#1: Nationwide Protests:

People hit the streets all weekend all across the country with mass protests against the Supreme Court decision that triggered laws making access to abortion almost impossible in at least 18 states so far. 

At a demonstration outside the Arizona State capitol in Phoenix on Friday night, the crowd was met with tear gas. 

Demonstrations for and against the ruling have been largely peaceful, but a few arrests have been reported.

In Los Angeles, police activity occurred on Saturday when protestors marched onto the freeway.

In New York, 20 people were detained. 

In South Carolina, six people were arrested at a rally. 

In Washington DC, two people were arrested Saturday for throwing paint over the fence at the US Supreme Court. 

In Phoenix, about 1,200 demonstrated on Saturday and four people were arrested. 

In Virginia, a pregnancy center was vandalized. 

More than a dozen protests are planned for today, plus many more calls to action on social media. 

#2: Groups Fight New Florida Law Limiting Abortions:

Now that the US Supreme Court has ruled that abortion rights are not guaranteed by the US Constitution, the decision goes back to the states. In Florida, on Monday, women’s health service providers are challenging a Florida law in court. The new law, approved last year by the Florida legislature and governor, prohibits abortions beyond 15 weeks except in the case of the baby’s or woman’s life being in danger. Violators could face up to five years in prison. Medical practitioners could lose their licenses and face fines of $10,000.

Planned Parenthood and a synagogue are trying to obtain a temporary emergency injunction to stop the law from going into effect. The ACLU says that the ban is unconstitutional under the Florida constitution. Their complaint is that the law violates the privacy rights and religious freedoms of women. In 1980, Floridian voters amended their constitution to address rights of privacy, including the right to abortion. Florida’s previous abortion law allowed abortions up to 24 weeks. But the new law was passed, reducing the gestational period to 15 weeks, and that law can go forward now that Roe v Wade has been overturned. 

This is a developing story. Updates will follow.

#3: Amtrak Train Hits Car in California:

Three people lost their lives, and two others were injured, including a child, in an Amtrak train collision with a car obstructing the tracks in Brentwood, California on Sunday afternoon. A victim was flown to the hospital via an air ambulance. The child was transported over ground to a hospital. There were no reported injuries to the 89 passengers and crew on the train. 

The automobile was carrying five people and was hit while crossing the tracks. Three people in the car were killed.

#4: Birth Control:

States passing laws limiting abortion from the moment of conception may also attempt to restrict access to contraception, experts say. The conservative majority on the Supreme Court could go along with it too. Birth control restrictions could follow abortion bans.

“The states that are trying to limit abortion from the moment of conception — not even from the moment of pregnancy, as the medical profession would define it — could well try to challenge Plan B, emergency contraception, potentially even IUDs,” said Wendy Parmet, director of the Center for Health Policy and Law at Northeastern University.

Although the Supreme Court decision to ban the constitutional right to abortion does not directly affect contraception, there is much discussion about the Supreme Court’s plans to act on other issues affecting women’s rights. 

“If the GOP decides that it wants to come for contraception next, the Supreme Court has essentially given every sign in the world that it will not stand in the GOP’s way,” said Khiara M. Bridges, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

#5: North Korea:

On the 72nd anniversary of the Korean War, North Korea condemned “aggression moves” by Washington and South Korea, promising to take revenge. 

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and President Biden agreed last month to deploy more US weapons if it was necessary to deter North Korea, who they say may be preparing to conduct its first nuclear test in five years. 

North Korea says that US and South Korean moves could provoke another war.