White House, Democrats Weigh Options To Protect Abortion Rights

The New York Times: Bracing For The End Of Roe V. Wade, The White House Weighs Executive Actions 
President Biden’s top aides are weighing whether he can or should take a series of executive actions to help women in Republican-controlled states obtain abortions if the Supreme Court eliminates a woman’s right to end her pregnancy, according to senior administration officials. Some of the ideas under consideration include declaring a national public health emergency, readying the Justice Department to fight any attempt by states to criminalize travel for the purpose of obtaining an abortion, and asserting that Food and Drug Administration regulations granting approval to abortion medications pre-empt any state bans, the officials said. (Savage, 6/16)

The 19th: Democratic Senators Suggest Actions Biden Can Take To Protect Abortion Rights
A public health campaign. A new reproductive health ombudsman. Abortion clinics on federal land. These are just a few of the steps Senate Democrats want the White House to take if the Supreme Court, as expected, strikes down Roe v. Wade in the coming weeks — and there are signs that President Joe Biden is listening. “We’ll fight the Republicans on the ground here, in the Senate, but the administration has its own tools,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, told The 19th during a conversation for its annual 19th Represents summit that starts Wednesday. (Luthra and Becker, 6/15)

When will the ruling be issued? —

Los Angeles Times: When Will The Supreme Court Make A Decision On The Fate Of Roe Vs. Wade? 
The justices meet each week and review pending cases. All nine of them have to agree they are finished and have nothing further to add. Then the decision is ready to go and set to be released the next week. But all of that happens privately. The court usually announces “decision days” only a few days in advance. And they never say which cases will be decided on those days. So it’s a guessing game. Many legal experts expect the abortion case will come in the term’s final week. (6/15)

The New York Times: Some Clinics Aren’t Waiting For Roe Decision To Stop Abortions 
Although Roe v. Wade remains the law of the land, women can no longer get a legal abortion in two states, Oklahoma and South Dakota. In at least one other, Missouri, the only clinic is booked and not accepting new appointments. And in a fourth state, Wisconsin, clinics will not schedule abortions for after the end of the Supreme Court’s term in late June. Before May 2, when a draft Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe was leaked, there had been at least one abortion clinic in every state. But in some states, health care providers aren’t waiting for the actual decision to be issued to start operating as if Roe were overturned. (Miller and Sanger-Katz, 6/15)

In legal news —

The Washington Post: Man Accused Of Kavanaugh Murder Plot Indicted By Federal Grand Jury 
A California man accused of flying across the country with plans to break into Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh’s home to assassinate him was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury, officials said. The single count of attempting to kill a U.S. judge added new details about what authorities say Nicholas Roske, 26, had with him when he arrived via taxi cab to the conservative justice’s home just after 1 a.m. in Chevy Chase, Md., last week. (Morse, 6/15)

The Wall Street Journal: House Republicans Request Investigation Into Reports Of Vandalism, Arson At Antiabortion Offices 
A group of 122 Republicans in the House of Representatives sent a letter Wednesday asking Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate more than a dozen acts of vandalism and arson at locations run by organizations that seek to persuade women not to have abortions. According to local media reports in locations including Madison, Wis., and Buffalo, N.Y., the acts of vandalism have taken place at numerous so-called pregnancy crisis centers over the past two months as well as the offices of antiabortion organizations. (Kesling, 6/15)

Also —

Politico: Global Abortion-Rights Advocates Worry Their Countries Are Next If Roe Falls 
Abortion-rights advocates from around the world have met with congressional, USAID, HHS and State Department leaders to discuss worries that their countries will be next to see more restrictions if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade .In meetings last week, the activists said they spoke to officials not only about their fears of the international impact if Roe were to fall but also proposed changes to U.S. policy that has long restricted funding for abortions abroad. (Payne, 6/15)

Houston Chronicle: Houston Tour Stop Allows Abortion-Rights Supporters To Share Their Stories Ahead Of Court Ruling
Erika Forbes stood in the evening heat in Third Ward and told her story. She was was 14 when she had an abortion. And it saved her life, she said. “I would have been dead,” she said. “I didn’t think I’d be able to go on.” She and scores of others showed up Wednesday evening at Peggy Park in Third Ward in support of abortion rights. Other women shared similar stories - and their anger at recent moves by both the U.S. Supreme Court and lawmakers across the American South to gut abortion rights. (Barned-Smith, 6/15)

The Guardian: ‘I Got In The Car And He Blindfolded Me. I Was Willing To Risk Death’: Five Women On Abortions Before Roe
One advocacy group, Grandmothers for Reproductive Rights, is made up of older women who fight to protect the reproductive rights they campaigned to secure pre-Roe v Wade. “Often abortions are talked about as endings,” says executive director Kelli Wescott McCannell. “The women in our program have decades of life since their abortions that show what was made possible for them because of that abortion.” Here we speak to five women from across the US about their experiences of abortion in the pre-Roe v Wade era. Some were nervous, others defiant. But all shared their story in the hope that their past could shape America’s future. (Pires and Considine, 6/16)

The Star Tribune: What Doe V. Gomez Means For Future Of Abortion In Minnesota
As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to issue its ruling expected to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision on abortion, Minnesotans will hear a lot about a different court case. In 1995, the Minnesota Supreme Court went even further than Roe in the case of Doe v. Gomez, issuing a ruling that not only affirmed women's constitutional right to abortion on the state level but also allowed low-income women to use the state's Medical Assistance program to cover the costs of the procedure. Here's what you need to know about this 27-year-old case and what the Doe v. Gomez ruling means for the future of abortion access in Minnesota. (Bierschbach, 6/15)