🇺🇸 Drug Debacle

Plus, bees of a feather buzz together.

The Flag

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FLAG POLLS

🟰 Tuesday, April 11, President Biden Job Approval: Approve 49, Disapprove 49 (Rasmussen Reports)

🐘 Monday, April 10, Republican Presidential Nomination 2024: Trump 47, DeSantis 23, Pence 5, Haley 4, Cheney, Pompeo 3, Christie 1, Noem 0, Ramaswamy 1, T. Scott, Youngkin, Sununu 0 (I&I/TIPP)

🐎 Monday, April 10, Democratic Presidential Nomination 2024: Biden 39, Harris 7, Buttigieg 5, Sanders 7, Obama 8, Warren 4, Clinton 4, Ocasio-Cortez 4, Newsom 3, Klobuchar 2 (I&I/TIPP)

📉 Monday, April 10, Direction of Country: Right Track 38, Wrong Track 56 (Rasmussen Reports)

TRENDING

Left: Why Republicans Are in Trouble Harry Enten, CNN

Left: The Supreme Court's Ethics Crisis Michael Waldman, LA Times

Right: When Democrats Attack Democracy Byron York, Washington Examiner

Right: Biden Still Covering Up His Deadly Afghan Withdrawal David Harsanyi, Federalist

POWERED BY SHUT THE BOX

Think Inside The Box

Boredom is practically an epidemic. But why, when we have infinite entertainment at our fingertips? Maybe, instead of chasing new tech and trends, we need to get back to basics. A wooden box and a dice is all it takes to have an unforgettable time with friends or family.

Shut The Box is a timeless classic. With century-old roots as an English pub game, this board game is top-tier entertainment for all ages – whether teaching your children simple math and strategy, or teaching your drinking buddies how to count the money they now owe you.

QUICK CLICKS

Deadly Shooting in DC, DA Bragg Sues Jim Jordan, Anger Over Air Strikes

US: 1 Killed, 3 Hurt in Shooting at DC Funeral Home: Police (NBC4 Washington)

World: Biden slams Russia's detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich as 'totally illegal' (Fox News)

US: Trump Says New York Court Workers 'Were Crying' at His Arraignment (Newsweek)

US: White House unveils initiative to target fentanyl supply chain with international partners (ABC News)

US: Manhattan DA Sues Jim Jordan In Fight Over Trump Case (Daily Wire)

US: Authorities in Louisville release bodycam video of police response to shooting at bank that left 5 people dead (CNN)

World: Ukraine war: Leak shows Western special forces on the ground (BBC)

World: International anger as air strikes kill dozens in Myanmar (AFP)

ABORTION

Drug Debacle

Last week, federal judges in Texas and Washington state issued conflicting rulings regarding the so-called abortion pill. A judge in Texas ruled FDA approval for the pill should be suspended by the end of this week. But the Washington judge ruled federal regulators may not restrict access to the drug.

From The Flag: The Department of Justice has appealed the Texas judges’ decision, which resulted from a case brought by four anti-abortion groups. Democrats have blasted the decision as part of “an extreme anti-choice agenda,” while the judge said the FDA ignored the health risks associated with the pill. Here’s more from both sides.

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

A Dubious Decision Sets Up Another Court Battle and Will Doom the GOP

  • The judge’s decision is rooted more in ideology than in law, and puts women’s reproductive health at risk.

  • This sets up a potential constitutional crisis and will hurt Republicans at the ballot box.

  • The bombshell ruling was based in part on a “study” of anonymous posts on an anti-abortion website.

“The abortion pill should remain available while courts deliberate” Editorial Board, Washington Post: “This decision… overturns the FDA’s approval of mifepristone while relying on an 1873 anti-vice law to find that abortion drugs can’t be sent by mail or other delivery service. All of this applies even in states where it remains legal for a woman to terminate her pregnancy. Judge Kacsmaryk’s reasoning, if it can be called that, appears more rooted in ideology than in law: The opinion, peppered with charged language such as “unborn humans,” seizes on dubious studies by antiabortion activists to declare that the FDA has ignored the safety risks of what they claim is a manifestly unsafe medication. ​​… Take mifepristone away, and women will turn to misoprostol alone — safe, too, but less effective and more likely to cause side effects like nausea. Also worrisome is that miscarriage patients will lose access to a go-to treatment, which could force them to choose a riskier option such as undergoing surgery.”

“Texas judge’s abortion ruling ignites new showdown that could harm Republicans” Stephen Collinson, CNN: “The new front in the abortion battle will only intensify national political tumult, which is also being fueled by showdowns over guns, a building debt-ceiling clash and Donald Trump’s recent indictment. But the ruling by Kacsmaryk… set up a legal collision that seems destined to end up at the Supreme Court. There is the question over whether the judge overstepped his power to halt the FDA’s approval for mifepristone – a key resource given that half of US abortions are performed using medication. And the Washington judge’s ruling sets up the kind of dueling interpretations of law only the Supreme Court can resolve. … The resurgence of the abortion debate may be unwelcome news for Republicans. The overturning of Roe v. Wade last year turned out to be a motivating factor for Democratic voters in the midterm elections.”

One more opinion piece from the Left: A Completely Bogus Study Is at the Heart of the Ruling to Ban the Abortion Pill Tori Otten, The New Republic

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

If Changing the Culture and Winning Elections Is the Goal, This Won’t Help

  • The judge’s decision in Texas overruled sensible safety judgments from the FDA, but federal agencies also need to be held in check.

  • Pro-lifers can celebrate the ruling but should be clear-eyed about the potential for backlash – and seek to avert it.

  • Abortion has become a millstone around the neck of Republicans and could reverse another red wave next year.

“The Law and the Abortion Pill Case” Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal: “At legal issue… is a run-of-the-mill question of whether the FDA acted arbitrarily and capriciously under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) when it approved mifepristone. We disagree with the judge’s decision in part because the FDA’s safety judgments don’t appear to have been unreasonable. But the dispute isn’t over whether an administrative agency stretched a law to do something Congress didn’t authorize, as in the Obama Clean Power plan (West Virginia v. EPA), the Biden Administration’s student-loan forgiveness, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s eviction moratorium, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s vaccine mandate. … Too often lower-court judges use their review power under the APA to fly-speck regulators’ analysis. But Democrats don’t seem bothered when liberal judges do this to invalidate environmental reviews on fossil-fuel projects. And they cheered when federal Judge Thomas Rice (in Washington state), an Obama appointee, on Friday disagreed with the FDA’s safety restrictions on mifepristone.”

“I’m Pro-Life. I Worry That the Abortion-Pill Ruling Could Backfire.” Patrick T. Brown, The Atlantic Opinion: “Pro-life activists across the country are celebrating the decision by a federal district-court judge in Texas to force mifepristone, a drug used in self-induced abortions, off the market. This response makes sense: If, as pro-lifers like myself believe, the embryo developing in a mother’s womb is a human life, it is therefore worthy of both legal protection and social support. Steps that make it harder for women to have an abortion are welcome. The drug’s ultimate legal status is uncertain. … No matter how the case ends up, this victory for the pro-life movement may prove precarious. Forcing mifepristone off the market is a short-term win. But if left unaccompanied by broader policy changes, it could lengthen the odds of creating a legal and cultural climate in which abortion is both less accessible and less sought-after.”

One more opinion piece from the Right: Don't let the Democrats make the next election about abortion Jazz Shaw, Hot Air

FLAG THIS

2 in 3 Say To Keep Medication Abortion Legal, Including Half of Republicans

Polling conducted last month found 2 out of every 3 Americans believe medication abortions like ​​Mifepristone should remain legal. 6 in 10 say banning this type of medication would “harm women and their families.”

Along party lines, 84% of Democrats, 67% of Independents, and 49% of Republicans say medication abortion should remain legal.

Asked specifically about the case in Texas, which was pending at the time, just 29% said they would support a judge overriding the FDA’s decision (Ipsos).

Should medication abortion remain legal?

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FLAG FINDS

Open & Shut Case, Michelin-Starred Dinner Table, One App To Rule Them All

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WATERCOOLER

Civil War Begins, One Good Reason to Buy a House, Air Fryer Salmon Bites

The Battle of Fort Sumter, as depicted by Currier and Ives

On This Day in 1861: Four of the bloodiest years in American history begin when Confederate shore batteries under General P.G.T. Beauregard open fire on Union-held Fort Sumter in South Carolina’s Charleston Harbor on April 12, 1861.

Today I Learned that during the production of Superman (1978), Gene Hackman was reluctant to shave his mustache, only acquiescing when director Richard Donner promised to do the same. After getting it shaved, Hackman went to Donner to fulfill his end of the bargain. Donner responded by tearing off his fake mustache.

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