Morning Report — Justices sound ready to back abortion pill access

In June 2022, a conservative Supreme Court majority ruled that abortion restrictions resided with the states. On Tuesday, abortion made its way back before the justices in a case challenging access to a widely used abortion drug. Most justices sounded ready to reject an appeal to broadly limit patients’ and physicians’ access to mifepristone, a medication deemed safe by the Food and Drug Administration.

Justices questioned whether the plaintiffs, who do not prescribe abortion pills or regularly treat abortion patients, had legal standing to assert harm. A ruling is expected in June. Conservative Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas may be in a minority in their support of the anti-abortion challengers, based on their questioning.

They appeared to pave a path for a future Republican administration to turn to a 151-year-old law, the Comstock Act, to block the mailing of all abortion-related drugs and materials and to effectively ban most abortions nationwide.

Even if the high court’s majority rules in favor of continued broad access to abortion pills, use of the medication for abortion will remain illegal in 14 states that have adopted near-total bans. In those states, there is no legal distinction between pregnancies terminated using surgical procedures or medication.

Court-based abortion battles are far from over, and in a presidential election year, President Biden and Democrats believe they have the upper hand in the political debate. They champion nationwide reproductive rights, criticize “extremist” state laws and focus on the health-related repercussions for women and even children who face risky pregnancies, including as a result of rape or incest.

Former President Trump recently suggested he would ban abortions at 15 weeks, a detail some in his party had hoped he might blur based on evidence that the issue mobilizes Democrats and some independent voters, while most Republicans, even if they self-identify as “pro-life,” say abortion should remain legal under certain circumstances.

Trump has not commented on the Comstock Act.

“If a future president were to enforce these federal statutes, then they could shut down every abortion facility in America,” Mark Lee Dickson, an anti-abortion activist, told The Washington Post last year.

👉 Meet law professor Erin Hawley, wife of Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who argued against mifepristone before the Supreme Court while representing the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine (The New York Times).

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LEADING THE DAY

INFRASTRUCTURE

THE SEARCH IS RESUMING this morning for six construction workers, presumed dead, who plunged into the fast-moving Patapsco River after a cargo ship crashed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge early Tuesday morning. The cargo ship Dali struck a bridge support after losing power, causing the steel structure to collapse. Two people were rescued.

The Port of Baltimore will be closed for an unknown period and vehicular traffic will be affected until the destroyed span can be rebuilt, Maryland officials said Tuesday. Biden plans to visit Baltimore soon and pledged that the federal government with help from Congress will pay for the new structure (The Hill).

“This is going to take some time, but the people of Baltimore can count on us though to stick with them at every step of the way until the port is reopen and the bridge is rebuilt,” the president said Tuesday.

CNN: Here’s what we know about the six missing construction workers.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) said the ship’s crew notified authorities early Tuesday of a mayday caused by a “power issue.” The alert enabled transportation officials to race to halt pre-dawn traffic traveling over the bridge (NBC News and The Baltimore Banner).

“They saved lives,” Moore said.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is leading the investigation with support from the U.S. Coast Guard, Chair Jennifer Homendy told reporters. The NTSB will begin its probe once search-and-rescue efforts by the Coast Guard conclude. NTSB was “made aware” of reported power failures on the cargo ship, Homendy said, but investigators must “verify” whether it was a contributing factor (The Baltimore Sun).

EASTERN SEABOARD PORTS will accept shipments of goods rerouted from the Port of Baltimore following the bridge collapse. Port officials and private-sector distributors told The Hill that plans to divert cargo shipments are in the works. Multiple East Coast ports said Tuesday they can absorb additional shipments. The Port of Baltimore said that while no ships are currently moving through its facilities, the port is still operational and that trucks are in and out of terminals.

“I don’t think we’ll have a large impact in terms of logistics and shipping moving forward,” said Brent Howard, president of the Baltimore County Chamber of Commerce.

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ZOOM IN

POLITICS 

TRUMP’S COURTROOM-FOCUSED CAMPAIGN to return to the White House next year will be on display next month as he makes history as a former president contesting criminal allegations that he engaged as a candidate in a hush money scheme to mask an affair with a porn star, The Hill’s Brett Samuels reports. Trump, who denies the charges, will try to juggle his legal troubles in New York with appeals to voters in a handful of swing states where the presidential election will be won or lost.

“A typical candidate wouldn’t cherish a court appearance in the middle of their presidential bid, but Donald Trump isn’t a typical candidate,” said Dan Eberhart, a Republican donor who initially backed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) but has since urged the party to unite behind Trump. “Voters are long past being surprised by anything that happens around Trump. There’s no longer an October surprise in Trump world. His supporters know who Trump is, and I can’t think of much that he could do to change that.”

Meanwhile, the New York judge overseeing Trump’s hush money trial imposed a gag order on Trump on Tuesday, preventing him from attacking jurors and court staff as his trial approaches. Judge Juan Merchan’s order still enables Trump to publicly attack the judge and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) (The Hill).

MAGA-aligned populists such as Bernie Moreno in Ohio and Kari Lake in Arizona — two possible GOP Senate pickups — and establishment-aligned candidates such as Larry Hogan in Maryland, Tim Sheehy in Montana and Jim Justice in West Virginia reflect the variety of Republican Party candidates this year. The outcome of these races will affect the upper chamber’s majority next year, the tilt of the GOP Senate leadership and relations with the next president, The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports.

A rollicking week in New Jersey has left Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) as the last person standing in the Democratic primary, likely cementing him as the state’s next senator after an insurgent bid that has directly taken on and overcome the New Jersey Democratic machine. The Hill’s Al Weaver writes the three-term House member has had great success railing against the Democratic apparatus in the state, which has essentially controlled all levels of politics, from statewide to county and local races.

“I like to joke that if people have this perception in their mind of a so-called political machine, Andy looks and sounds like the exact opposite of that perception,” said Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), a friend of Kim’s whose North Philadelphia district borders Burlington County. “Given the unique circumstances around this Senate seat, Andy looking and sounding like a nice, well-meaning guy who is honest and sincere — that contrast helps him a great deal.”

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ELSEWHERE

INTERNATIONAL

BIDEN-NETANYAHU RIFT: Israel has called its negotiations team back from Qatar after 10 days of talks over a possible hostage and cease-fire deal reached a dead end, sparking a blame game between the U.S. and Israel and adding to worsening relations between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the White House.

U.S. officials, working with Qatari and Egyptian mediators, had pushed hard in recent days for a deal, stressing it is the only way to reach a six-week cease-fire in Gaza.

After the Israeli negotiations team was called back, Netanyahu’s office issued a statement blaming Hamas for the deadlock. It also said the Biden administration’s decision not to veto a Monday United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a cease-fire and the release of hostages led to Hamas hardening its position (Axios).

The White House sees the public rift with Israel as an artificial crisis manufactured by Netanyahu for domestic political reasons, three U.S. officials told Axios. Following the Security Council resolution, Netanyahu abruptly canceled a high-level delegation’s trip to Washington, specifically requested by Biden, to discuss U.S. concerns about Israel’s plans for a major military operation in Rafah (The Washington Post).

“We’re kind of perplexed by this,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said, reiterating that the abstention from the U.N. vote did not represent a change in policy. “It seems like the prime minister’s office is choosing to create a perception of daylight here when they don’t need to do that.”

The Israeli military pressed on with its bombardment of Gaza on Tuesday, signaling that the U.N. resolution calling for a cease-fire for the holy month of Ramadan the day before had not shaken its determination to keep fighting (The New York Times).

The director of Russia’s most powerful security agency said Tuesday that he believed Ukraine, along with the U.S. and the United Kingdom, were involved in the attack on a concert hall just outside Moscow that killed at least 139 people last week. Ukraine, which has repeatedly denied any link with the attack, dismissed the Russian accusations. Britain said they were “utter nonsense.” ISIS-K has claimed responsibility for the mass shooting (Reuters).

NBC News: A Moscow court on Tuesday ordered Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich to remain in jail on espionage charges until at least late June. He has been held in custody for more than a year.

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THE CLOSER

And finally … Americans are moving closer to solar eclipse mania, or risks of blindness, or perhaps just a closer kinship with the universe. It’s time to prepare for April 8 (not to be mistaken for April 1. Hmmm).

You may not get a chance to see a total solar eclipse for another two decades, which means you need to research the best viewing locations, how well the event can be seen from your location and what you should do for the duration of the four-and-a-half-minute descent of darkness as it stretches around the globe (The Washington Post).

“Space brings us together,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, a former astronaut and former Florida senator, said during a Tuesday briefing.

T-shirts to come.

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