lawsplainer
Can Trump Really ADJOURN CONGRESS? Hahahahaha, F*ck Off
Donald Trump's 'Week Of Dictatoring Bigstupidly' continues.
April 16, 2020 10:51 AM
Boy howdy, Donald The Great Glorious Dictator is just havin' hisself A WEEK!
A few days back we laughed and laughed at Trump puffing out his chest and declaring he has "absolute" authority over when the governors of US America reopen their states. He decidedly does not. A day or two later, we laughed and laughed again when Trump made some sort of ego-tripping move that seemed to be intended to sort of walk the "absolute authority" thing back, but he ended up saying he has "authorized" governors to use their best judgment do whatever they need to do to protect their own states from the novel coronavirus. Dipshit was just standing there granting hall passes and everybody was like "Yeah, LOL, OK, um ... thanks? Anyway fuck off."
And now Donald Trump says he is going to ADJOURN CONGRESS.
Like so many of Trump's dictatorial ramblings, it happened during Trump's daily corona-lingus presser, which on Wednesday was not about coronavirus, as far as we could tell. (STOP RUNNING THEM, NETWORKS.) Yesterday, it was mostly him bitching about judges and other nominees that have been held up in Congress, because of how Congress is staying the fuck at home like everybody else.
And that is when he came up with his very legal and very cool idea for adjourning Congress, so he can recess appoint all the very important unconfirmed nominees on Mitch McConnell's desk. They are very important nominees, you guys. Sure, they're mostly child judges, and Trump didn't even try to explain why it's so important to confirm them during corona, but SURE WHATEVER. (The Washington Post notes that for most of the other vacant jobs in the government, they're empty because Trump hasn't bothered to pick anybody to fill them. For instance, the secretary of Homeland Security, which you'd think might be important in a pandemic. And we all know how he loves "acting" officials, because it's easier to boss them without oversight.)
Maybe the child judges have promised to manufacture coronavirus tests or something. It's probably that.
<p>
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</p><p><br></p><blockquote><strong>TRUMP: </strong>They put up roadblocks. Whether it's Russia, Russia, Russia, or whether it's impeachment hoax, or whatever it may be, it's always roadblocks and waste of time. If the House will not agree to that adjournment, I will exercise my constitutional authority to adjourn both chambers of Congress. The current practice of leaving town while conducting phony <em>pro forma</em> sessions is a dereliction of duty that the American people cannot afford during this crisis. It is a SCAM what they do! It's a SCAM! And everybody knows it.</blockquote><p>Right, whatever. It is a "dereliction of duty" that Congress is gaveling in and out every day instead of going into an official recess — that is what <em>pro forma</em> sessions are, if you didn't know — which is preventing Trump from recess appointing shitmouthed preschoolers to judgeships. This is really crippling America's response to coronavirus, much more than the fact that America's testing regime is the laughingstock of the world and nobody knows how far and wide coronavirus really has gone in America, because Trump can't pull his orange head out of his mangy butthole and be bothered to do his actual job for five fucking minutes.</p><p>Trump added that if Congress has a problem with him using his absolute power to put a stay-at-home-forever order on Congress, he'll just have to go to court about it, and "we'll see who wins," NOW WON'T WE!</p><blockquote><strong>TRUMP: </strong>They know they've been warned and they've been warned right now. If they don't approve it, then we're going to go this route and we'll probably be challenged in court and we'll see who wins.</blockquote><p>That sound you hear is Congress doing the jerkoff motion, all in unison, on Zoom.</p><p>There <em>is</em> a thing in the Constitution where under certain circumstances, if the houses of Congress cannot agree <em>with each other</em> to an adjournment day and time, the president can step in <em>in extraordinary situations</em> and open or adjourn Congress. <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/interpretation/article-ii/clauses/348" target="_blank">Article II, Section 3</a> says <del>presidents named Trump can do whatever they want!</del> the president "may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper." </p><p>Trump acknowledges that nobody's ever done this before, which goes without saying because no American president has ever been a whinyassed wannabe dictator like Donald Trump. His only relationship with the Constitution, apparently, is searching the document for obscure clauses he can misuse to consolidate power and become an unaccountable king. </p><p>But really, can Trump do this? You will be shocked to learn that Donald Trump, Reader Of Things, is not doing constitutional reading comprehension very well right now. Noted law person Steve Vladeck <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/04/16/adjourn-congress-trump-constitution/" target="_blank">law-splains</a> at the <em>Washington Post</em> that this text is <em>limiting</em> to Trump, and not actually a loophole to let the president become boss of Congress whenever he feels like it:</p><blockquote>What may not be clear from this text, but is abundantly clear from the Constitution's context, is that the adjournment power was meant to <em>limit</em> the president — to confine to exactly one circumstance the power to send Congress home prematurely.<br><br>As Alexander Hamilton wrote in <a href="https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed69.asp" target="_blank">The Federalist No. 69</a>, "a British monarch may prorogue or even dissolve the Parliament," and a governor "may also prorogue the legislature of this State for a limited time, but "The President can only adjourn the national legislature in the single case of disagreement about the time of adjournment."</blockquote><p>Vladeck explains that this came directly as a safeguard against the common British practice of kings dissolving Parliament every time Parliament was making their kingly asses itch. Vladeck goes on to explain more about the <em>extraordinary circumstances</em> that would create the situation described by the Constitution:</p><blockquote>[E]ven when controlled by different parties, the House of Representatives and the Senate are usually able to agree in advance on adjournments; it's also that, even when they don't, one chamber can spoil the president's power by simply (if begrudgingly) going along with the other. It's also increasingly anachronistic: Whereas Congress used to take long, formal recesses between its sessions, it has, for more than a half-century, typically remained in session from Jan. 3 through the conclusion of all legislative business (which, in recent years, has run nearly until the next Jan. 3). <strong>Simply put, it would take both a remarkable abandonment of tradition from Senate Republicans, and a refusal to go along from House Democrats for the president to even be in position to formally adjourn Congress. And before any of this happens, Congress would, more than a little ironically, have to <em>return</em> to Washington — and the Senate would have to vote to change the adjournment schedule.</strong></blockquote><p>Wow, that is a lot of things that would have to happen for Donald Trump to be able to use his ABSOLUTE POWER to make Congress come back to Washington so he could forcibly send them back home. </p><p>During a pandemic.</p><p>So Trump could recess-appoint little dumbass Tomi Lahren/Ben Shapiro clones to federal judgeships. </p><p>
<iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1250575640333598726" id="twitter-embed-1250575640333598726" type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1250575640333598726&created_ts=1586995441.0&screen_name=steve_vladeck&text=Leaving+aside+that+he+probably+%2Acan%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%99t%2A+do+this+%28because+it%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%99s+unlikely+the+chambers+will+disagree%29%2C+he%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%98s+not+actuall%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%A6+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FtXw0K9dDz8&id=1250575640333598726&name=Steve+Vladeck" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="34f4f6c0e7cf743d2b2d77b17288a89f"></iframe>
</p><p>You betcha.</p><p>Vladeck concludes that "[j]ust like Trump's claim of 'total' power over states, his threat to adjourn Congress is empty, both formally and functionally." But he says Congress needs to push back, by telling Trump loudly and clearly that LOL FUCK OFF, and explaining why. </p><p>Here is Senator Kamala Harris explaining to Anderson Cooper how Trump is just doing this to distract from his own abject bloodstained failure to handle the coronavirus pandemic, and also LOL FUCK OFF:</p><p>
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</p><p>In summary and in conclusion, in case we haven't said this yet, LOL FUCK OFF.</p><p>[<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/04/16/adjourn-congress-trump-constitution/" target="_blank">Washington Post</a>]</p><p><strong>Follow Evan Hurst on Twitter <a href="http://twitter.com/evanhurst" target="_blank">RIGHT HERE, DO IT RIGHT HERE!</a></strong></p><p><strong>Wonkette is fully funded by readers like YOU. If you love Wonkette, SUPPORT WONKETTE FINANCIALLY.</strong><br></p><p></p><p><a href="https://amzn.to/33mKzZe" target="_blank">Do your Amazon shopping through this link, because reasons</a>.</p><p></p><p></p><form name="donation" method="post" class="donation-form"><p class="subheadline">How often would you like to donate?</p><div class="form-row row--plan"><label class="plan-type__label"><input type="radio" name="plan_type" value="once" class="plan-type" required="" checked> Just once
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News
Vote And Die! Democracy According To The US Supreme Court And Wisconsin Supreme Court
We don't say this lightly: This is evil! Have a good day!
April 07, 2020 09:01 AM
Soooooo Wisconsin is going to have an election today. A lot of people are going to be put in actual, physical danger because of Republican bullshit. A lot of people aren't going to be able to vote because of Republican bullshit. And a lot of people are going to continue to be fucked over by Republican bullshit for years to come.
Happy Tuesday!
We let you know yesterday about all kinds of craziness going on with today's election in the badger state. And suffice it to say a LOT has happened since then. None of it good.
Voters, civil rights groups, and the Wisconsin and the Democratic Party went to court to fight for voting rights — and lost. The Republican Party went to court to fight against voting rights — and won.
So yeah, it's all bad.
<h2>UGHHHHHHHHHhhhhfdksajflkdsamfdskl</h2><p>Wisconsin Republicans have spent the last few weeks trying to use a global pandemic as an excuse to disenfranchise voters in their state. And yesterday, the highest courts in the country and the state of Wisconsin gave them everything they wanted, tied up with a bow.<br></p><p>For the last few weeks, Wisconsin voters and the Democratic Party have been in court, fighting for expanded voting rights during the pandemic.</p><p>Democratic Governor Tony Evers called the Republican-controlled legislature into session to ask them to move the state's primary and automatically mail absentee ballots to every registered voter in the state. The legislature said "nah" and ended the session after just <a href="https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2020/04/04/wisconsin-legislature-adjourns-special-session-monday-voting-track-tuesday-election/2948444001/" target="_blank">17 seconds</a>.</p><p>Meanwhile, in a case aptly styled <em>RNC v. DNC</em>, the five conservative members of the US Supreme Court stepped in to do their part to fuck with democracy and ensure that tens of thousands of votes won't be counted.</p><p>Why all the fuckery over a primary whose result already appears to be a foregone conclusion? There's also an important seat on the state supreme court at play.</p><h2>It's all fucked</h2><p>Wisconsin's election today is more than just a presidential primary. There are <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/04/supreme-court-wisconsin-absentee-ballots.html" target="_blank">more than 3,800</a> seats on the ballot, including a seat on the state's highest court currently held by conservative Justice Daniel Kelly.</p><p>Like a lot of other states around the country, Wisconsin has struggled to deal with holding elections in light of the COVID-19 pandemic — highlighted by the state legislature's refusal to ... well, to do anything. Thousands of poll workers have dropped out and cities have been forced to close dozens of polling places. <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/04/supreme-court-wisconsin-absentee-ballots.html" target="_blank">Milwaukee</a>, which normally has 182 polling locations, will have just five. Green Bay, which normally has 31 polling locations, is down to two.</p><p>Understandably, the pandemic has resulted in a lot of requests for absentee ballots. Typically, the state receives about 250,000 absentee ballot requests for a spring election. This year, it's gotten around 1.2 million.</p><p> Unfortunately, election officials in Wisconsin have been unable to process all of the requests in a timely manner. Because of this, tens of thousands of Wisconsin voters won't receive their ballots until after Election Day.</p><p>Last week, a federal court <a href="https://www.wpr.org/sites/default/files/37_-_conley_opinion_and_order.pdf" target="_blank">ordered</a> the state to extend the deadline for accepting absentee ballots and count votes mailed after Election Day, as long as they were returned by April 13. As of Sunday, tens of thousands of ballots had yet to be mailed <em>out</em>.</p><p>Then last night, hours before Wisconsin's election was to be held, the Roberts Court decided to jump in — because there's nothing Republicans love more than disenfranchising voters!</p><p>In a short, unsigned order, SCOTUS jumped in to do its favorite thing and give Republicans a win, democracy be damned. It doesn't matter to the Court whether Wisconsin voters received their absentee ballots by election day — they can just wait in line during a deadly pandemic instead!</p><p>Great!</p><p>But this is nothing new for the Wisconsin GOP, which really loves it some undemocratic bullshit. </p><p>If Wisconsin elections were actually democratic to begin with, this likely wouldn't be an issue. Wisconsin Republicans gerrymandered their legislature to the point where, <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2018/12/chart-of-the-day-wisconsin-gerrymandering-was-awesome/" target="_blank">in 2018</a>, Democrats won 54% of the votes for the State Assembly, but won just 36% of the seats.</p><p>Meanwhile, in Madison, Governor Evers issued an <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6825792-Evers-EO-suspending-election.html" target="_blank">executive order</a> as a last-ditch effort to postpone today's election until June 9. But the legislature sued and got an <a href="https://twitter.com/benwikler/status/1247283211429871616" target="_blank">order</a> yesterday evening from the Wisconsin Supreme Court, mandating the election go forward.</p><p>Although today we're talking about Wisconsin, these are issues we're going to be hearing more and more about in coming days, weeks, and months. As noted by the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/us/politics/wisconsin-primary-voting-coronavirus.html" target="_blank"><em>New York Times</em></a>,<span></span></p><blockquote>"Wisconsin is just a microcosm. And it presents questions that the nation will soon have to grapple with," said former Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., who now leads an organization focused on gerrymandering and voting equality. "It's a test of our democracy. And the question is, 'Are we up to passing that test?'"</blockquote><h2>Can we just always just listen to RBG?</h2><p>RBG, joined by the other three liberal justices on the Supreme Court, thoroughly schooled the majority, writing that the Court's decision "will result in massive disenfranchisement." </p><blockquote>A voter cannot deliver for postmarking a ballot she has not received. Yet tens of thousands of voters who timely requested ballots are unlikely to receive them by April 7, the Court's postmark deadline.</blockquote><p>So, that's, umm, a problem.</p><p>We are in the midst of a deadly global pandemic. We are also in the midst of an important election year. And so far, we are not doing a very good job of dealing with those two facts.</p><p>As RBG warns,</p><blockquote>The question here is whether tens of thousands of Wisconsin citizens can vote safely in the midst of a pandemic. Under the District Court's order, they would be able to do so. Even if they receive their absentee ballot in the days immediately following election day, they could return it. With the majority's stay in place, that will not be possible. Either they will have to brave the polls, endangering their own and others' safety. Or they will lose their right to vote, through no fault of their own. That is a matter of utmost importance—to the constitutional rights of Wisconsin's citizens, the integrity of the State's election process, and in this most extraordinary time, the health of the Nation.</blockquote><h2>TL;DR </h2><p>Wisconsin is having an election today. It's going to be a shitshow.</p><p>Also, Republicans and the Roberts Court hate democracy.</p><p>Have a great day!</p><p>Here's the Supreme Court's order. I recommend skipping straight to RBG's dissent.</p><iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" data-aspect-ratio="null" data-auto-height="true" data-rm-shortcode-id="91ebbbbdd2b5bdc1b64bb33ca43e6c98" frameborder="0" height="600" scrolling="no" src="https://www.scribd.com/embeds/455317462/content?start_page=1&show_recommendations=true" width="100%"></iframe><p><br></p><p><br></p><p></p><p><a href="https://amzn.to/33mKzZe" target="_blank">Do your Amazon shopping through this link, because reasons</a>.</p><br><p></p><p></p><form name="donation" method="post" class="donation-form"><p class="subheadline">How often would you like to donate?</p><div class="form-row row--plan"><label class="plan-type__label"><input type="radio" name="plan_type" value="once" class="plan-type" required="" checked> Just once
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coronavirus
Bush-Appointed-Judge Tells ICE: LET MY PEOPLE GO
Like seriously. NOW.
April 02, 2020 02:56 PM
As the COVID-19 pandemic decimates the world, one population is particularly at risk: people who are incarcerated. They are at the mercy of the state, and almost always held in conditions where the coronavirus is likely to spread: close quarters with no possibility of social distancing, no or few toiletries available, and forced to wash, live, and eat within feet or even inches of each other
There is no denying that coronavirus is already ravaging our jails, prisons, and detention centers. At least four ICE detainees in New Jersey and one in Arizona have already tested positive for COVID-19 — and that's without widespread testing of people in DHS custody.
On Tuesday, a federal judge in the Middle District of Pennsylvania ordered the 11 petitioners in Thakker v. Doll to be released.
The good
<p>
All of the petitioners in the case have underlying medication conditions which make them high-risk for serious complications from the novel coronavirus. Several of them began showing symptoms of COVID-19 while incarcerated; none of them were quarantined, isolated, or treated.<br>
</p><p>
Officials at the Department of Homeland Security and ICE, of course, showed their true colors and vigorously fought to continue to incarcerate these immigrants, who are at a high risk of dying or having serious, lasting damage done to their bodies.<span></span>
</p><p>
But Judge John Jones III, a W appointee, pulled no punches in his rebuke of the DHS position, noting that he could "see no rational relationship between a legitimate government objective and keeping Petitioners detained in unsanitary, tightly-packed environments," and ordering the petitioners released.
</p><p>
The virus is almost certainly already inside of our jails and detention centers, even in places where positive test results are still forthcoming.
</p><blockquote>
Petitioners face the inexorable progression of a global pandemic creeping across our nation—a pandemic to which they are particularly vulnerable due to age and underlying medical conditions. At this point, it is not a matter of if COVID-19 will enter Pennsylvania prisons, but when it is finally detected therein. It is not unlikely that COVID-19 is already present in some county prisons—we have before us declarations that portions of the Facilities have been put under ineffective quarantines due to the presence of symptoms similar to COVID-19 among the inmate population. Indeed, we also have reports that a correctional officer at Pike has already tested positive for COVID-19.
</blockquote><p>
And because of the conditions within our detention centers and jails, there's little to nothing that can be done to stop the spread.
</p><blockquote>
This virus spares no demographic or race and is ruthless in its assault. The precautions being adopted to stop it should apply equally, if not more so, to the most vulnerable among us. Petitioners have shown that adequate measures are not in place and cannot be taken to protect them from COVID-19 in the detention facilities, and that catastrophic results may ensue, both to Petitioners and to the communities surrounding the Facilities.
</blockquote><p>
We are living in a brave new world right now, and the government has to change with the times and learn to protect people in its care — even if it has to be dragged there, kicking and screaming.
</p><blockquote>
The global COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing public health crisis now faced by American society have forced us all to find new ways of operating that prevent virus transmission to the greatest extent possible. We expect no less of ICE. We note that ICE has a plethora of means other than physical detention at their disposal by which they may monitor civil detainees and ensure that they are present at removal proceedings, including remote monitoring and routine check-ins. Physical detention itself will place a burden on community healthcare systems and will needlessly endanger Petitioners, prison employees, and the greater community. We cannot see the rational basis of such a risk.
</blockquote><p>
The end of Judge Jones' opinion is really a thing of beauty that deserves to be read in full:
</p><blockquote>
In times such as these, we must acknowledge that the status quo of a mere few weeks ago no longer applies. Our world has been altered with lightning speed, and the results are both unprecedented and ghastly. We now face a global pandemic in which the actions of each individual can have a drastic impact on an entire community. The choices we now make must reflect this new reality.<br>
<br>
Respondents' Facilities are plainly not equipped to protect Petitioners from a potentially fatal exposure to COVID-19. While this deficiency is neither intentional nor malicious, should we fail to afford relief to Petitioners we will be a party to an unconscionable and possibly barbaric result. Our Constitution and laws apply equally to the most vulnerable among us, particularly when matters of public health are at issue. This is true even for those who have lost a measure of their freedom. If we are to remain the civilized society we hold ourselves out to be, it would be heartless and inhumane not to recognize Petitioners' plight. And so we will act.
</blockquote><p>
This isn't the only case where civil rights and immigration attorneys are working overtime to ensure their clients' safety. Federal judges in <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/26/immigration-jail-coronavirus-151343" target="_blank">New York</a>, <a href="http://www.publiccounsel.org/tools/assets/files/1329.pdf" target="_blank">California</a>, and <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-ice-releases-immigrants-lawmakers-federal-courts/" target="_blank">Massachusetts</a> have also ordered ICE to release detainees with pre-existing medical conditions. And Eunice Cho, senior staff attorney at the ACLU's National Prison Project, <a href="https://thehill.com/latino/490493-ice-under-pressure-to-release-detainees-threatened-by-coronavirus" target="_blank">has said</a> that the civil rights organization is "planning on filing additional cases, that's for sure."
</p><h2>The bad</h2><p>
Our jails and detention centers are already at a point of crisis.
</p><blockquote>
<em></em>
</blockquote><p>
Even medical experts for the Department of Homeland Security itself recognizes the unique danger this coronavirus poses to people being held in immigration detention. Dr. Scott Allen and Dr. Josiah Rich wrote a <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6816336-032020-Letter-From-Drs-Allen-Rich-to-Congress-Re.html" target="_blank">letter to Congress</a>, warning of the high likelihood of a "tinderbox scenario" where our detention centers are entirely full of people who are sick, all at the same time. The doctors also called the DHS camps of detainees in Mexico — which <a href="https://www.wonkette.com/remain-in-mexico-scotus" target="_blank">SCOTUS allowed</a> to remain operational just last month — "a tinderbox that cannot be ignored in the national strategy to slow the spread of infection."
</p><h2>The ugly</h2><p>
As of March 21, ICE was holding more than <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-ice-releases-immigrants-lawmakers-federal-courts/" target="_blank">38,000 people</a> — the vast majority of whom have not been accused of a crime — in its concentration camps and county jails around the country. When asked whether it would be releasing people due to concerns about safety during the coronavirus pandemic, an ICE spokesman <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-ice-releases-immigrants-lawmakers-federal-courts/" target="_blank">said</a> the agency had made "no change" to its policies.<br>
</p><p>
True to form, ICE apparently doesn't even want the people it's holding at its concentration camps to know of the best ways to keep themselves safe. As Judge Jones in Pennsylvania noted,
</p><blockquote>
[I]t does not even seem that ICE is providing detainees with proper information on how they can combat the virus on their own. Troublingly, some facilities seem to have shut off detainee access to news outlets, thereby preventing the detention facility's population from informing themselves on best practices to prevent transmission.
</blockquote><p>
Perhaps someone at the agency should consider Judge Jones' words
</p><blockquote>
We note that ICE has a plethora of means other than physical detention at their disposal by which they may monitor civil detainees and ensure that they are present at removal proceedings, including remote monitoring and routine check-ins. Physical detention itself will place a burden on community healthcare systems and will needlessly endanger Petitioners, prison employees, and the greater community. We cannot see the rational basis of such a risk.
</blockquote><p>
We can't see any basis for that, either.
</p><p>
Release them.
</p><p>
<br>
</p><p>
Here's Judge Jones' opinion in full. It's a great read.
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Healthcare
How Much 'Handmaid's Tale' Sh*t Are Red States Doing To Ban Abortion In The Time Of Coronavirus?
Far be it from these assholes to let a good crisis go to waste.
April 01, 2020 09:17 AM
Republicans can just never resist an opportunity to try to control women's bodies, so governors in five states have already used the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to try to close their state's abortion clinics.
Last week, governors in Texas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Ohio issued similar executive orders suspending all "nonessential medical procedures," including abortions. Even ignoring the fact that every abortion is essential to a woman seeking to get it, whether for medical or other reasons, this is complete and utter bullshit. All of these states also have laws on the books limiting when in their pregnancies women can get abortions, so really this is just another attempt at forcing women to give birth against their will
Thankfully, Planned Parenthood, the Center for Reproductive Rights, and the ACLU exist and have sued these fuckers for violating Roe v. Wade and that pesky little thing called the US Constitution.
<p>Federal judges in Texas, Ohio, and Alabama blocked the states' bald-faced attempts to force women to carry pregnancies to term no matter what. However, on Tuesday, the anti-woman extremists on the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit jumped in and issued a stay of the district court's order, allowing the abortion ban to remain in effect. So that's cute.</p><p><a href="https://time.com/5812891/texas-alabama-ohio-judges-block-abortion-ban/" target="_blank">Similar suits</a> have been filed by Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers in Oklahoma and Alabama, which have also tried to exploit the COVID-19 outbreak and use it to attack women's bodily autonomy.</p><p>These states also have restrictions on how late into a pregnancy a woman can have an abortion, so if they can force women to wait just a little bit longer to receive their healthcare, they will be prohibited entirely from ending their pregnancies. Because women aren't really <strong></strong><em>people</em>, only fetuses are! And after they're born, the state shouldn't do things like make sure they have food or access to medical care.</p><p>"Pro-life" is a misnomer -- these assholes are pro-forced birth.</p><h2>What the fuck is wrong with people?</h2><p>Republicans just really have a need to control women, so why not use a global pandemic to enforce forced birth policies?</p><p>In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott issued an <a href="https://gov.texas.gov/uploads/files/press/EO-GA_09_COVID-19_hospital_capacity_IMAGE_03-22-2020.pdf" target="_blank">executive order</a> banning "non-essential" medical procedures. State Attorney General Ken Paxton <a href="https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/health-care-professionals-and-facilities-including-abortion-providers-must-immediately-stop-all" target="_blank">elaborated</a> on Abbott's order, threatening jail time and criminal fines to any healthcare workers providing abortion care. He also declared that clinics must stop giving abortion medication to patients, even though it can be done via telemedicine. Because THAT makes sense.</p><p>In Ohio, after Governor Mike DeWine <a href="https://governor.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/governor/media/executive-orders/executive-order-2020-01-d" target="_blank">ordered</a> a halt to nonessential medical procedures, Deputy Attorney General Jonathan Fulkerson sent threatening <a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/03/23/ohio-attorney-general-orders-clinics-to-stop-all-nonessential-abortions-because-of-coronavirus/" target="_blank">letters</a> to the state's abortion clinics, accusing them of violating the executive order. After the clinics responded that they were in compliance with the order, the Ohio Department of Health jumped in to say that DeWine's executive order meant abortion clinics had to close.</p><p>And in Alabama, the state public health officer <a href="https://rewire.news/article/2020/03/23/state-officials-try-to-end-abortion-during-covid-19-crisis/" target="_blank">issued</a> an order prohibiting all non-essential surgical and medical procedures until further notice. And Alabama AG Steve Marshall jumped in to specifically say abortion clinics are not exempt from that order, <a href="https://www.alabamaag.gov/newsviewer/36f5283b-b05a-4c87-916d-f90f22d89002" target="_blank">saying</a> "it is remarkable that one class of providers demands to be treated differently than all others." I guess no one told him that Alabama also has a law banning abortions after 20 weeks and the longer a woman remains pregnant, the more complicated and invasive the procedure gets.</p><p>Texas, Ohio, and Alabama are not the only states trying to use COVID-19 to fuck over women. Oklahoma and Iowa also announced similar policies last week — and on Monday were sued by abortion providers in their states. </p><p>But while shitty people in red states are treating pregnant women like baby incubators rather than actual, human people, there are, luckily, people in other states looking out for women and pregnant people.</p><p>On Monday, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and 21 other state attorneys general sent a <a href="https://www.oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/AG%20Letter%20HHS%20Medication%20Abortion%202020.pdf" target="_blank">letter</a> to the US Department of Health, asking the Trump administration to increase access to reproductive healthcare, including abortion care, during the pandemic. Specifically, the AGs asked the FDA to allow doctors to prescribe Mifepristone — a safe and FDA-approved abortion medication — using telemedicine and allow it to be picked up at a pharmacy, like a normal medication, rather than forcing women to go in to abortion clinics.<br></p><p>So at least there's that?</p><h2>This is some Handmaid's Tale shit</h2><p>The results of these ridiculous abortion bans have already been heartbreaking. According to the lawsuits, hundreds of patients have already been affected by these orders. Abortion providers have reported their patients being deeply upset when they had to cancel appointments, with many pregnant people sobbing upon learning they would be forced to continue their pregnancies against their will.</p><p>As noted by the abortion provider plaintiffs and their lawyers, abortion is essential healthcare. Stopping someone from having an abortion does nothing to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. And clinics have already taken additional precautions to keep their patients safe. Planned Parenthood, for example, is spacing out patients, limiting the number of people in the office at one time, encouraging patients to use telemedicine and have medical abortions outside of the office when possible, and giving its workers PPE.</p><p>These lawsuits were absolutely necessary to ensure women and pregnant people can receive the healthcare they need. So far, they have received mixed success.</p><p>In Texas, Judge Lee Yeakel, a George W. Bush appointee, issued a <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/454019639/Planned-Parenthood-Center-for-Choice-v-Abbott" target="_blank">temporary restraining order</a> halting the state's abortion prohibition. The judge even got a little cheeky with AG Ken Paxton, writing:</p><blockquote>Regarding a woman's right to a pre-fetal-viability abortion, the Supreme Court has spoken clearly. There can be no outright ban on such a procedure. This court will not speculate on whether the Supreme Court included a silent "except-in-a-national-emergency clause" in its previous writings on the issue.</blockquote><p>Nicely said, Judge Yeakel.</p><p>Unfortunately, on Tuesday the notoriously shitty Fifth Circuit issued a <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/454209114/Abbott-v-Planned-Parenthood-5th-Circuit" target="_blank">temporary stay</a> of Judge Yeakel's order, allowing the Texas abortion ban to continue until the court can fully consider the case. It ordered the abortion providers to respond by Wednesday at 8:00 a.m. and the state to respond by Wednesday at 8:00 p.m.</p><p>Judges Duncan, Elrod, and Dennis dissented.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
<iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1245048801796251648" id="twitter-embed-1245048801796251648" type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1245048801796251648&created_ts=1585677740.0&screen_name=mjs_DC&text=Here%27s+the+5th+Circuit%27s+2%E2%80%931+order+staying+a+lower+court+decision+allowing+abortions+in+Texas.+Duncan+%28Trump%29+and+E%E2%80%A6+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FdADYwXyFiT&id=1245048801796251648&name=Mark+Joseph+Stern" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="a63b91ef0be33ffc3cc0b16a4c057472"></iframe>
</p><p>In Ohio, Judge Michael Barrett, another George W. Bush appointee, <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/454211481/Preterm-Cleveland-v-Attorney-General" target="_blank">determined</a> the state's abortion ban likely places an undue burden on a woman's right to choose. He ordered "healthcare providers are to determine if a surgical abortion procedure can be safely postponed during the pre-viability stage to maximize healthcare resources to combat the COVID-19 pandemic," but further ruled that<br></p><blockquote>If a healthcare provider determines, on a case-by-case basis, that the surgical procedure is medically indicated and cannot be delayed, based on the timing of pre-viability or other medical conditions, said procedure is deemed legally essential to preserve a woman's right to constitutionally protected access to abortions.</blockquote><p>And in Alabama, Judge Myron Thompson, a Carter appointee, ordered a suspension of the abortion ban until oral arguments that will be held via video conference on April 6, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/30/judge-lifts-texas-abortion-ban-pegged-to-coronavirus-pandemic-156210" target="_blank">saying,</a> "The State's interest in immediate enforcement of the March 27 order — a broad mandate aimed primarily at preventing large social gatherings — against abortion providers does not, based on the current record, outweigh plaintiffs' concerns."</p><h2>All of this is bullshit</h2><p>These power grabs by states are exactly what they look like: politicians trying to control what women and pregnant people do with their bodies. It's always been about control and not "life," no matter what these sexist authoritarians say. If it were about "life," Republicans wouldn't be <a href="https://www.wonkette.com/no-you-disgusting-gop-ghouls-you-cannot-have-my-mother-for-economy" target="_blank">on TV every day</a> saying in so many words that elderly and disabled people should just die of COVID-19 in order to save Trump's chances at re-election. They would be fighting for universal healthcare and looking at ways to combat the US's horrific maternal mortality rate.</p><p>Women are people, not baby incubators.</p><p>This will probably end up in front of the Supreme Court before all is said and done. And I don't trust the Roberts Court to do anything other than stay lower court decisions blocking the abortion bans and allow the bans to continue until after all of these poor women have been forced to give birth against their will.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<a href="https://media2.giphy.com/media/3oKIPdlZslsvwUklcA/giphy.gif?cid=2fb0ca760ee451117160e308dae0e80e1e204c64e6ff342a&rid=giphy.gif" target="_blank"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjkwNjg0Ny9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwMzE2NzIyNX0.SUFKiJ5DiU8aAXwld5IHo7ywuMvtvc3qhgfbmw816NI/img.gif?width=980" id="c70b2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e19e279a4ba1168e8ec93f37ea70ada5" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></a>
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</p><p>[ <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/454019639/Planned-Parenthood-Center-for-Choice-v-Abbott" target="_blank">Texas Order</a> / <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/454211481/Preterm-Cleveland-v-Attorney-General" target="_blank">Ohio Order</a> / <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/454209114/Abbott-v-Planned-Parenthood-5th-Circuit" target="_blank">Fifth Circuit</a> / <a href="https://www.oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/AG%20Letter%20HHS%20Medication%20Abortion%202020.pdf" target="_blank">AG Letter</a>]<br></p><p></p><p><a href="https://amzn.to/33mKzZe" target="_blank">Do your Amazon shopping through this link, because reasons</a>.</p><p></p><p></p><form name="donation" method="post" class="donation-form"><p class="subheadline">How often would you like to donate?</p><div class="form-row row--plan"><label class="plan-type__label"><input type="radio" name="plan_type" value="once" class="plan-type" required="" checked> Just once
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