close.
7. DANCE OF THE SUPERPOWERS: As big nations jockey for influence in the Pacific, the U.S., Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the U.K. are launching a new Partners in the Blue Pacific pact to aid small countries in the region. The initiative emerged Friday out of discussions in Washington this week, per Bloomberg.
8. WHAT JOHN SOLOMON IS UP TO: The founder of Just the News, who’s become a conservative media darling, was granted access to private Trump administration records at the National Archives at the behest of Trump himself, Betsy Woodruff Swan reports. KASH PATEL has also gotten access to them. Solomon is specifically looking at Russia probe-related documents for a journalistic research project, he told Betsy.
9. FACT CHECK: American Muckrakers PAC, a Democratic super PAC trying to take down Rep. LAUREN BOEBERT (R-Colo.), has made several false or unverified claims about her, CNN’s Daniel Dale reports.
CLICKER — “The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics,” edited by Matt Wuerker — 15 funnies
GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Ryan Lizza:
— “An Elite Christian College Has Become The Latest Battleground In America’s Culture Wars,” by HuffPost’s Jonathan Cohn: “The saga that unfolded after a professor officiated a same-sex wedding has exposed deep rifts over how the school treats members of the LGBTQ community — and how its church interprets the Bible.”
— “Teenage Justice,” by Elizabeth Weil in N.Y. Mag: “A list of boys ‘to look out for’ appeared on a high-school bathroom wall last fall. The story of one of them.”
— “How the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Became Law,” a five-part series from The Dispatch’s Haley Byrd Wilt: “‘The liberty of democracy is a complicated undertaking.’”
— “How 2022 Became the Year of Over-the-Top Masculinity in Politics,” by Bill Donahue in WaPo Magazine: “In races nationwide, ‘he-man’ politics is on the rise. But what does it all mean?”
— “How a Former Transcendental Meditation Devotee Ended Up Funding America’s Wildest Right-Wing Spy Op,” by Mother Jones’ Tim Murphy: “The saga of Gore-Tex heir Susan Gore is a parable of the dark turn the Republican Party has taken.”
— “Democrats Should Have Seen the End of Roe Coming,” by The New Republic’s Grace Segers: “[The decision] is the culmination of decades of investment by the anti-abortion movement.”
— “How OXO Conquered the American Kitchen,” by Slate’s Dan Kois: “The company diced, peeled, and salad-spun its way to America’s heart. Is it really that good?”
A man named Guido Reichstadter scaled the Fredrick Douglass bridge to protest the overturning of Roe and says he stayed overnight.
Astead Herndon’s loft is full of bright colors and “a flair for the dramatic.”
The CIA has finally opened a new gym to try to help retain workers, with virtually no electronics allowed.
TRANSITIONS — Ari Schaffer is now comms director for the William F. Buckley Jr. Program at Yale. He most recently was chief of staff for Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, and is a Trump White House and Commerce Department alum. … Jordan Bonfitto is now director of government affairs at the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. He most recently was at the Global Cold Chain Alliance, and is a Trump USDA and White House alum.
WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Alex Angelson, a principal at Michael Best Strategies and a Trump White House alum, and Rebecca Angelson, deputy chief of staff for Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio), recently welcomed Amelia Joy Angelson. Pic … Another pic
— Matt Whitlock, a Republican comms strategist and an NRSC and Orrin Hatch alum, and Liz Whitlock, an attorney, on Thursday welcomed Weston Dean Whitlock, who came in at 9 lbs, 6 ounces and 23 inches. Pic … Another pic
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Justice Sonia Sotomayor … CNN’s Betsy Klein … Alan McQuinn … POLITICO’s Hank Hoffman … Annika Christensen of the Senate Homeland Security Dems … John Randall of BCW Global … Abbie Sorrendino … Danielle Doheny … Matt Felling of Sen. Angus King’s (I-Maine) office … Dan Meyers of APCO Worldwide … Ryan Long … Trice Jacobson of the Charles Koch Institute … Taylor Haulsee … Bully Pulpit Interactive’s Scott Zumwalt … Ned Monroe of the Vinyl Institute … former Reps. Leonard Lance (R-N.J.) and Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-Mich.) … Corbett Daly … Kamran Daravi … Rokk Solutions’ John Fisher … Jackie Bradford … Lissie Diringer … Narrative Strategies’ Patrick O’Connor … Josh Lahey … Brian Wynne of the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International
THE SHOWS (Full Sunday show listings here):
CNN “State of the Union”: Secretary of State Antony Blinken … British PM Boris Johnson … Stacey Abrams.
MSNBC “The Sunday Show”: Education Secretary Miguel Cardona … George Hahn … Jonathan Metzl … Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) … Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) … Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.) … New York Gov. Kathy Hotchul … Cecile Richards … Virginia state Del. Danica Roem.
ABC “This Week”: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) … South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem … Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.). Abortion panel: Jennifer Ashton, Dan Abrams and Terry Moran. Panel: Jonathan Karl, Donna Brazile, Sarah Isgur and Susan Page.
CBS “Face the Nation”: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer … South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem … Marc Short … Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) … David Malpass.
NBC “Meet the Press”: Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson … Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) … Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). Panel: Garrett Haake, Peggy Noonan, Andrea Mitchell and Kimberly Atkins Stohr.
FOX “Fox News Sunday,” guest-anchored by Martha MacCallum: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) … Stacey Abrams. Panel: Doug Heye, Jonathan Swan, Aishah Hasnie and Juan Williams.
CNN “Inside Politics”: Panel: Manu Raju, Asma Khalid, Leigh Ann Caldwell, Joan Biskupic, Sarah McCammon and Carrie Cordero.
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