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<meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=yes" name="viewport"/>
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<title>29 March, 2022</title>
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<title>Daily-Dose</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><style>*{overflow-x:hidden;}</style><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
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<body>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Legal Scholars Are Shocked By Ginni Thomas’s “Stop the Steal” Texts</strong> - Several experts say that Thomas’s husband, the Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, must recuse himself from any case related to the 2020 election. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/legal-scholars-are-shocked-by-ginni-thomass-stop-the-steal-texts">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Day Foreign Journalists Felt Forced to Leave Moscow</strong> - After a meeting at the Russian Foreign Ministry, dozens of outlets moved their reporters out of the country. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-communications/the-day-foreign-journalists-felt-forced-to-leave-%20moscow">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Biden Official Who Pierced Putin’s “Sanction-Proof” Economy</strong> - In the run-up to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Daleep Singh, a national-security adviser, searched for areas where “our strengths intersect with Russian vulnerability.” - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-inquiry/the-biden-official-who-pierced-putins-sanction-proof-economy">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The One Place in Lviv Where the War Is Never Far Away</strong> - The names of the places that families are fleeing create a map of human suffering. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/the-one-place-in-lviv-where-the-war-is-never-far-away">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Why Do So Many Russians Say They Support the War in Ukraine?</strong> - In a climate of wartime censorship, the mere expression of an unsanctioned thought begins to feel like a protest action. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/why-do-so-many-russians-say-they-support-the-war-in-ukraine">link</a></p></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
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<li><strong>The FDA made mail-order abortion pills legal. Access is still a nightmare.</strong> -
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<figure>
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<img alt="A USPS mail truck drives through a field of pills to make a delivery at a residence protected
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by barbed wire. A woman watches from a second floor balcony." src="https://cdn.vox-
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cdn.com/thumbor/m-Ol0xD4X1G1-VA1l_GT6ZDVjvU=/0x0:2500x1875/1310x983/cdn.vox-
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cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70652011/MAR9_Vox_Final_1.0.gif"/>
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<figcaption>
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Paige Vickers for Vox
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Restrictive states have already set their sights on a new wave of telehealth companies that were supposed to be a panacea for a post-Roe world.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1UjoZ8">
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<em>Part of the </em><a href="https://www.vox.com/features/22989349/drugs-issue"><em><strong>Drugs Issue</strong></em></a><em><strong> </strong></em><em>of </em><a href="https://www.vox.com/the-
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highlight"><em><strong>The Highlight</strong></em></a><em>, our home for ambitious stories that explain our world.</em>
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5Cmhd7">
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When Emma found out she was pregnant in February, it was too late for an in-clinic abortion.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4MT9BB">
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She estimated that she was at six weeks, but Texas, <a href="https://www.plannedparenthood.org/planned-parenthood-gulf-coast/sb8">a bastion of retrograde abortion policy</a>, bans the procedure at roughly that mark, so any local options were out of the question. Her local Planned Parenthood told her to prepare to travel out of state and offered to connect her with a clinic. Emma, who takes medication that makes her cycle irregular, wanted an ultrasound to confirm her recollection of the gestation age. But the clinic didn’t have an appointment for the next two weeks.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UqXLOw">
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“If I was below six weeks at the time of booking, I certainly wouldn’t be by the time I would make it to the clinic,” she said.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="r4K7AU">
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Emma, who is well-versed in reproductive health care, knew there was an additional option. So she started researching telehealth services that would ship mifepristone and misoprostol, two medications required to induce abortion safely at up to 10 weeks, through the mail. She decided on a cheery-looking telehealth startup that markets the pills. (Emma asked to use only her first name, since Texas law allows abortion providers or anyone who assists in accessing the procedure to be sued.)
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cHx3TU">
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<a href="https://msmagazine.com/2020/11/16/just-the-pill-choix-carafem-honeybee-health-how-telemedicine-
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startups-are-revolutionizing-abortion-health-care-in-the-u-s/">Telehealth companies focused on abortion access</a> use a straightforward model. Once a patient decides on a service that’s legally allowed to ship to their state — like <a href="https://www.heyjane.co/">Hey Jane</a>, <a href="https://www.mychoix.co/">My Choix</a>, <a href="https://www.justthepill.com/">Just the Pill</a>, or <a href="https://carafem.org/">Carafem</a> — they fill out a medical history questionnaire, learn about the treatment, and sign a few consent forms. Then, within hours, they’ll hear back from a physician if they’re eligible to manage the procedure at home; the pills arrive in one to five days. “Abortion is something that is underserved,” said Kiki Freedman, the CEO and co-founder of Hey Jane. “Being able to access something more conveniently, more discreetly, more affordably, and more robustly is beneficial.”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rNjHh6">
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That’s in an ideal scenario in a progressive state like California or New York. Unfortunately, the process was more complicated for Emma and others who live in states where abortion access is <a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/medication-abortion">legally hindered</a>. Texas and Indiana ban medication abortion starting at about seven and 10 weeks, respectively. Thirty-two states require a physician to administer the medication, while 19 states require the prescribing clinician to be physically present when the pills are taken — legalities that amount to a de facto ban on receiving abortion care via telehealth. These laws don’t affect the safety of the procedure, which is <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-02-17/abortion-pill-
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mifepristone-is-safer-than-tylenol-and-almost-impossible-to-get">safer than Tylenol</a>, but, instead, construct barriers to accessing abortion.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3XiJCq">
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If the Supreme Court deals a blow to <em>Roe v. Wade</em> this summer, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/12/1/22811837/supreme-court-roe-wade-abortion-doomed-jackson-womens-health-
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dobbs-barrett-kavanaugh-roberts">as many expect it to do</a>, these obstacles will get worse. While telehealth startups focused on reproductive health are hoping to play a role in expanding access, state laws and societal structures such as poverty and lack of access to health care prevent these companies from helping those most in need of their services should Roe be overturned. Nineteen states, including <a href="https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/issue-brief/the-
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intersection-of-state-and-federal-policies-on-access-to-medication-abortion-via-telehealth/">Texas and most of the Deep South</a>, require two or more in-person visits to access medication abortion, while eight others require at least one visit; in 2021, <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/12/06/1060160624/prescribing-abortion-pills-
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online-or-mailing-them-in-texas-can-now-land-you-in-j">six states</a>, including Texas, passed explicit laws against receiving medication abortion through telehealth.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FQVJDa">
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“It’s great that we have so many more options with things like telehealth, but even right now, that’s not available to every single person across this country,” said Renee Bracey Sherman, the executive director of We Testify, an advocacy organization for people who have abortions. “What feels challenging is this idea that people are looking for a panacea to just fix it all. And they’re like, ‘Great! If we just have pills mailed, then everything will be fine. That’s the solution to the crisis around Roe.’ But it is not the solution.”
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</p>
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<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="92gBgW"/>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3M0U6r">
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<strong>When the FDA </strong><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/16/health/abortion-pills-fda.html"><strong>announced in December</strong></a> that it would permanently allow mifepristone and misoprostol to be sent to someone’s mailbox, it was hailed as opening a world of possibilities for abortion access. In some ways, it does.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yzuGNB">
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Two-dose medication abortion has been available in the US since mifepristone was approved as an abortion pill in 2000. The first pill, a single dose of mifepristone, stops the pregnancy from progressing by blocking progesterone and helping the embryo detach from the uterine wall. Within 48 hours, the patient takes a dose of misoprostol to cause heavy cramping and bleeding, which empties the uterus. In <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/health-medicine/science-behind-abortion-
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pill-180963762/">2016</a>, softened FDA regulations allowed the misoprostol portion of the procedure to occur at home. The process is a highly safe and less expensive alternative to surgical abortions, with complications occurring in less than 1 percent of cases. (Misoprostol alone also has a high success rate since it <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/health-medicine/science-behind-abortion-pill-180963762/">causes the cervix to open</a> and the uterus to cramp, inducing a miscarriage.)
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PCfUbL">
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Sending the pills directly to consumers sidesteps several everyday challenges encircling abortion access. Nearly <a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/report/abortion-incidence-service-availability-us-2017">90 percent</a> of US counties lack an abortion clinic, according to the most recent data from the Guttmacher Institute; clinics, for various reasons, <a href="https://time.com/5916746/abortion-clinics-covid-19/">continue to close</a>. Multiple states in the South and Midwest rely on <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/great-reads/la-me-col1-abortion-
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doctor-20190124-htmlstory.html">doctors from out of state</a>, limiting the number of abortions a clinic can provide. Five states — including <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/30/us/mississippi-abortion-clinic-supreme-
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court.html">Mississippi</a>, North Dakota, and West Virginia — have <a href="https://abortioncarenetwork.org/wp-
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content/uploads/2020/12/CommunitiesNeedClinics-2020.pdf">one clinic left</a>.
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Mifepristone and misoprostol now are used in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/24/health/abortion-pills-us.html">more than half</a> of the country’s abortions. And <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010782422000075?via%3Dihub=">interest in medication abortion</a> is rising — by choice and <a href="https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/txpep/research-briefs/out-of-state-
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travel-sb8-brief.php">out of necessity</a>. Many birthing people don’t discover they’re pregnant until <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5269518/">the five- or six-week mark</a>, about a week or two after a missed period, which only leaves roughly a four-week window to perform a medication abortion.
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“Getting abortion medication in the mail, or just expanding access to abortion medication period, could potentially be a game-changer in a United States, where abortion is illegal in some places and inaccessible in lots of places,” said Mary Ziegler, a law professor at Florida State University and the author of <em>Abortion and the Law in America: Roe v. Wade to the Present</em>.
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The convenience for people who can’t afford to travel to a clinic, take time off from work, or find child care is unmatched. The more traumatic aspects of visiting an in-person clinic are removed, too: There are no protesters to navigate, no apprehension about being recognized at a small community clinic, and removal from the potential threats of violence clinics often face. Appointment wait times are also shorter, and the cost can be a bit cheaper than in-clinic services, which can cost anywhere between <a href="https://www.thecut.com/2018/11/how-much-does-an-abortion-cost.html">$400 and $1,000</a>, with the price increasing depending on factors such as gestational age of the fetus.
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For example, Hey Jane guarantees patients will see a physician within 36 hours, while My Choix promises 24 hours, and Just the Pill offers 48 hours. The cost is $249, $289, and $350, respectively.
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Abortion medication by mail is also an alternative for people who’ve had bad experiences with clinicians, those who don’t want an ultrasound, or to discuss their decision any further — all of which rang true for Emma.
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When she had her first medication abortion, Emma attended college in <a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/counseling-and-waiting-periods-abortion">one of the 13 states</a> requiring multiple visits to a clinic before a patient can be provided an abortion. She was also required to submit to an ultrasound. It was the dead of winter, and she didn’t have a car. So, on three occasions, Emma took a 45-minute bus trip accompanied by a 20-minute walk to the nearest abortion clinic. Each appointment required taking off work and scheduling the visit around classes. To add to the plight, her partner at the time wasn’t supportive.
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Emma was in it alone.
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“It was a fairly traumatic experience, having to be in touch with medical professionals that much when I was very clear about my choice, very clear about what I wanted to do,” she said. “It was making unnecessary complications.”
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“I already knew I didn’t want to continue with this pregnancy, and I had to go through the [transvaginal] ultrasound. So it was another level of intrusive where I’m like, ‘I know I don’t wanna do this,’” she continued. “At least this time I didn’t have to be in contact with medical professionals who may or may not be in support of my choices, but they were under a legal obligation to make me question it.”
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The same laws complicate the expansion of telehealth startups. If patients don’t live in a state where the telehealth consult and subsequent treatment are legal, the pills can’t be shipped directly to them. Before any of these companies can expand their services, they must consider a state’s laws covering telehealth, what type of clinician can provide abortion care, and any <a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/evidence-you-can-use/targeted-
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regulation-abortion-providers-trap-laws">TRAP laws</a>, which regulate and restrict abortion providers with the intention of hampering access to reproductive choice. So, patients who can travel to a state with looser restrictions are encouraged to do so. (Hey Jane has partnerships with local abortion organizations to facilitate travel for anyone who needs financial support.)
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One workaround to improve access would be to make the medications available over the counter, just as emergency contraception is, or allow for an advanced provision of medication abortion — meaning people can have the pills on hand in case they get pregnant. “People who live in a state where it might be restricted and maybe the pills weren’t being sold there, they could travel to another state to get them,” said Daniel Grossman, a physician and the director of Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health. “Or maybe someone in that state where they’re available could send them to them, or a variety of options that you can think of.”
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Another option is international groups like Aid Access, which will continue shipping medication abortion to birthing people in the US despite demands to stop from the FDA. In September 2021, when Texas’s new law went into effect, Aid Access received 1,831 requests from people in the state for medication abortion, according to <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2789428">new data</a> from researchers at the University of Texas at Austin.
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<strong>Access to abortion- inducing drugs</strong> may seem like the future of care in America, but it’s been an option for birthing people elsewhere in the world for quite some time. In spite of the criminalization of abortion, in most Latin American countries, misoprostol is available over the counter for other medical purposes, and many people have <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/14/women-in-mexico-use-mobile-apps-for-at-home-abortions">used it</a> to induce abortion <a href="https://www.wbur.org/news/2018/01/11/peru-abortion-pill-misopristol">without serious complications</a>. (It’s worth noting that even as American states work to curtail access, several countries in Latin American countries — including <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/22/world/americas/colombia-
|
|||
|
|
abortion.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes">Colombia</a>, <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/mexicos-
|
|||
|
|
historic-step-toward-legalizing-abortion">Mexico</a>, and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-
|
|||
|
|
america-55475036">Argentina</a> — have made the procedure more accessible.)
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JToU6W">
|
|||
|
|
According to Grossman, advocates in Latin America have also developed robust models of care, such as telephone hotlines and other digital networks, to support people throughout the process of ending their pregnancies with medication. Aides help people access the medication and explain how they should use it. In some scenarios, a helper can be physically present to determine if the patient needs to get to a health care facility or if the treatment worked.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BiyYAz">
|
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|
Before abortion was decriminalized in Uruguay, <a href="https://www.iniciativas.org.uy/quienes-somos">Iniciativas Sanitarias</a>, a reproductive health advocacy group, developed a harm reduction model to assist people who wanted to terminate their pregnancies. They provided safety information and support to people considering self-managing an abortion, including how to use misoprostol. “For example, for [those] beyond 11 or 12 weeks, if they have a bleeding disorder, or are taking blood thinners, it’s not an appropriate method,” said Grossman. “So if people have accurate information, they have access to good quality medications, and they know about the warning signs that should prompt them to seek medical care, I think that self-managed abortion can be very safe and effective,” he added.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0rCQtV">
|
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|
|
Similar networks may take root in the states as the fight against access intensifies. Despite the existence of these workarounds, however, abortion access ultimately remains elusive to the people who need it most. Traveling across state lines presents the same challenges as visiting a state’s only clinic; there are travel time and costs to consider, along with taking time off work and finding child care. Meanwhile, telehealth and medication-by-mail are much less likely to reach people who are incarcerated, unhoused, live on low incomes, don’t have an HSA/FSA, or internet access — groups disproportionately made up of Black and brown people.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GKoXIl">
|
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|
|
It’s crucial, advocates say, that the current hierarchies to abortion access aren’t replicated as well-intentioned companies search for solutions.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YJl25G">
|
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|
|
“That FDA decision is not actually making a difference in the people’s lives who need it most because they simply cannot have [the pills] mailed,” said Sherman, of We Testify.
|
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|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="e2gkPP"/>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SZ5DRC">
|
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|
|
<strong>Emma shipped her pills to an address</strong> in California and someone she trusted sent them to her in Texas, where it’s <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/12/06/1060160624/prescribing-abortion-pills-online-or-mailing-them-
|
|||
|
|
in-texas-can-now-land-you-in-j">illegal</a> to access medication abortion through a telehealth service. The workaround meant she got her medication in a week and a half — which would have been a problem had she been further along. Anyone who assisted Emma in receiving the prescription needed for her abortion could have faced legal repercussions under Texas law, which allows private citizens to sue those who help someone access abortion. So Emma had to keep the process hushed, only looping in people she could trust to help.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hEWbFx">
|
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|
|
There is some legal risk to forwarding abortion pills through the mail, but it depends on the laws of the states where someone is sending and receiving the pills. And the only way to avoid that risk completely in a state like Texas is to get a prescription in-person from a licensed medical provider and within the state’s legal cutoff.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="STTMVG">
|
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|
|
“It was an experience that was way more isolating than it needed to be, and just an unnecessary barrier to access that I had not experienced before,” Emma said.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="E2N1dS">
|
|||
|
|
Many states maintain that their laws aren’t meant to punish pregnant people. Instead, the focus is on prosecuting in-state abortion providers. This opens the door for national telehealth startups with the gumption to serve patients in states with abortion bans, anyway. (All the companies who spoke with Vox emphasized that they would continue to work within a state’s given laws. Representatives from Just the Pill and My Choix said, however, that they’re aware that restrictive state laws compel some pregnant people to take the same route as Emma.) Or companies like Hey Jane could lobby more states to adopt, as some California lawmakers have pledged to do, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-california-sanctuary-625a118108bcda253196697c83548d5b">a sanctuary state model</a> for pregnant people forced to seek out-of-state abortion care.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6ySq5s">
|
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|
|
“States are going continue passing laws to limit access to medication abortion,” said Ziegler, the Florida State law professor. “But they’re also going to have a very hard time identifying when those laws are being broken or enforcing laws, especially against actors who don’t live in the state, and especially if they’re actually serious about not punishing pregnant people.”
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uTCsPO">
|
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|
|
But there have been instances of prosecutors reaching deep into their briefcases to figure out legal ways to hold pregnant people accountable for perceived crimes against life. This includes, but isn’t limited to, <a href="https://journals.library.columbia.edu/index.php/cjgl/article/download/8061/4147/16026">charging folks with “abuse of a corpse”</a> for a pregnancy loss — whether it be by miscarriage, stillbirth, or an abortion.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5E01aa">
|
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|
|
“We talk about this aura of criminality that already exists and surrounds abortion,” said Yveka Pierre, the senior litigation counsel at If/When/How Lawyering for Reproductive Justice. “And that’s all based in the stigma about abortion, about people who have abortions, about folks who are partnered with folks who have an abortion, and all of these existing TRAP laws that have been slowly eking away at the protections.”
|
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</p>
|
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|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Uf94WW">
|
|||
|
|
Fewer legal protections, particularly in states where the right to self-managed abortion isn’t codified at all, could result in more people being criminalized for their pregnancy outcome. There will most likely be a push-pull method at play here, explained Pierre. Some people will be pulled toward a self-managed abortion because it’s an affirming choice for them. Others will be pushed into it even though they would’ve opted for clinical care if they had a choice. That dynamic and any legal crackdowns will be felt most by those who live in overpoliced communities or those who have had prior contact with the criminal justice or family separation systems.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qezFqN">
|
|||
|
|
“Who is likely to have the cops be in their community? Who is likely to have never seen a police officer in their suburb driving around? Who’s likely to have their mail checked? Who is already under surveillance in some sort of way?” said Pierre. “Those are the people that are more likely to experience criminalization — folks that are already at the intersection of oppression from various systems.”
|
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</p>
|
|||
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UbIByk">
|
|||
|
|
<em>Those in a similar predicament as Emma’s can call </em><a href="https://www.reprolegalhelpline.org/"><em>the ReproLegal helpline</em></a><em>.</em>
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KgeJFE">
|
|||
|
|
<em>Julia Craven is a reporter covering health. She’s the brain behind </em><a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__juliacraven.substack.com_&d=DwMFaQ&c=7MSjEE-
|
|||
|
|
cVgLCRHxk1P5PWg&r=Rg_frVECyHq8RLGpsvHBW3D76DIRpCQrSH_yE2X1iQg&m=Pp_lTxRj3b13d8zOqKI9STNH5DhSONNyiwIt97tczppQl9Uwc_Knp19QCleFB1Q7&s=T5QtS0OqI4dZUEh4gMGEtXlDwa44duUU9S8tVS3CHKc&e="><em>Make It Make Sense</em></a><em>, a weekly health and wellness newsletter, and her work has been featured in HuffPost, Slate, and the 2021 edition of The Best American Science and Nature Writing. </em>
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<div>
|
|||
|
|
<div id="BhMUEI">
|
|||
|
|
<div>
|
|||
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|
|
|||
|
|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
</div></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Kevin G. from Mean Girls is my favorite lifestyle influencer</strong> -
|
|||
|
|
<figure>
|
|||
|
|
<img alt="A pastel drawing shows Rajiv Surendra gazing soulfully out of the sky, with a flower
|
|||
|
|
superimposed on his left shoulder. The word “homeboy” appears on his chest in yellow letters." src="https://cdn.vox-
|
|||
|
|
cdn.com/thumbor/j5RIrm2Srp5uwAInJsNHyRmd55w=/0x16:2560x1936/1310x983/cdn.vox-
|
|||
|
|
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70684078/10062869_Homeboy_V1_2560x3840.0.jpg"/>
|
|||
|
|
<figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
This is the only art available for Homeboy. I know. | Discovery+
|
|||
|
|
</figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
On Homeboy, Rajiv Surendra wants me to make my own candles. You know what? Sure.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mDxOX8">
|
|||
|
|
My favorite lifestyle influencer is Kevin G. from <em>Mean Girls</em>.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Mh23pK">
|
|||
|
|
Instagram may be full of tastefully bland blonde ladies in blandly tasteful mansions, but only the erstwhile Bad-Ass M.C., real name Rajiv Surendra, offers the absurd levels of persnicketiness I crave.
|
|||
|
|
</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
</ul>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GDel2S">
|
|||
|
|
Only Surendra stands ready to teach me how to do things I will never, ever do, such as: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rmwQIL4W0Y&list=PLPBX4CwI7bw_UYpWmsBj6x7NYkgn2sjb7&index=6&t=3s">decorate my walls with elaborate calligraphy chalk art</a>; use<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCCvmw7DANQ"> hand-woven dishcloths</a> on the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Uo2nomf4I0&list=PLPBX4CwI7bw_UYpWmsBj6x7NYkgn2sjb7&index=1">vintage silver</a> I don’t have; and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSjUPb58fj0&list=PLPBX4CwI7bw_UYpWmsBj6x7NYkgn2sjb7&index=7&t=3s">wrap my gifts</a> not with commercial wrapping paper (garbage) and tape (abomination), but in vintage maps, sealed with imported sealing wax (French only). And let’s be real here: Surendra is certainly the only lifestyle influencer I trust to have his own beeswax guy on call for when he feels like hand-dipping some new candles. (The beeswax guy, of course, is French.)
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zez3Vn">
|
|||
|
|
Since 2021,<a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPBX4CwI7bw_UYpWmsBj6x7NYkgn2sjb7"> Surendra’s craft videos</a> have been showing up on the HGTV YouTube channel <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCesXqJmu3vgiacty8CVlK5g">Handmade</a>. They’re 15-minute snippets of pure beautiful nonsense, as relevant to my daily life as dispatches from 18th-century Versailles, and I watch them religiously. In a world of chaos, thank god Rajiv Surendra is there, fussily measuring the exact dimensions of his wool sweater before he demonstrates proper sweater-washing technique in his marble sink. He gives me faith that order and structure exist, and that <em>someone</em>, at least, is refusing to let his standards slip.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Q3lqBj">
|
|||
|
|
In January, Surendra launched the pilot for a planned lifestyle show, <em>Homeboy</em>, streaming on Discovery Plus, and I need the full series like I need air. It is the only thing I ever want to watch while I fold my laundry. (No air date for the full series has been announced.)
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<div id="TcjInu">
|
|||
|
|
<div style="width: 100%;
|
|||
|
|
height: 0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;">
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="X9vcmY">
|
|||
|
|
The premise of <em>Homeboy</em>’s pilot is that Surendra is having some friends over for dinner. Naturally, he needs to source large amounts of flowers to arrange for the occasion, as well as replenish his supply of homemade candles. So we follow Surendra through his flower arranging process, which he assures us can be done for the low, low price of $40, and then through his candle- and candle-label- making process.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9gIMHh">
|
|||
|
|
The latter chore makes up the bulk of the episode and is where the true joy is to be had. First Surendra designs the stamp he will use to label his candles, and then he takes us to his stamp guy at an old Irish shop in New York’s Village to get it made. Then he calls up his aforementioned French beeswax guy. (This one’s based out of the Upper East Side, so Surendra spends a lot of his travel time on a vintage bicycle with a prim little straw basket.) Once he’s supplied, he gleefully begins dipping candles.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="An2n1F">
|
|||
|
|
“Dipping beeswax candles is very meditative,” he muses. “It’s why nuns do it. Do they do it? I don’t know. I would imagine they do.” He explains that his candles pay for themselves when you consider that buying a pair of beeswax candles from someone else would cost $12 at least, whereas his beeswax connection charges only $40 for enough wax to dip 50 candles.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mA13MI">
|
|||
|
|
Anti-climactically, the only food Surendra makes for his planned dinner is spaghetti with tomato sauce. He does buy a basil plant specifically for this purpose, so I reluctantly allow it, but pasta with red sauce is not exactly up to the levels of snootiness that Surendra has taught me to expect from him. The pasta isn’t even handmade!
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Z9NkKJ">
|
|||
|
|
Still, <em>Homeboy</em>’s pilot does end on the kind of cliffhanger that will generally earn my forgiveness. We see Surendra pursuing one of his favorite hobbies: handwriting in calligraphy a letter to a friend of his in France, all about the next craft project he has planned.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fJ6NAv">
|
|||
|
|
This time, he’s planning a visit to a specialty hardware store. He’s getting a new faucet for his bathroom sink, and he wants it to be “in the shape of a swan’s head or some other mythological sea creature; I haven’t decided yet.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Wtd1VH">
|
|||
|
|
Swans are my favorite mythological sea creature, too. I’m glad I can trust in Surendra to explain why the faucet of his choice is the only possible accompaniment to his homemade beeswax/goat’s milk soap with hand-designed stamped labels.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kpyf5Q">
|
|||
|
|
Homeboy’s pilot episode is available to watch on <a href="https://www.discoveryplus.com/">Discovery Plus</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Homeboy-Season-1/dp/B09PFFJ3GQ">Amazon Prime</a>. <em> For more recommendations from the world of culture, check out the </em><a href="https://www.vox.com/one-good-thing"><em>One Good Thing</em></a><em> archives.</em>
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<ul>
|
|||
|
|
<li><strong>Clarence Thomas’s long fight against fair and democratic elections</strong> -
|
|||
|
|
<figure>
|
|||
|
|
<img alt="Justice Thomas Attends Forum On His 30 Year Supreme Court Legacy" src="https://cdn.vox-
|
|||
|
|
cdn.com/thumbor/kIelrX0EMwqhy0yuhbAhVvY2n18=/98x0:6322x4668/1310x983/cdn.vox-
|
|||
|
|
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70684029/1236038659.0.jpg"/>
|
|||
|
|
<figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
Justice Clarence Thomas sits with his wife Ginni and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell at the Heritage Foundation on October 21, 2021, in Washington, DC. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images
|
|||
|
|
</figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Like wife, like husband.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="X84stQ">
|
|||
|
|
We now know that Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, spent the weeks after the 2020 election cheerleading the Trump White House’s efforts to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/03/24/virginia-thomas-mark-meadows-texts/">overturn President Joe Biden’s victory in that election</a>. One detail we do not yet know, however, is what Justice Thomas knew about his wife’s communications, and whether he tried to use his office to protect her.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xXau9q">
|
|||
|
|
In January, the Supreme Court permitted the US House committee investigating the January 6 attacks on the Capitol to <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/1/19/22892248/supreme-court-january-6-trump-thompson-commitee-subpoena">obtain hundreds of pages of White House records</a> that may shine a light on former President Donald Trump’s efforts to thwart the peaceful transfer of power to Biden. These records may or may not contain additional evidence linking Ginni Thomas to January 6.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qYNgly">
|
|||
|
|
If Clarence Thomas had his way, the House committee and the public would never know.<br/>
|
|||
|
|
Thomas was the <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21a272_9p6b.pdf">only justice to publicly dissent</a> from the Supreme Court’s decision to let the House committee obtain these records — though he offered no explanation for why he dissented.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FHFmQb">
|
|||
|
|
But here’s the thing: Yes, Thomas’s vote in this case, <em>Trump v. Thompson</em>, may have been an underhanded effort to protect his own wife. But his vote in <em>Trump </em>was entirely consistent with his record in cases where his spouse does not have a personal interest.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MDPZpT">
|
|||
|
|
In more than three decades on the Supreme Court, Thomas has consistently voted to <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/7/1/22559046/supreme-court-voting-rights-act-brnovich-dnc-samuel-alito-elena-kagan-
|
|||
|
|
democracy">make it harder for many Americans to have their vote count</a>; to erode institutions, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/5/12/21250988/supreme-court-clarence-thomas-free-speech-first-amendment-sineneng-
|
|||
|
|
smith">like a free press</a>, that are essential to democracy; and to <a href="https://www.vox.com/21497317/originalism-
|
|||
|
|
amy-coney-barrett-constitution-supreme-court">dismantle nearly a century’s worth of democratically enacted laws</a> on spurious constitutional grounds. Thomas’s opposition to democracy is not rooted in nepotism. It appears to be quite principled.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JLqtlZ">
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Among other things, Thomas is the only sitting justice who voted to install a Republican president in <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/00-949.ZPC.html"><em>Bush v. Gore</em></a> (2000) — although three other current justices were <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/17/politics/bush-v-gore-barrett-
|
|||
|
|
kavanaugh-roberts-supreme-court/index.html">part of Republican George W. Bush’s legal team</a> in that case. Thomas would allow Republican administrations to <a href="https://www.vox.com/22431044/neil-gorsuch-nihilism-supreme-court-
|
|||
|
|
voting-rights-lgbt-housing-obamacare-constitution">deactivate the entire Voting Rights Act</a> so long as they are in power. He would <a href="https://www.vox.com/22431044/neil-gorsuch-nihilism-supreme-court-voting-rights-lgbt-housing-
|
|||
|
|
obamacare-constitution">strip journalists of First Amendment rights</a> that allow them to safely provide critical coverage of government officials. And he would invalidate a long list of laws including the federal <a href="https://archive.thinkprogress.org/clarence-thomas-most-important-legal-thinker-in-america-c12af3d08c98/">bans on child labor and on whites-only lunch counters</a>, based on a widely rejected reading of the constitutional provision that grants Congress most of its power over the private sector.
|
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zplLwJ">
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No matter how the scandal with his wife’s texts shakes out, it’s worth remembering how the Court’s longest-serving justice would shape the world. In Clarence Thomas’s America, elections would be skewed so heavily in the Republican Party’s favor that Democrats will struggle to ever gain power. And if Democrats somehow do manage to squeak into office, Thomas would ensure that they cannot govern.
|
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</p>
|
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<h3 id="BOFPPO">
|
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Thomas v. free and fair elections
|
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kCra0Q">
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The Supreme Court’s Republican majority, in Justice Elena Kagan’s words, “<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/19-1257_g204.pdf">has treated no statute worse</a>” than the Voting Rights Act.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="D072nT">
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|
It’s an astonishing attack on liberal democracy. The Voting Rights Act was America’s first meaningful attempt since Reconstruction to ensure that Black citizens could participate equally in selecting their own leaders. And, when it was fully in effect, it was a breathtakingly effective law. Just two years after President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law, Black voter registration rates in Mississippi skyrocketed <a href="https://www.vox.com/22575435/voting-rights-supreme-court-
|
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|
|
john-roberts-shelby-county-constitution-brnovich-elena-kagan">from 6.7 percent to nearly 60 percent</a>.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nollTi">
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|
And yet, since its 2013 decision in <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/12-96_6k47.pdf"><em>Shelby County v. Holder</em></a>, the Court has systematically dismantled the Voting Rights Act’s key provisions. It hamstrung <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=4053797526279899410&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr">the law’s “preclearance” provision</a>, which required federal officials to screen voting laws in states with a history of racist election practices to ensure that those laws do not discriminate. It imposed such a high burden of proof on voting rights plaintiffs alleging intentional discrimination that such cases are <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/4/23/21228636/alito-racism-ramos-louisiana-unanimous-jury">now virtually impossible to win</a>. And the Court has fabricated limits on the Voting Rights Act that <a href="https://www.vox.com/22575435/voting-
|
|||
|
|
rights-supreme-court-john-roberts-shelby-county-constitution-brnovich-elena-kagan">appear nowhere in the law’s text</a>, such as a presumption that voting restrictions that were common in 1982 are valid.
|
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NlArhz">
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Justice Thomas supported all of these efforts to weaken the Voting Rights Act, a law that arguably <a href="https://www.vox.com/22575435/voting-rights-supreme-court-john-roberts-shelby-county-constitution-brnovich-elena-
|
|||
|
|
kagan">did more than any statute in American history to dismantle Jim Crow</a>, But he’s also consistently urged his Court to go much further. It’s unclear whether the Voting Rights Act retains any real force after its many harrowing encounters with the Roberts Court, but Thomas would all but ensure that the law is meaningless.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xZPxx9">
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In the late 1960s, just a few years after the Voting Rights Act became law, the Supreme Court recognized that the law “<a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=6285503396298875918&hl=en&as_sdt=6,47&as_vis=1">was aimed at the subtle, as well as the obvious</a>, state regulations which have the effect of denying citizens their right to vote because of their race.”
|
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3XLhqK">
|
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|
Imagine, for example, a city where 60 percent of the population is white, and 40 percent is Black. Now imagine that the city <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/2/1/22910909/supreme-court-
|
|||
|
|
racial-gerrymander-alabama-merrill-singleton-milligan">draws gerrymandered districts</a> which ensure that white voters will be a majority in every city council district. In such a place Black voters might nominally possess the right to vote, but any vote cast by a Black person would be meaningless if the white majority hangs together to deny power to the Black minority’s preferred candidates.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rcplU5">
|
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|
To prevent these kinds of subtle attacks on the right to vote, the Supreme Court has, for more than half a century, understood the Voting Rights Act to prohibit “<a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=5399157163793733966&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr">vote dilution</a>” — that is, laws that diminish the power of voters of color without formally stripping them of the right to vote altogether. Concurring in the judgment in <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=5399157163793733966&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr"><em>Holder</em></a></p></li><a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=5399157163793733966&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr"><em>
|
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|
|
</em></a></ul><a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=5399157163793733966&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr"><em>
|
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|
|
</em></a><ol start="22" type="a"><a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=5399157163793733966&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr"><em>
|
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|
|
</em></a><li><a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=5399157163793733966&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr"><em>Hall</em></a> (1994), however, Thomas argued that the Court should abolish vote dilution claims, and effectively allow states to deny voting rights to certain racial groups so long as the state does it with a degree of subtlety.
|
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|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"></p></li>
|
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|
</ol>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fbVbfd">
|
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|
|
In <em>Holder,</em> a majority of the Court concluded that vote dilution claims could not be used to challenge the number of people who sit on a governing body, but only Justice Antonin Scalia joined Thomas’s opinion seeking to shut down vote dilution lawsuits altogether.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vS3FTE">
|
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|
|
“Properly understood,” Thomas claimed, the Voting Rights Act only forbids “practices that affect minority citizens’ access to the ballot.” “Districting systems and electoral mechanisms that may affect the ‘weight’ given to a ballot,” Thomas continued, “are simply beyond the purview of the Act.”
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="e3AdsA">
|
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|
|
Thus, a state would be free to lock voters of a particular race out of power entirely, just so long as those voters were allowed to perform the meaningless act of submitting a ballot in an election that their preferred candidate cannot possibly win.
|
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|
</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xg7WtK">
|
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|
|
More recently, in <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/19-1257_g204.pdf"><em>Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee</em></a> (2021), Thomas joined an opinion by Justice Neil Gorsuch which suggested that no private party is allowed to bring a lawsuit under the Voting Rights Act — only the US Justice Department could do so.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rtszi6">
|
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|
|
As the Supreme Court explained in <a href="https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-
|
|||
|
|
court/393/544.html"><em>Allen v. State Board of Elections</em></a><em> </em>(1969), such an approach would severely hamper the law’s effectiveness, even if the Justice Department is committed to protecting voting rights. “The Attorney General has a limited staff,” the Court noted in <em>Allen</em>, “and often might be unable to uncover quickly” new state policies that target voters of color.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZWDYp4">
|
|||
|
|
And there’s no guarantee that the Justice Department will be led by people who care about voting rights. One result of the approach Thomas endorsed in <em>Brnovich</em> is that, in a Republican administration, the Voting Rights Act could cease to function altogether.
|
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|
|
</p>
|
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|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ddRzuT">
|
|||
|
|
Thomas was also an <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/00-949.ZC.html">early proponent</a> of the so-called “<a href="https://www.vox.com/22958543/supreme-court-gerrymandering-redistricting-north-carolina-pennsylvania-moore-toth-
|
|||
|
|
amy-coney-barrett">independent state legislature doctrine</a>,” a theory that would allow state lawmakers to ignore their state constitution altogether when writing the laws governing congressional and presidential elections. In its strongest form, this doctrine would allow a state legislature to simply gift a state’s electoral votes to the Republican presidential candidate (or, in theory, to any presidential candidate), regardless of what the people of the state, the state’s governor, or the state’s supreme court has to say about it.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="e6esV8">
|
|||
|
|
Thomas would dismantle the freedom of the press
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lf38US">
|
|||
|
|
Even if states hold nominally free and fair elections where every vote counts equally, elections lose much of their import if voters cannot learn which candidates support their preferred policies or know what choices politicians make once elected. This is why a free press is essential to any democracy, because the right to vote means little if voters can’t determine who to vote for.
|
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|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="o9E5vk">
|
|||
|
|
And yet, Thomas called for his Court to overrule <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/376/254"><em>New York Times v. Sullivan</em></a> (1964), the single most important decision enabling journalists to report the news without facing intimidation or sanction from government officials.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tSe7jp">
|
|||
|
|
In 1960, <a href="https://www.vox.com/22249207/dominion-voting-systems-rudy-giuliani-defamation-billion-2020-election-donald-trump-
|
|||
|
|
sidney-powell">civil rights activists aligned with Martin Luther King, Jr.</a> ran an advertisement in the New York Times, which alleged that Alabama police used brutal tactics to suppress student protests. The ad, however, contained some minor factual errors. It misidentified the song that protesters sang at a particular demonstration, for example, and it also claimed that police had arrested King seven times, when he’d in fact only been arrested four times.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pllmXt">
|
|||
|
|
Pointing to these small errors, a Jim Crow police official <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/30/reader-center/libel-law-explainer.html">won a $500,000 verdict against the Times</a> in an Alabama court — close to $5 million in 2022 dollars. Had this verdict stood, it would have chilled journalism of all kinds, because it would have meant that any newspaper or other outlet that prints even very small factual mistakes could have been hit with a verdict large enough to bankrupt the outlet.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pBJ8Tq">
|
|||
|
|
The <em>New York Times</em> decision, however, prevented this outcome by holding that the First Amendment imposes limits on defamation lawsuits. When someone speaks about a public figure and about a matter of public concern, the Court held, they cannot be held liable for making false statements unless that statement was made “with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Zgpxbf">
|
|||
|
|
Thomas argued in <em>McKee v. Cosby</em> (2019) that <em>New York Times </em>should be overruled. Indeed, Thomas’s opinion suggests that states should be free to define their own defamation law free of constitutional constraints. “The States are perfectly capable of striking an acceptable balance between encouraging robust public discourse and providing a meaningful remedy for reputational harm,” Thomas wrote.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ffXbMQ">
|
|||
|
|
If this approach were to prevail, state officials could once again <a href="https://www.vox.com/22431044/neil-gorsuch-nihilism-supreme-court-voting-rights-lgbt-housing-obamacare-
|
|||
|
|
constitution">use malicious defamation lawsuits to target journalists</a>. Suppose, for example, that I mistakenly report that “500 people attended a rally protesting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis,” when in fact the rally was attended by only 450 people. If states can set their own defamation laws, free of constitutional constraint, then DeSantis could sue me and Vox Media for millions, endangering our ability to continue reporting on DeSantis — and potentially bankrupting Vox in the process.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="sLEM0k">
|
|||
|
|
Thomas would make the winner of a federal election largely irrelevant
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kBCCRV">
|
|||
|
|
Thomas’s final avenue of attack on American democracy is perhaps even more subtle and insidious.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RRY6WG">
|
|||
|
|
Under Justice Thomas’s approach, the winner of a federal election is largely irrelevant, because the federal government would be stripped of its authority to do nearly anything that the current majority on the Court disapproves of.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TLhJe8">
|
|||
|
|
That’s because his views on the balance of power among the three branches of the federal government, and on the balance of power between Congress and the states, would leave the national government little more than an empty husk.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="B62blI">
|
|||
|
|
To back up: Numerous federal statutes lay out broad policy objectives — such as <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/11/3/22758188/climate-change-epa-clean-power-plan-supreme-court">power plants should use the best available technology to reduce emissions</a> or <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/4/2/22360341/obamacare-
|
|||
|
|
lawsuit-supreme-court-little-sisters-kelley-becerra-reed-oconnor-nondelegation">health insurers shall cover vaccines that are recommended by medical experts</a> — then delegates the task of implementing these objections to a federal agency. One advantage of this approach is that it allows the government to be dynamic. As new emissions reduction technology emerges, for example, the Environmental Protection Agency can update the relevant regulations to ensure that power plants remain state-of-the-art. Another is that it allows democratically elected lawmakers — with a diverse set of backgrounds — to set policy goals, but also leaves the difficult details of implementing these goals to officials with specialized expertise.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Trejnp">
|
|||
|
|
In recent years, however, the Court’s Republican appointees have given themselves a veto power over all of these agency regulations. Relying on vague doctrines that appear nowhere in the Constitution, such as the “<a href="https://www.vox.com/22883639/supreme-court-vaccines-osha-cms-biden-mandate-nfib-
|
|||
|
|
labor-missouri">major questions</a>” doctrine or “<a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/11/3/22758188/climate-change-epa-
|
|||
|
|
clean-power-plan-supreme-court">nondelegation</a>,” the Court has claimed the power to strike down regulations that a majority of its members disapprove of.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7veVxw">
|
|||
|
|
Thomas, however, would go even further. In a <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/575/13-1080/">2015 opinion</a>, Thomas argued that any federal law that permits an agency to exercise “policy discretion” is unconstitutional. Thus, Congress would be forbidden from creating a modern environmental protection regime, or a dynamic regime where medical experts can quickly make new vaccines available to the public, no matter how the American people vote in congressional elections.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1Dl5ZN">
|
|||
|
|
Thomas would also <a href="https://archive.thinkprogress.org/clarence-thomas-most-important-legal-thinker-
|
|||
|
|
in-america-c12af3d08c98/">strike down huge swaths of federal law</a> governing the workplace and other private businesses.
|
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|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JpvZsl">
|
|||
|
|
The Constitution permits Congress to “<a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articlei#:~:text=Article%20I%20describes%20the%20design,the%20powers%20that%20Congress%20has.">regulate commerce</a> … among the several states.” This provision is what allows the federal government to <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/301/1/">protect the right to unionize</a>, to <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/312/100/">ban child labor</a>, to <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/312/100/">set the minimum wage</a>, to <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/379/294">prohibit discrimination by private companies</a>, and to regulate health insurers — among many other things.
|
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|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4TQWfW">
|
|||
|
|
<a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/93-1260.ZC1.html">Concurring in <em>United States v. Lopez</em></a> (1995), however, Thomas endorsed the legal reasoning the Court used in <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/247/251/"><em>Hammer v. Dagenhart</em></a> (1918), an anti-canonical decision striking down federal child labor laws. And he’s restated this view in at least <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/99-5.ZC.html">three</a> <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/03-1454.ZD1.html">other</a> <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/11-393#writing-11-393_DISSENT_6'">opinions</a> since <em>Lopez</em>.
|
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|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zFRa85">
|
|||
|
|
For those who want a deep dive, I’ve written about the <a href="https://archive.thinkprogress.org/clarence-thomas-most-important-legal-thinker-in-america-c12af3d08c98/">full implications</a> <a href="https://www.vox.com/21497317/originalism-amy-coney-barrett-constitution-supreme-court">of Thomas’s opinion in <em>Lopez</em></a> <a href="https://www.vox.com/22956346/supreme-court-commerce-clause-native-
|
|||
|
|
american-indian-child-welfare-act-haaland-brackeen-texas">at considerable length</a>. But the short version is that Thomas’s approach endangers much of the New Deal, the Great Society, and decades of other regulations of private businesses which now form a backbone of American society.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mLBERb">
|
|||
|
|
Again, under Thomas’s approach, it is highly doubtful that the federal ban on whites-only lunch counters, which the Supreme Court held was a valid exercise of Congress’s power to regulate commerce in <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/379/294/"><em>Katzenbach v. McClung</em></a> (1964), could survive.
|
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|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UWlzSS">
|
|||
|
|
Thomas, in other words, imagines a world where state lawmakers have broad authority to skew elections in their party’s favor. He would strip journalists of the First Amendment protections they need to do their job safely. And, if a left-of-center government somehow did emerge despite these constraints, Thomas would strip that government of most of its authority to govern.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mzmS1U">
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Ultimate power would rest with the Supreme Court, and its panel of unelected judges who serve for life, not with the American people. And Thomas would wield that power to turn back the clock on American law nearly an entire century.
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</p>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
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<ul>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Environment must prevail over other rights, forests have to be preserved: Supreme Court</strong> - “Forest has to be preserved,” the Bench said, adding, “It is only because of strict interpretation and exposition by this court that the forest cover is increasing.”</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Australia's Agar tests positive for COVID-19 in Pakistan</strong> - Australian team management said physiotherapist Brendan Wilson also tested positive during regular testing of the squad.</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Indian Premier League 2022 | RCB vs KKR: Kolkata looks to consolidate position as Bangalore eyes first win</strong> - The two outfits head into the game on the back of contrasting results</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">**Boris Becker in London trial: “very difficult to make money with my name“** - Boris Becker said he wasn’t able to earn enough to pay his debts because of bad publicity and “expensive lifestyle commitments”</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Osaka makes Miami Open quarterfinals, says she's more grateful</strong> - Making the quarterfinals at a tournament used to be no big deal for Naomi Osaka, but things are a bit different now</p></li>
|
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</h1>
|
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<ul>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Environment must prevail over other rights, forests have to be preserved: Supreme Court</strong> - “Forest has to be preserved,” the Bench said, adding, “It is only because of strict interpretation and exposition by this court that the forest cover is increasing.”</p></li>
|
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>PM Modi flags social justice schemes to MPs</strong> - Museum of PMs acknowledges the contribution of every Prime Minister, Modi says</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Arrest me if you have proof and guts, Annamalai dares DMK</strong> - I have spoken everything with evidence, he says regarding the defamation notice sent to him by the DMK</p></li>
|
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Arunachal defends arrest of two persons for wall defacement</strong> - They defaced Wall of Harmony and hurt sentiments of all Arunachalees, says Minister</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Mixed response to land pooling by HMDA</strong> - Some farmer oppose surrender of lands</p></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</h1>
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<ul>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Russia-Ukraine war: Abramovich spotted in Istanbul peace talks</strong> - The Russian billionaire was seen as the talks began, following reports that he suffered poisoning symptoms.</p></li>
|
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>French elections: Eric Zemmour criticised over ‘Killer Macron’ rally chants</strong> - Emmanuel Macron criticises challenger Eric Zemmour after his supporters chanted “Killer Macron” at a rally.</p></li>
|
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>French election: Why the small town of Moissac is on edge</strong> - The relationship between a Bulgarian community and locals in Moissac sheds light on political issues.</p></li>
|
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Miguel van Damme: Belgian footballer dies aged 28 after battle with cancer</strong> - Belgian footballer Miguel van Damme has died at the age of 28 following a long battle with leukaemia.</p></li>
|
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ukraine calls for Nepal to ban Russian climbers from Himalayas</strong> - Nepal has issued permits to nine Russian climbers despite a Ukrainian call for them to be banned.</p></li>
|
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
|
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<ul>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Some Twitter traffic briefly funneled through Russian ISP, thanks to BGP mishap</strong> - Despite the timing, the 45-minute hijacking was most likely an error, not an attack. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1844054">link</a></p></li>
|
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Shanghai in lockdown as officials work to test all 26M residents</strong> - Officials fear the surge could turn deadly amid low vaccination rates among the elderly. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1844036">link</a></p></li>
|
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>No more excuses: NASA in line to get funding needed for Artemis plan</strong> - “A lot of people come to work every day that are working to get to 2025.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1843938">link</a></p></li>
|
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|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Fungus foils invading hordes of crazy ants, and that’s great for Texas</strong> - Fungal infections spread rapidly through crazy ant populations, wiped out 62% entirely. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1843835">link</a></p></li>
|
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Warzone dev says game is losing players over “insane” download sizes</strong> - <em>Modern Warfare</em>/<em>Warzone</em> pack can take up to 250GB on PC. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1843978">link</a></p></li>
|
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|
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</ul>
|
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
|
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<ul>
|
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|
<li><strong>After my joke last week about the Holy Qur’an…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
|||
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<div class="md">
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
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I had tons of private messages from Muslims on this site. As an apology to them I would like to say this:
|
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|
|
</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
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|
|
“Islam is a religion based on peace, love and respect, and this is the central message of the Qur’an. As such I offer a full apology for making the claim that it encourages suicide bombing and violence.”
|
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|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
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OK, there - I said it. Now can you please stop sending me death threats?
|
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</p>
|
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|
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</div>
|
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<!-- SC_ON -->
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/HighBudget"> /u/HighBudget </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/tqsuqv/after_my_joke_last_week_about_the_holy_quran/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/tqsuqv/after_my_joke_last_week_about_the_holy_quran/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
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|
|
<li><strong>How do you know Will Smith’s slap wasn’t staged?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
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|
|
<div class="md">
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
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|
His son wasn’t cast in it.
|
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</p>
|
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</div>
|
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|
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
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|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/beerdrinkerguy"> /u/beerdrinkerguy </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/tqotpw/how_do_you_know_will_smiths_slap_wasnt_staged/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/tqotpw/how_do_you_know_will_smiths_slap_wasnt_staged/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><strong>I’ve spent past 2 years looking for my ex wife’s killer</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
|||
|
|
<div class="md">
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
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|
|
No one wants to do it.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/a_man_wid_no_name"> /u/a_man_wid_no_name </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/tqv1yk/ive_spent_past_2_years_looking_for_my_ex_wifes/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/tqv1yk/ive_spent_past_2_years_looking_for_my_ex_wifes/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><strong>Whenever I hear of a Putin General I think of this really piss poor joke:</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
|||
|
|
<div class="md">
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
A soldier shows up for military training, but realizes he forgot to bring his gun.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
The sergeant hands him a stick and gestures to the training field.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
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|
“You’ll have to use this, soldier. If you need to shoot someone, just aim your stick at them and shout ‘Bangity bang-bang’. If someone gets too close to you, poke them in the gut with it as though it was a bayonette and shout ‘Stabbity stab-stab’. Now get moving.”
|
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|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
The soldier thinks this is pretty ridiculous, but to his surprise, when he aims his stick at a fellow trainee across the field and shouts “Bangity bang-bang!” the other soldier goes down in a theatrical display. Then, another trainee tries to run past him, so he pokes the guy in the ribs and shouts “Stabbity stab-stab!” and he too goes down, pretending to be dead.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
So, the soldier starts running through the mock-battlefield, shouting “Bangity bang-bang” and occasionally “Stabbity-stab-stab”, until eventually he realizes he’s the last man standing.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
He’s feeling pretty proud of himself until another soldier rounds a corner and starts walking toward him. Slowly. Stiffly. Menacingly.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
The soldier takes aim with his stick and shouts, “Bangity-bang- bang!”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
But the other soldier doesn’t go down this time. He keeps approaching, arms stiff at his sides, boots stomping aggressively into the ground.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
The soldier begins to sweat. He clears his throat, adjusts grip on his stick and hollers, “Bangity bang-bang!”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
But nothing happens. The other soldier keeps marching toward him.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Now the soldier panics. He pretends to reload his stick and desperately cries out, “Bangity bang-bang! Bangity bang-bang! Stabbity stab-stab!”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
But to his dismay, nothing works.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Finally, the other soldier reaches him, kicks him in the shin and knocks him onto the ground.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
He stands over the fallen soldier and says:
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
“Tankity tank-tank.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/picklestixatix"> /u/picklestixatix </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/tqovrm/whenever_i_hear_of_a_putin_general_i_think_of/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/tqovrm/whenever_i_hear_of_a_putin_general_i_think_of/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><strong>Why did Will use an open hand?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
|||
|
|
<div class="md">
|
|||
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Because paper always beats Rock.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/NotSeriousCalmDown"> /u/NotSeriousCalmDown </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/tqelxa/why_did_will_use_an_open_hand/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/tqelxa/why_did_will_use_an_open_hand/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
</ul>
|
|||
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|
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