WORLD NEWS
Western Baby Crisis: First-Time German Mothers Now Over 30 Years Old on Average
The average age for first-time mothers has hit an all-time record in Germany, climbing to over 30-years-old in 2020 according to figures published by the nation’s statistic agency.
During the first year of coronavirus lockdowns in Germany, the average age of mothers having their first child rose to an average of 30.2 years old, Destatis reported on Tuesday. The age of first-time mothers has a considerable impact on the total fertility rate of a nation, as older mothers are less likely to have further children.
India Bullied Facebook into Censoring 27 Million Posts in One Month
Facebook, which has rebranded itself “Meta,” published a “compliance report” on Tuesday that said 24.6 million pieces of content were censored in India in March. Another 2.7 million pieces of content were deleted on the Instagram platform.
“The report describes our efforts to remove harmful content from Facebook and Instagram, and demonstrate our continued commitment to making Facebook and Instagram safe and inclusive,” Meta said in a statement quoted by the Times of India (TOI).
London Mayor Khan Condemns U.S. Supreme Court, Declares Abortion a ‘Fundamental Right’
British politicians, including leftist London Mayor Sadiq Khan and the government’s trade representative, have waded into the abortion debate in the United States to condemn a reported leaked draft Supreme Court decision to return the decision to the state level.
On Monday evening, POLITICO published a document purporting to show that the U.S. Supreme Court is set to overturn the controversial 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, in which the court legalised abortion throughout the entirety of the country without a single vote being cast by the public.
The ruling, which has been long-questioned on legal grounds, as it relied dubiously on the right to privacy in the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, has been a key target for Republican lawmakers for decades.
However, overturning Roe was seemingly an impossible feat until the election of former President Donald Trump and his subsequent three Supreme Court nominations, which solidified an apparent pro-life majority on the court, despite Chief Justice John Roberts lurch to the left after being appointed by Republican George W. Bush.
The leaked document allegedly showing the Court’s intention to overturn Roe has not only sparked protests and panic from the left in the United States, but has also drawn the ire of politicians on the left and right in Britain.
The far-left Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan commented: “London stands with women across the United States today. Roe v. Wade enshrined women’s fundamental rights over their own bodies and access to healthcare. That cannot and must not be undone.”
The statement from Mr Khan was condemned by the youth pro-life activist group Abortion Resistance, which has launched a campaign to fight the “culture of death” in Britain.
“Women do not need abortion. Women need better support systems to be put in place by the government and need weak, misogynistic men like Khan to stop telling them that feminism is based on their ability to kill children,” Abortion Resistance’s director of communications, Alexandra Di Falco told Breitbart London.
“As optimistic as we are about the progress being made in the U.S., the comments of our Mayor of London are a stark reminder of the fact that we in the UK have a long fight for right to life of the unborn ahead of us. Let it be known that Sadiq Khan does not speak for the whole of London,” Di Falco added.
Despite being the International Trade Secretary for the supposedly Conservative government in Britain, Anne-Marie Trevelyan also condemned the reports of the Supreme Court potentially overturning Roe v. Wade, saying that she is “certainly a woman who believes in choice for women”.
U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
Biden Responds to Leak of Supreme Court Opinion
President Joe Biden has issued a response to a document leaked from the Supreme Court that suggests the high court has decided to strike down Roe v. Wade, the 1973 seminal precedent that made abortion legal throughout the United States.
The draft majority opinion authored by Justice Samuel Alito was published by Politico and later confirmed as authentic by the Supreme Court.
In a statement issued before that confirmation, Biden said that the White House was unsure of its authenticity before reaffirming his administration’s efforts to argue in support of Roe v. Wade, with Biden saying, “I believe that a woman’s right to choose is fundamental, Roe has been the law of the land for almost fifty years, and basic fairness and the stability of our law demand that it not be overturned.”
The statement also notes the administration’s efforts to prepare to respond to state-level laws limiting abortions saying, “we will be ready when any ruling is issued.”
Finally, Biden’s statement calls for legislation codifying Roe v. Wade should its ruling be overturned.
“It will fall on our nation’s elected officials at all levels of government to protect a woman’s right to choose,” the statement reads.
In a 2,400-word article published at 8:32 p.m. on May 2, Politico describes the draft opinion as “a full-throated, unflinching repudiation of the 1973 decision which guaranteed federal constitutional protections of abortion rights and a subsequent 1992 decision–Planned Parenthood v. Casey–that largely maintained the right.” The opinion is 67 pages long, followed by a 31-page appendix.
Members of Congress are also issuing statements on the leaked Supreme Court opinion—with Democrats joining the president in decrying efforts to overturn Roe while Republicans condemning what would be an unprecedented breach of Supreme Court protocol if the document is genuine and it was in fact leaked.
“If the reports are true, overturning Roe v. Wade would be a major victory for the Pro Life movement and protecting the unborn. However, the leak of the Supreme Court opinion is an inexcusable breach of trust,” wrote Rep. Tom Rice (R-S.C.) on Twitter, adding that “integrity and respect for our most precious institutions is eroding and that should be unacceptable by all.”
“Reversing the long-settled protections in Roe is outrageous. Every woman in America deserves the chance to make their own reproductive health care choices,” wrote Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) adding, “should this decision become law, roughly half the states in our country will make all or nearly all abortions illegal, leading to gross inequalities in health care access.”
The Supreme Court on Tuesday responded to the leak of a draft ruling and confirmed its authenticity, issuing a statement from Chief Justice John Roberts, who called the leak “a betrayal of the confidences” of the institution.
On Monday evening, Politico published a purported draft copy of the court’s ruling, which suggested that the landmark abortion law Roe v. Wade would be overturned. The Supreme Court confirmed the document’s authenticity but said the draft does not represent a final decision by the court “or the final position of any member” in the case.
“To the extent this betrayal of the confidences of the Court was intended to undermine the integrity of our operations,” Roberts wrote, “it will not succeed,” adding that the “work of the Court will not be affected in any way.”
Roberts also said he directed the Marshal of the Supreme Court to carry out an investigation into the leak and the individual who leaked it to the press. Should the leaker be identified, it’s not clear what punitive actions will be taken against them, although Roberts said the leak could be considered a significant breach of trust.
“We at the court are blessed to have a workforce—permanent employees and law clerks who are intensely loyal to the institution and dedicated to the rule of law,” the George W. Bush-appointed chief justice added. “Court employees have an exemplary and important tradition of respecting the confidentiality of the judicial process and upholding the trust of the Court.”
According to the draft opinion, authored by Justice Samuel Alito, “We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” referring also to the 1992 ruling Planned Parenthood v. Casey. “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”
Later this year, the court is slated to issue a ruling in connection to a Mississippi law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Mississippi’s attorney general’s office had urged the justices to use the case to overturn Roe v. Wade, which argued that a woman has a constitutional right to obtain an abortion.
“We emphasize that our decision concerns the constitutional right to abortion and no other right,” Alito, a George W. Bush appointee, also wrote, according to the draft published by Politico. “Nothing in this opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion.”
Alito’s opinion, which Politico claimed was shared with the other justices in February, was labeled as a first draft. There was no suggestion that other members of the Supreme Court who may have voted to overturn Roe v. Wade agreed with Alito’s arguments. There is also a history of Supreme Court members having sought revisions to their draft opinions or have even reversed their initial votes.
On Tuesday, Democrats did not address the apparent breach of the Supreme Court’s protocols and instead focused on mobilizing their supporters into voting for politicians to pass pro-abortion bills. Republicans, meanwhile, called for an investigation into the leak and said the leaker should face punishment or even prosecution.
“If the court does overturn Roe, it will fall on our nation’s elected officials at all levels of government to protect a woman’s right to choose,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “And it will fall on voters to elect pro-choice officials this November. At the federal level, we will need more pro-choice Senators and a pro-choice majority in the House to adopt legislation that codifies Roe, which I will work to pass and sign into law.”
Dershowitz: ‘FBI Is Going to Be Called’ to Deal With Supreme Court Leak
Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard Law professor emeritus, said that Monday night’s leaked draft of the Supreme Court’s ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade appears to be authentic and suggested that federal investigators will be called to investigate the incident.
“This has the sign of authenticity,” Dershowitz told Newsmax. “It also to me, and this is just a theory, but I think it’s maybe correct: The leak was very deliberately–perhaps by a law clerk who was very strongly opposed to reversing Roe v. Wade–seeking to make it public now so that pressure could be put on the Supreme Court, either by an act of Congress to pack the court, or an act of Congress making a federal legislative right of every woman to have an abortion based on the Commerce Clause.”
And Dershowitz, who previously worked as a Supreme Court clerk, said that “in all the years I’ve been following the Supreme Court, there’s never been a leak like this.”
The leak of the draft to Politico on Monday evening, he added, likely was not “inadvertent” and was “an act of civil disobedience engaged in by a determined law clerk who thought it was so serious that a woman’s right to abortion will be taken away that they were willing to risk their bar, their career, their heritage on this, because this is going to be investigated.”
Meanwhile, the leaker may be gearing up to become a “hero of the left,” Dershowitz opined. However, that individual could face federal charges, he said, while adding: “They won’t be practicing law anymore.”
“The FBI is going to be called in,” he continued. “There’s going to be an attempt to break the journalist privilege. There’s going to be an attempt to call Politico and demand of them that they reveal the source.”
Dershowitz continued: “Politico won’t do it, but the case may go all the way to the Supreme Court on that issue as well.”
Elon Musk Wonders Why Vanity Fair Invited Ghislaine Maxwell to Party in 2014
Billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk on May 2 questioned why Vanity Fair invited Ghislaine Maxwell to a party he attended in 2014.
Maxwell has since been convicted of child sex trafficking for abuse by Jeffrey Epstein, who died in prison under mysterious circumstances.
The argument started when Musk commented on the fact that Twitter suspended an account that was tracking Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial. Musk is in the process of acquiring Twitter and taking the company private.
Although Maxwell and Epstein were accused of operating a child sex trafficking ring, none of their clients have been charged. According to some abuse survivors, the ring’s clients include powerful politicians, businessmen, and other influential leaders.
“Where is their “client” list? Shouldn’t at least one of them go down!?” Musk commented.
In response, a commenter posted a picture of Musk and Maxwell at a Vanity Fair party. In the picture, Maxwell smiles and stands behind Musk.
The picture was taken in 2014 at a Vanity Fair party. Many who posted the photo appeared to suggest that Musk was friends with Maxwell.
Musk defended himself, saying that Maxwell’s appearance was a “photobomb.”
“That’s a Vanity Fair party and she photobombed me in the background, but you know that already, don’t know?” the billionaire said.
Then Musk’s friend, Pranay Pathole interjected with another tweet.
“Elon doesn’t know Ghislaine Maxwell at all. She photobombed him once at a Vanity Fair party in 2014. Real question is why Vanity Fair invited her in the first place?!” he said.
“That is exactly the question,” Musk replied.
To Ensure Trust in 2024 Election, Re-Register All Voters After Midterms, Says Fraud-Tracker
After the upcoming midterm elections, all 3,006 counties in the 50 states and territories across the United States should scrub their voter rolls clean and require voters to re-register in order to cast ballots in the next election, urges True the Vote’s Catherine Engelbrecht.
Doing so is a sure-fire way to enhance the integrity of the 2024 election result, Engelbrecht said, who has been advocating for election reform for more than a dozen years since founding True the Vote (TTV), a Texas-based nonprofit dedicated to exposing and remedying voter fraud.
“It’s totally realistic to have a reset of voter rolls” in every state by the 2024 election, she said. “Dirty voter rolls are the gateway to fraud. Clean voter rolls are the foundation of free and honest elections.”
But don’t hold your breath, Engelbrecht said: not only does every state have its own rules for when voters must re-register or update their registration, but they also have their own regulations regarding voter roll audits, as well as cadres of elections law attorneys who make a living keeping the system as complicated and convoluted as possible.
“What will limit any reset (of registered voter rolls) is lawfare,” she said. “The tactic de jour is to bury these kinds of election integrity efforts in lawsuits, to bury organizations like ours in lawsuits.
“That is unfortunate,” Engelbrecht added. “If we can get that done, the strength that will come from that will mitigate a lot of the other nonsense. All we can do is keep pressing on and reminding ourselves of what is at stake.”
TTV is, indeed, pressing on. According to its recently published 15-month study of election results and voter rolls in Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Michigan, the group estimates that at least 4.8 million votes were illegally trafficked during the 2020 election.
Democrats Admit It’s Women Who Get Abortions After All
Democrats made an admission about what type of people can actually get abortions in the wake of a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion showing justices could potentially overturn Roe v. Wade.
After many liberals pushed for gender-neutral terms surrounding pregnancy and abortion such as “birthing people” instead of “women,” prominent Democrats made statements appearing to suggest only women can get pregnant and have abortions.
President Joe Biden characterized abortion as a women’s rights issue in a Tuesday statement that emphasized women’s reproductive freedom.
“I believe that a woman’s right to choose is fundamental,” he said. “[I]f the Court does overturn Roe, it will fall on our nation’s elected officials at all levels of government to protect a woman’s right to choose.”
Hillary Clinton also painted abortion as a women’s issue.
“Women’s rights are human rights and human rights are women’s rights,” Clinton said. “An extreme wing of the Supreme Court may seek to deny that fundamental truth. They may try to force their views on a country where 70% of people want Roe upheld. We will not be quiet and we will not go back.”
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer suggested women are losing hope over the likely end of Roe v. Wade.
“Women are waking up this morning feeling hopeless; but we can’t go back. I’m more motivated than ever to keep fighting like hell to ensure abortion remains safe and accessible in Michigan,” she said.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said his state would fight alongside women after the purported draft opinion was leaked.
“Our daughters, sisters, mothers, and grandmothers will not be silenced,” he wrote. “The world is about to hear their fury. California will not sit back. We are going to fight like hell.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said abortion was a woman’s right.
“Every woman deserves the freedom to make their own decisions about their body, health care, and future. It’s never been more urgent to elect a governor who will always protect a woman’s right to abortion,” Schumer said.
Democratic Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke said abortion was a form of women’s health care.
“Every woman deserves the freedom to make their own decisions about their body, health care, and future. It’s never been more urgent to elect a governor who will always protect a woman’s right to abortion,” he said.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said reversing Roe would be a step backward in the women’s rights movement.
“For the sake of women across the country, this should not be the Supreme Court’s final opinion when it comes to abortion rights,” she said in a statement. “We have been fighting this battle for too long. I refuse to go backwards. I refuse to let my new granddaughter have to fight for the rights generations have fought for and won, rights that she should be guaranteed.”
Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., characterized abortion as a women’s privacy issue.
“As a pro-choice pastor, I’ve always believed that a patient’s room is way too small for a woman, her doctor, and the United States government,” he said. “I’ll always fight to protect a woman’s right to choose. And that will never change.”
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said abortion was part of women’s rights.
“This year, I signed the Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act—codifying a woman’s right to choose into state law. New Jersey will not go backwards on reproductive rights,” he said.
Fact-Checking 6 Outrageous Claims About Leaked Supreme Court Draft Overturning Roe v. Wade
Amid news reports about the leaked draft of a Supreme Court opinion that would end abortion on demand, critics wailed in the media, in speeches, and on Twitter about the proposed ruling.
The high court confirmed the authenticity of the draft majority opinion by Justice Samuel Alito in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that was leaked to Politico, but asserted that it is not the final version.
If the Alito draft from February essentially stands and at least four other justices sign on, it would overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that made abortion legal across the nation.
If the Supreme Court overturns Roe, however, the ruling would not ban abortion nationwide but rather leave to elected state legislatures to determine whether or under what restrictions abortion is allowed in their states.
Amid news reports about the leaked draft of a Supreme Court opinion that would end abortion on demand, critics wailed in the media, in speeches, and on Twitter about the proposed ruling.
The high court confirmed the authenticity of the draft majority opinion by Justice Samuel Alito in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that was leaked to Politico, but asserted that it is not the final version.
If the Alito draft from February essentially stands and at least four other justices sign on, it would overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that made abortion legal across the nation.
If the Supreme Court overturns Roe, however, the ruling would not ban abortion nationwide but rather leave to elected state legislatures to determine whether or under what restrictions abortion is allowed in their states.
“The potential overturn of Roe v. Wade simply means that the people and their elected representatives, not unelected judges, will once again have the right to protect unborn children and mothers in the law,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, told The Daily Signal in a statement.
“Radical pro-abortion elites want to impose abortion on demand up to birth and so they claim the sky is falling. Nowhere have they beat that drum harder than with regard to Texas, but the data show laws like the Heartbeat Act save thousands of lives when women choose life for their babies, supported by efforts like the state’s $100 million Alternatives to Abortion program,” Dannenfelser continued. “The overwhelming majority of Americans favor common sense abortion limits that Roe doesn’t allow. They deserve the chance to have a real debate and enact life-saving laws based on the consensus of the people.”
Here are fact checks of six assertions made about the leaked draft opinion.
- ‘Mainstream Religions’ Undecided on Abortion
Talking to reporters Tuesday at Joint Base Andrews in suburban Maryland, President Joe Biden suggested that most major religions are undecided on the issue of abortion.
“Roe says what all basic mainstream religions have historically included, that the existence of a human life and being is a question,” Biden said. “Is it at the moment of conception? Is it six months? Is it six weeks?”
The president added: “The idea that we are going to make a judgment that is going to say that no one can make the judgment to choose to abort a child based on a decision by the Supreme Court, I think, goes way overboard.”
Biden’s definition of what denominations or faiths are part of “mainstream” religions could be subjective. But the president’s own religious affiliation is the Roman Catholic Church, which asserts that life must be protected from conception to natural death.
Pope Francis reaffirmed this in a 2018 tweet, writing: “Every life counts: from the beginning to the end, from conception to natural death.”
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops argues that life begins at conception.
“From earliest times, Christians sharply distinguished themselves from surrounding pagan cultures by rejecting abortion and infanticide,” the organization’s website says.
- ‘Refuse to Acknowledge’ Ninth Amendment
In the same press gaggle, Biden also told reporters that the Ninth Amendment protects the right to an abortion. He said this is why, as a senator representing Delaware, he opposed the Supreme Court nominations of Robert Bork and others by Republican presidents.
“One of the reasons why I voted against a number of the members of the court, they refuse to acknowledge that there’s a Ninth Amendment,” Biden said. “They refused to acknowledge there is a right to privacy. There’s so many fundamental rights that are affected by that. I’m not prepared to leave that to the whims of the public at the moment.”
In fact, the language of the Ninth Amendment doesn’t specify anything about either the right to an abortion or the right to privacy. The amendment says: “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”
In a 1965 ruling on birth control, Griswold v. Connecticut, Justice William O. Douglas said in the majority opinion that the Ninth Amendment was part of numerous other specified rights creating “emanations” that formed “penumbras” to allow the high court to infer the existence of an unenumerated right to privacy.
This opinion helped form the basis for the high court’s 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade requiring that every state legalize abortion, as well as its related 1992 ruling in Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
However, Biden’s assertion that the Ninth Amendment guarantees a right to privacy has been much debated in legal circles.
“The court’s [policy of] stare decisis is a judicial doctrine creating a rebuttable presumption that a court will follow its own past decisions,” said Sarah Parshall Perry, senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation, the parent organization of The Daily Signal.
“It must be a presumption in a system of limited government based on the rule of law, but it is not a mechanical formula of adherence to the latest decision,” Perry wrote in an email to The Daily Signal. “In fact, some of the court’s most significant decisions have overruled prior decisions—such as Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which overruled Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) and the doctrine of ‘separate but equal.’”
Perry continued:
The Ninth Amendment to the Constitution does not create or protect any right to abortion, nor can that right be found elsewhere in the Constitution. In reality, enforcement of the Ninth Amendment would not protect abortion as the president has argued but would instead reduce the federal government to its constitutional limits—something a big-government president might
- ‘Fascism Down the Line’
Other commentators and entertainers are saying Alito’s draft opinion in Dobbs goes far beyond abortion.
CNN legal pundit Elliot Williams tweeted Tuesday: “You don’t need to read too far between the lines of Alito’s draft to see a rationale for overturning or weakening [other Supreme Court precedents].”
Williams’ tweet went on to list: “Griswold (the right to contraception) Obergefell (same-sex marriage) Loving (interracial marriage) Lawrence (consensual sex acts). And a host of others.”
On ABC’s “The View,” co-host Joy Behar asserted: “My worry is that this is just the beginning. Next they will go after gay marriage, and maybe Brown versus Board of Education. They already eroded our voting rights, a little bit. So I see fascism down the line here.”
Neither Williams nor Behar explained how a ruling on abortion by the Supreme Court would affect same-sex marriage, school desegregation, and interracial marriage, or lead to fascism.
However, in his draft majority opinion, Alito stressed that the ruling is limited.
“[T]o ensure that our decision is not misunderstood or mischaracterized, we emphasize that our decision concerns the constitutional right to abortion and no other right,” Alito’s draft opinion reads. “Nothing in this opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion.”
- ‘Rigged’ Supreme Court
The New York Times reported that Cecile Richards, who was president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America from 2006 to 2018, “blamed the Republican Party for the current climate, saying it had rigged the Supreme Court and used its political power to take away women’s rights.”
On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” host Joe Scarborough quipped Tuesday: “Obviously, the perception for 70% of Americans waking up this morning, is, is going to be, most likely, that this is an illegitimate decision by an illegitimate court.”
The arguments of a “rigged” or “illegitimate” Supreme Court stem from a Senate Republican majority’s refusal in 2016 to consider President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to the high court to succeed Antonin Scalia, a conservative justice, after his unexpected death.
Further, Democrats have asserted that Senate Republicans should not have filled the Supreme Court seat of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg days before the 2020 election by confirming President Donald Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett.
Both 2016 and 2020 were presidential election years. But in 2016, when Democrat Obama nominated Garland, then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., argued that voters should have a say in the sort of justice who would fill the Scalia vacancy.
Under the Constitution, the president nominates Supreme Court justices and the Senate decides whether to confirm that nominee. No law or rule says it would be “illegitimate” for a duly elected Senate majority not to vote to confirm one Supreme Court nominee but to vote to confirm another.
So, the current makeup of the Supreme Court would not be “rigged.”
After the elections in 2016 and 2018, Republicans maintained their Senate majority. That majority slipped away only after the November 2020 election, when Trump also lost to Biden after successfully appointing three conservatives to the Supreme Court.. (The new Democrat-controlled Senate confirmed Biden’s nomination of Garland as his attorney general.)
Scarborough also was inaccurate in his assertion about polling.
A Marist poll in January found that 71% of Americans said they support limits on abortion, and 54% said they oppose taxpayer funding for abortions. Previous surveys showed similar results.
- ‘Small Group of Countries’
After Alito’s draft opinion leaked, The New York Times asserted this in a news story about what would happen if the high court overturns Roe: “The United States would join a very small group of countries that has tightened abortion laws in recent years, as opposed to loosening them. Just three countries have done so since 1994: Poland, El Salvador and Nicaragua.”
The Times’ story also noted: “Under Roe, the United States is unusual in allowing abortion for any reason until around 23 weeks. Yet in many countries with earlier cutoffs, abortion is allowed for a wide variety of reasons.”
However, the Times didn’t specifically note that most Western European countries prohibit abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy or less, which is what the Mississippi law that prompted the Dobbs case would do, an article in the Washington Examiner explained.
In Germany, an abortion may be performed in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. In the Nordic countries of Denmark, Norway, and Finland, abortion is allowed in the first 12 weeks, with exceptions.
France also allows abortion until 12 weeks, but a woman may get permission from two doctors to get an abortion after the first trimester. In Spain, abortion is available for any reason until the 14th week, and in special circumstances, such as the mother’s health, up to 22 weeks.
In Sweden, the limit on when an abortion may be performed is 18 weeks, almost a month longer than the Mississippi law. Iceland allows abortion for up to 22 weeks. The Netherlands and the United Kingdom both allow abortions for up to 24 weeks in most cases.
Generally, these countries all provide exceptions.
- ‘Legislation That Codifies Roe … Now’
Several Democrats already have called for the Senate to eliminate the filibuster to codify “abortion rights” as federal law.
“Congress must pass legislation that codifies Roe v. Wade as the law of the land in this country NOW,” Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who caucuses with the Democrats, tweeted.
“And if there aren’t 60 votes in the Senate to do it, and there are not, we must end the filibuster to pass it with 50 votes,” Sanders continued.
Senate rules require 60 votes to end debate on a measure and move to a floor vote without the threat of a filibuster to block the measure.
Despite demands such as Sanders’, there almost certainly aren’t the numbers for a Senate split 50-50 to do anything “now.” Democrats have a functional majority only because Vice President Kamala Harris is able to cast a tie-breaking vote.
In February, Democrats brought up a procedural vote on the bill to codify Roe, called the Women’s Health Protection Act, which died after garnering just 48 votes, well short of 60 votes to overcome a fillibuster.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., voted with Republicans to defeat a motion to begin debate. Six other senators didn’t vote on the motion.
Moreover, two pro-choice Republicans, Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, have been ardent supporters of protecting the Senate filibuster.
Voters in Indiana and Ohio will decide who will represent them in November’s general elections in the primaries in both states on Tuesday, setting the tone in particular for the future of the Republican party and testing former President Donald Trump’s endorsement strength in a big way.
Trump has 22 endorsements on the line across both states on Tuesday, some in competitive races and others in not-so-competitive primaries. The biggest banner race of the night is the five-way GOP primary for U.S. Senate in Ohio, where Trump has endorsed author J.D. Vance–a hardcore nationalist populist–against four other candidates, three of whom sought Trump’s backing and one of whom did not. Those other candidates–Mike Gibbons, Josh Mandel, Jane Timken, and Matt Dolan–all represent different views on the future of the GOP than Trump in varying degrees, but Dolan in particular represents a major departure from Trump’s view for the party. That’s why it was particularly interesting on Tuesday morning to see Dolan’s wife and some top national leftists like Daily Kos urging Ohio Democrats to pull GOP ballots and vote for Dolan in the primary on Tuesday.
Riot in Los Angeles as Pro-Abortion Activists Confront Police
Violent demonstrators attacked police, vandalized a sidewalk, and smashed a local business on Tuesday evening during a protest against the Supreme Court’s impending decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 abortion decision.
The gathering was initially peaceful, as several hundred people gathered in front of the federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles to share their outrage at a leaked majority decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case.
The decision, written by Justice Samuel Alito and joined by four other conservative justices, restricted the holding in the case to abortion, though Democrats tried to inflame outrage by claiming all other privacy rights and social issues were affected.
Later, however, the event turned violent, as demonstrators tried to take over an intersection, and some threw rocks and bottles at police.
As the Los Angeles Times reported, some also sprayed graffiti in front of City Hall, and attacked police vehicles:
Around 7:30 p.m., officers escorted a group of about 250 demonstrators marching from the courthouse at Broadway and 1st Street to Pershing Square, said Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore. At some point, a group started to take over an intersection.
Police slowly drove a pair of vehicles into the intersection, moving about 40 protesters out of the way. Some were seen pounding on the hoods of the vehicles; most left the intersection.
One person smashed the window of a law enforcement vehicle near Grand Park, and others tagged a bus stop with the words “Google LASD gangs.”
[“LASD gangs” is a reference to reports of gangs within the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, an ongoing local scandal.]
The Times also noted that a glass door of a local Planet Fitness location was smashed during the clashes with police.
Video of the confrontations circulated online: https://twitter.com/i/status/1521723265244274688
Country Music Star Naomi Judd’s Cause of Death Revealed as Suicide
Grammy-winning country music star Naomi Judd — known for being part of the mother-daughter duo The Judds — died by suicide at age 76.
While the singer’s death was announced on Saturday, the cause of death was not immediately made clear. On Monday, a report by PEOPLE revealed that Judd had died by suicide “after struggling with mental illness for much of her life.”
Judd’s daughters Ashley and Wynonna announced the country star’s death over the weekend in a statement posted to social media.
“Today we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness,” they said. “We are shattered. We are navigating profound grief and know that as we loved her, she was loved by her public. We are in unknown territory.”
Judd had been a longtime advocate for mental health and wrote an open letter for Mental Health Awareness Week in 2018.
“To understand this issue better, we have to bring the study of suicide into mainstream neuroscience and treat the condition like every other brain disorder,” Judd wrote.
“People who commit suicide are experiencing problems with mood, impulse control, and aggression, all of which involve discrete circuits in the brain that regulate these aspects of human experience, but we still don’t understand how these circuits go haywire in the brains of suicide victims,” the singer added.
The country star had also reportedly opened up about her struggles with suicidal depression in her 2016 book, River of Time: My Descent into Depression and How I Emerged With Hope.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
A median-priced new home in the U.S. is roughly $77,000 more expensive than it was a year ago
‘New homes are likely a viable choice for fewer first-time home buyers’
The numbers: U.S. new-home sales decreased 8.6% to an annual rate of 763,000 in March, the government said Tuesday. That figure represents the quantity of homes that would be sold over a yearlong period of time if the same number of properties were bought each month based on the rate of sales in March.
Compared to a year ago, sales were down 12.6%. Economists polled by MarketWatch expected new-home sales in March to drop to an annual rate of 770,000.
The new-home sales report from the U.S. Census Bureau, unlike the existing-home sales report from the National Association of Realtors, reflects sales where the contract is signed but the transaction has not yet closed. Additionally, the report’s small sample size means that it can be quite volatile and prone to large revisions. Notably, February’s pace of sales was revised much higher to 835,000.
Key details: There were 407,000 newly-built homes for sale at the end of March, up 33% from a year earlier and nearly 4% from the previous month. This equated to a 6.4-month supply of new homes, roughly in line with the supply level that is viewed as indicative of a balanced market.
The median sales price for a new home, as of March, was $436,700, which is roughly $77,000 more expensive than the median price recorded in March 2021.
The big picture: Data on new home sales is extremely volatile, as evidenced by the significant revision to February’s numbers. Nevertheless, the trend appears to be tracking the shift in mortgage applications numbers.
Fed on track for biggest rate hike in over 20 years
Central bank will also announce start of ‘quantitative tightening’
For decades, central bankers believed that the less they said the better. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan once quipped that he made a mistake if a congressman understood what he was saying.
That’s not how the Federal Reserve under Chairman Jerome Powell is doing things. The U.S. central bank is making sure everyone knows what the results of their next policy meeting will likely be.
As a result, a half-percentage-point hike in the benchmark interest rate is baked in the cake for the Fed’s next policy meeting this week. The central bank is also expected to launch “quantitative tightening,” allowing its balance sheet to roll off at a pace that will soon hit $95 billion per month.
“Everyone expects a 50-bp hike at next week’s FOMC meeting, and we don’t see a reason to disagree,” said Roberto Perli, head of global policy at Piper Sandler.
A half-point rate hike is larger than the Fed has traditionally liked to move. The last half-point hike was in 2000. The central bank hasn’t raised rates at successive meetings since 2006.
To support this forecast, economists point out that Powell said as much last week, telling an audience at the International Monetary Fund that a 50 basis point hike was “on the table” for the May meeting.
The numbers: The ISM barometer of American factories fell 1.7 points to 55.4% in April as the industrial side of the economy grew at the slowest clip in 18 months, reflecting broad supply and labor shortages and intense inflationary pressures.
Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal forecast the index to rise to 57.8% from a one-and-a-half year low of 57.1% in March.
The report, compiled by the Institute for Supply Management, is seen as a mirror of the health of the U.S. economy. Any number above 50% signifies growth.
Yet even though the index has been very strong for most of the past two years and is historically high, it’s shown some weakening lately.
“Inflation is out of control,” one chemical-industry executive told ISM. “At some point, the economy must give way. It will be tough to have real growth with such pressure on costs.”
Big picture: Manufacturers still have plenty of demand for new cars, appliances, metal parts and other industrial goods.
HEALTH
Tuberculosis Makes Comeback in US Amid Misdiagnosis and Illegal Immigration
One of the world’s leading killer infectious diseases—tuberculosis (TB)— is surging in the United States with cases rising more than 9 percent last year alone.
At present, an estimated 13 million people are living in the United States with latent TB infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). TB kills upwards of 12 percent of its victims.
Some of the underlying causes contributing to the recent spike in cases are misdiagnosis as COVID-19 by healthcare professionals and the ongoing migration crisis at the U.S. southern border.
“TB, globally, is one of the most common infections resulting in disability and premature deaths around the world,” infectious disease expert Dr. William Schaffner told The Epoch Times.
Schaffner is a professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville. He explained that while some commonalities are shared between TB and COVID-19, one specific characteristic helps identify the former.
“Both affect the lungs, but the longer duration of TB symptoms distinguish it directly.”
The CDC asserts part of the reason for the rise in reported cases in 2021 could be misdiagnosis as COVID-19.
Meanwhile, U.S. states are seeing a rise in TB cases that began last year and have continued into 2022. Some of the states with a growing number of reports include Washington, Texas, and California.
Vilified Again, One of the World’s Healthiest Foods?
In 2015, egg restriction was eliminated from the U.S. dietary guidelines due to lack of evidence that cholesterol from eggs cause heart disease. Then, a new study again urged people to avoid eggs
This study analyzed data from six studies with a median follow-up of 17.5 years, and claims to have found a dose-dependent relationship between egg consumption and cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality
Health and nutritional experts have weighed in on this study, pointing out its multiple flaws. For starters, the researchers claim eggs cause CVD by raising your cholesterol, but higher egg intake was actually related to lower LDL (so-called “bad” cholesterol associated with CVD)
Several meta-analyses have also refuted the claim that egg consumption raises your risk for CVD
Eggs contain valuable vitamins and minerals, including selenium, vitamins B2 (riboflavin), B5 (pantothenic acid), B7 (biotin) and B12, high-quality protein, iodine, vitamin D, zinc, omega-3 fats, lutein, zeaxanthin and choline
Why Collagen Is Crucial for Bones and Skin
Collagen is the most common and abundant of your body’s proteins. One of its primary purposes is to provide structural scaffolding for your various tissues to allow them to stretch while still maintaining tissue integrity
Collagen is part of the secret of why tendons have the tensile strength of wire ropes and why healthy bones are so hard yet not brittle. As minerals are incorporated into the collagen, it cases the collagen fibrils to contract. This stress generates a mineral-collagen composite material composed of high-tensile fibers with properties reminiscent of reinforced concrete
Loss of collagen is also one of the biggest contributors to visible signs of aging, such as wrinkles and dull or sagging skin. When your collagen level is high, your skin will tend to be soft, smooth and firm, because the collagen allows skin cells to repair and renew themselves continuously
Collagen is crucial for connective tissues such as tendons, ligaments, cartilage and fascia, and these too tend to get weaker and less elastic with age. Connective tissue requires very specific raw materials in order to heal, namely animal-based collagen such as gelatin and bone broth
Homemade bone broth using bones and connective tissue from grass fed, organically raised animals will produce the best result. If using a supplement, make sure it’s made from grass fed organic animals, such as beef bones. Collagen supplements made from cattle hides can be problematic, even if organic and grass fed
—> Power Mall Product of Interest: Collagen Power-Plus by North American Herb & Spice
Collagen Power-Plus is the most potent hydrolyzed collagen supplement known. This is 100% non-feed-lot bovine-collagen, predigested through a special enzymatic process. Beware of cheap imitations made from GMO-tainted feed lot sources.
Collagen Power-Plus is unique, because the collagen is enhanced through the addition of the powerful protein-digested enzymes, bromelain and papain, which are also potent agents for enhancing blood flow to the joints as well as to support a healthy inflamation response.
It is fortified with a wild, raw mineral source, silajit, from the Himalayan mountains. A fulvic acid-rich complex silajit acts synergistically with collagen to maximize its potency. Wild camu camu is also added which greatly enhances a healthy collagen response. For supporting a healthy inflammatory response rosemary and ginger are added.
The formula also contains MCHC, microcycrystalline hydroxy apatite, from the optimal source, New Zealand raw bone, which supports a healthy collagen response and also a healthy bone health and bone density response. That’s why Collagen Power-Plus is unique—the most complete, synergistic, and potent collagen formula available.
Silajit enhances the bovine collagen by providing rare trace minerals plus fulvic acid needed for joint health support and for supporting a healthy inflammation response. Spice extracts are also added to synergize collagen, aiding in its joint- and inflammation response-supporting powers.
COVID RELATED NEWS
COVID-19 Vaccine Can Trigger Acute Hepatitis: Case Report
A recent case report about a man who received an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine suggests that taking the vaccine “may trigger immune-mediated hepatitis,” researchers wrote.
The case report does not indicate how common such a case would be, although researchers said that such a scenario is recognized as a “rare adverse event not identified in early trials.”
The report, published in the Journal of Hepatology in late April, describes the case of a man in Germany aged 52 who developed acute hepatitis—liver inflammation—two to three weeks after having received an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech (the BNT163b2 vaccine).
Researchers said they found that highly-activated T cells “accumulate and are evenly distributed in the different areas” of the man’s liver after he took the COVID-19 vaccine and developed acute hepatitis. T cells are a type of white blood cell that comprise a key part of the immune system. These cells focus on fighting new infections.
The patient experienced nausea and fatigue about 10 days after his first dose of the vaccine, and was subsequently found to have acute hepatitis. The hepatitis resolved on its own after about three days. He had a second dose of the vaccine 41 days after his first dose. Symptoms of nausea and fatigue returned 20 days later—he was given an oral steroid medication and initially improved. He relapsed 39 days later, after which he was successfully treated with systemic immunosuppressive therapy that also included steroids. The man’s liver function tests “subsequently normalized within 8 weeks.”
Researchers said the man’s immune response to the COVID-19 vaccine may have contributed to his liver inflammation. The COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer “may trigger immune-mediated hepatitis by mechanisms linked to vaccine-induced cellular immunity,” they said in the case report.
10 More States Report Mysterious Hepatitis Outbreaks in Children
At least 10 more states across the United States are reporting similar cases of severe acute hepatitis—liver disease of unknown origin—after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a national health alert regarding a mysterious cluster of the virus on April 21.
The cases involve previously healthy children between the ages of 1 month to 16 years old, many of whom are suddenly developing hepatitis and displaying gastrointestinal symptoms including abdominal pain, diarrhea, and vomiting, as well as jaundice, or yellowing of the skin and eyes.
Doug Schultz, a spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Health, told local TV station KSTP-TV on April 30 that it is investigating several cases of unexplained hepatitis in children.
Two of those children, one of which is an infant and the other who is two, have required liver transplants, he said. One of them still waiting.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) on April 27 also issued a health alert after four cases were reported among children, including two who had severe outcomes, one who required a liver transplant, and one that resulted in death.
Similar cases have also been reported in Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, New York, North Carolina, and Tennessee, according to the New York Post.
Nine cases have also been reported in Alabama since November 2021, the state’s Department of Public Health announced on April 15.
Meanwhile, California is also investigating seven cases, the first of which was reported in October 2021, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Researchers believe the outbreak of severe acute hepatitis may be linked to adenovirus, a viral infection that usually causes the common cold.
“We do not know yet if adenovirus played a role in these rare illnesses or if these cases are connected,” Ali Bay, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Public Health, told the Chronicle.
“While only a few cases of this rare illness have been reported, we urge parents and guardians to take common sense general measures to prevent infection and illness, such as good hand hygiene, covering coughs and sneezes, and keeping children home from school or childcare while they are ill.”
Union College Student Booted for Rejecting Vaccine Booster After Having Serious Side Effects
A pre-med biology and Spanish language student of Union College in Upstate New York was unenrolled and given 3 days to pack up and leave for refusing to get a COVID booster shot, after she experienced serious adverse reactions from a second Pfizer vaccine jab.
Diamond Puentes values her education a lot, she is a first-generation student who comes from a low-income household and was on an academic scholarship.
“I had no prior health issues before the vaccine. After getting it, I had side effects immediately. I ended up in the ER and I continue to have symptoms since then. And so when the school mandated the booster, I was reluctant to get it. I sent the school out an email letting them know my concerns: ‘I ended up in the ER, I’m still sick from it.’ I sent my paperwork from the ER, they denied that. I talked to my doctor, my doctor told me it was ‘ill-advised’ [to get the booster], nothing that I was saying was going to be accepted by the school,” Puentes told The Epoch Times, audibly distressed.
“I’ve just been expelled. I’ve been unrolled from classes, not permitted on campus anymore. I got kicked out of housing,” she added.
CANCEL CULTURE
Florida Textbook Publishers Surrender to DeSantis, Scrub Woke Content
Textbook publishers are surrendering to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ demands that math instructional materials get in line with state standards, allowing more books to be added to the approved list, according to the Florida Department of Education.
“Publishers are aligning their instructional materials to state standards and removing woke content allowing the department of education to add 19 more books to the state adoption list over the past 17 days,” the Florida Department of Education announced on its website.
The Florida Department of Education announced on April 15 that it had rejected 41% of math textbooks proposed by publishers for public instruction because they contained “indoctrinating concepts” such as critical race theory, social-emotional learning, and Common Core, which are prohibited by the state according to the Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking Standards.
The Florida Department of Education explained that publishers could substitute or revise their submitted bids to meet Florida’s specifications or appeal the decision.
Additional books have been added to the adoption list “because they removed woke content and made other changes to meet state standards,” Florida Department of Education press secretary Cassie Palelis told the Daily Caller News Foundation on Tuesday.
“We have high standards and reject books with unacceptable content because we know that publishers can easily adjust their materials to meet our guidelines, as displayed by the fact that it took less than two weeks for additional publishers to amend entire books, resubmit them, and get put on the adoption list,” Palelis told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
After initially declining to provide examples of rejected textbooks over copyright concerns, the Florida Department of Education published a few examples of the materials in question on April 21.
Examples included a graph that measured racial prejudice according to political identification that showed conservatives are reportedly more racist than liberals and multiple “social-emotional learning” activities, which critics have argued is a loophole to repackage critical race theory and disseminate the material throughout public schools.
Palelis said this is the same process as previous instructional materials adoptions and that the Florida Department of Education will continue to give publishers the opportunity “to remediate all deficiencies identified during the review to ensure the broadest selection of high-quality instructional materials are available to the school districts and Florida’s students.”
“We hope to add instructional materials to the state adoption list as additional publishers address our concerns and meet our standards,” she concluded.
Watch: Dave Chappelle Attacked Onstage During Hollywood Bowl Show
Comedian Dave Chappelle was attacked Tuesday night as he stood onstage during a performance at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
A host of clips shared on social media show him being floored by an onlooker who rushed the stage set and took him down in a flying tackle.
After returning to the stage on Tuesday, the 48-year-old joked: “It was a trans man.”
Meanwhile his assailant was apprehended and removed from the site with injuries.
Los Angeles Police Department officials told NBC Los Angeles the suspect was armed “with a replica gun that could eject a knife blade when discharged correctly.”
Actress Amanda Duarte reacted to the potential overruling of Roe v. Wade, tweeting, “I do wonder how these white supremacist lawmakers would feel if their little white daughters were raped and impregnated by black men.”
After being called out for her comment, Duarte deleted her tweet, and then deactivated her Twitter account.
“I said something insanely awful and stupid on twitter last night,” Duarte tweeted after reinstating her Twitter account hours later. “The intent does not matter so I will not attempt to defend or explain it.”
“It was racist and has had racist impact,” she added. “I am terribly sorry to anyone and everyone who read it, and who were hurt by it.”
I said something insanely awful and stupid on twitter last night. The intent does not matter so I will not attempt to defend or explain it. It was racist and has had racist impact. I am terribly sorry to anyone and everyone who read it, and who were hurt by it.
— Amanda Duarte (@duarteamanda) May 3, 2022
“I deleted my account briefly because I wasn’t sure of the right thing to do, and I knew that it wasn’t and isn’t to try to answer for what I said,” Duarte said in a follow-up tweet. “I know a lot of people are angry and looking to tell me why, so I’m reactivating it because I think that is important.”
“Please know that I am deeply, deeply sorry, and if there is anything I can do to repair the damage of this, please do let me know. Thank you,” the actress added.
Please know that I am deeply, deeply sorry, and if there is anything I can do to repair the damage of this, please do let me know. Thank you.
— Amanda Duarte (@duarteamanda) May 3, 2022
Duarte posted her initial offending tweet on Monday night, after a draft Supreme Court opinion overruling Roe v. Wade was leaked to the press as a possible attempt to intimidate one or more justices to reverse their vote.
The actress was quickly slammed by social media users, including conservative firebrand Candace Owens, who wrote, “Been telling you guys for years that white liberals are at their core, racist.”
“They use racial scenarios to get what they want,” Owens added. “[Duarte] wants to kill babies so she wants people to imagine how awful it would be if white women were impregnated by villainous black men.”
“I actually don’t know what is worse here — wanting babies dead in the first place or wanting people to imagine a white woman impregnated by a black man as such a horrific event that we must rally the troops and fight for the right to kill their would-be offspring,” Owens added in a follow-up tweet.
“I’m not retweeting that Amanda Duarte tweet because it’s disgusting, but damn – she really exemplified the brand of white liberal woman racism,” another Twitter user reacted.
“Worst take of the day . . . so far,” another tweeted. “This is what #Democratic #racism looks like. Is Amanda saying that being raped by a black man is somehow worse than being raped by any other color of man? That seems racist. What a condescending b*itch.”
“Amanda Duarte was waiting for the opportunity to be overtly racist,” another wrote. “What a fucking tweet.”
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