Saturday, April 8, 2023
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A federal judge in Texas has blocked FDA approval of a key abortion pill, while in Washington state, another judge says the opposite. Dueling decisions and much confusion. I'm Aisha Roscoe. And I'm Scott Simon, and this is Up First from NPR News.

We have details on Mifepristone in a moment. Meanwhile, at the U.S. Supreme Court, yachting trips and Indonesian getaways. Justice Clarence Thomas went on some very expensive trips that he didn't pay for. Why, that's an issue not just for him, but for the rest of the court. And renewed violence in Tel Aviv and the West Bank after days of Israeli raids and strikes. Stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your weekend.

First up, Mifepristone. Those judges ruled within hours of each other yesterday. And the Biden administration is appealing the Texas decision. That's the one that could cut off access to the drug. And Pierre Sarah McCammon joins us now. Sarah, thanks so much for being with us. Yeah, good morning. Tell us about these two cases.

Well, they center around the Food and Drug Administration's approval of the abortion pill Mifepristone way back in 2000. Now, it's always been at the center of political debate because it is primarily used to induce abortion in the first trimester. And in the first case in Texas, a federal judge issued a nationwide injunction putting the FDA approval of Mifepristone on hold.

And that came in response to a lawsuit that was filed by anti-abortion rights groups. That judge was appointed by former President Trump and had been widely expected to side with those groups. Now, the second decision involves a case filed in federal court in Washington state. There, a Democratic attorneys general from 17 states and the District of Columbia asked another judge to essentially do the opposite. And that judge sided with them and issued a ruling that would allow continued access to this drug. There's a one week appeal.

waiting period to allow for an appeal, if that time goes by without an appeals court weighing in, which of these two decisions apply?

Well, some groups who oppose abortion rights are already arguing that because of the way these decisions are written, the nationwide injunction from the Texas judge blocking access to Mifepristone would prevail. But I spoke with Washington's Democratic Attorney General Bob Ferguson, one of the leaders of that group of states that's been working to preserve access. He thinks it would come down to what state you live in. If you live in Washington state or one of the 17 states that joined Washington in our lawsuit here in Washington state,

then the judge's ruling in our case preserves the status quo on ensuring that access to Mifepristone remains available. If, however, you're one of the other 32 states, the Texas judge's ruling seriously has the potential to eliminate that access for Mifepristone here in the coming days. And I should point out, Scott, many of those other states, including Texas, already have banned abortion. But for the rest, this could mean doctors could no longer prescribe what has become the dominant method of abortion in the U.S. So the appeals process, what comes next?

The White House is vowing to fight this Texas judge's decision. Attorney General Merrick Garland filed an appeal with the Fifth Circuit last night. That circuit has a reputation, by the way, for being very conservative.

Lawyers on both sides of this case say it is likely to move fast and it may not end at the Fifth Circuit. Here's Katie Glynn-Daniel with Susan B. Anthony, Pro-Life America. Everyone's eyes are now kind of pointed back towards D.C. We anticipate that eventually, whether it is the merits of this case or these injunctions, now dueling injunctions, that the Supreme Court will have to weigh in in some way. Sarah, you mentioned that Mifepristone is so widely used.

What other options...

might be available if the nationwide injunction ultimately prevails. Abortion providers have been preparing for this, stocking up on a second drug called misoprostol. It's used alongside mifepristone, and it can be used alone to induce abortion, but it is not the preferred protocol in the U.S. It's also possible to get abortion pills online through suppliers outside the U.S., but a lot of patients worry about potential legal risks with that. And Pierre-Sara McKemmon, thanks so much. Thank you. Thank you.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas says he was told not to disclose decades of expensive trips on yachts and at resorts.

that were paid for by a conservative billionaire. ProPublica uncovered the travel, and the justice says the billionaire is just a close personal friend. But there are new rules, and Justice Thomas says he will, quote, follow this guidance in the future. And Fierce Legal Affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg joins us. Nina, thanks for being with us. My pleasure, Scott, as always. What do we know?

Well, these allocations center on Justice Thomas' friendship with Harlan Crow, a real estate magnate and GOP megadonor. And these are just some of the highlights of the ProPublica report. In June 2019, the Thomases flew on Crow's private jet to Indonesia for nine days of island hopping on the billionaire's yacht. That sort of trip would have cost him more than a half million dollars if he had paid for it, which he obviously didn't.

Every summer, Thomas has now acknowledged he spends about a week at Camp Top Ridge, Crow's private resort in the Adirondacks. There, he hobnobs not just with Crow and his wife, but other Crow friends, big corporate leaders and conservative activists and influencers.

The report used Federal Aviation Administration records to show that Thomas repeatedly has flown on Crowe's private jet for other occasions, for instance, to speak at the unveiling in New York of a huge statue of the Justice's beloved eighth-grade teacher. There, the Justice publicly thanked the donors who paid for the statue. Guess who? Harlan Crowe and his wife Kathy. Now, Justice Thomas, as he followed the rules, as he was told to,

But is this out of the ordinary?

But until last month, those rules had an exception for private travel and hospitality paid for by a personal friend. So there's your loophole. Now, the Judicial Conference of the United States has just changed those rules this year to clarify—that's their words—

that judges may not escape reporting travel that is paid for by someone else and that even personal hospitality at a private estate must be reported if the property is not owned personally by the friend extending the hospitality. Here, according to ProPublica, the Crow estate is actually owned by one of the billionaire's corporations. Do other justices do something like this, to your knowledge?

You know, Scott, I've covered the court for almost 50 years, and I've never heard anything like this. The watchdog group Fix the Court has reported on a handful of trips that other justices have taken, mainly to universities to speak where the transportation was not reported. But those seem mainly to have been oversights, whereas Thomas seems to believe that he has no responsibility to report these very lavish trips.

And Crowe told ProPublica that neither he nor, as far as he knows, any of his other guests have cases before the Supreme Court or discussed matters before the court. This is another blow to the Supreme Court's reputation.

In recent years, how do they recover? This is only the latest embarrassment for a court that's been buffeted by everything from the leak of the abortion decision to the failure to find out who did it and the failure to question justices the same way other court personnel were questioned. And as well, the apparent inability of the court to reach a consensus on even writing a code of ethics for itself.

And that's before you even talk about the court's very hard swing to the right, which lots of people support and other people don't. And it's gotten the court sort of in the crosshairs of public controversy even more than usual. And, Piers Nina Totenberg, you'll follow all of it. Thanks so much. Thanks, Scott. Now to Tel Aviv, where there's been more deadly violence.

At least one person is dead after an attack there yesterday, while in the West Bank, at least two more people died in gunfire there. There have also been Israeli airstrikes on Gaza and Lebanon. All that after an outburst of militant rocket fire into Israel following an Israeli police raid on Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque this week.

We're joined now from Tel Aviv by NPR's Daniel Estrin. Daniel, thanks for being with us. Thanks for having me. So tell us about that raid and tell us what more details there are about the violence that's followed that raid.

Yeah, I mean, everything really started at the Al-Aqsa Mosque when Israeli police raided the mosque to clear out young men who had barricaded themselves there. And the images were ugly. Police stood over Palestinians who were on the carpeted mosque floor and police beat them repeatedly with clubs. This is what it sounded like. Come on!

A woman there shouting, oh God, oh God. And these were really jarring images that spread on social media throughout the region. Militants in Gaza and Lebanon fired rockets onto Israel and Israel retaliated.

And then yesterday, two British-Israeli sisters, reportedly 16 and 20 years old, were killed in a West Bank shooting. And a 35-year-old Italian tourist was killed. A Palestinian rammed his car into him while he was walking on the Tel Aviv boardwalk. And now Israel has called up extra police and military. But, you know, there are a lot of international efforts to try to calm things because everyone had been expecting this to be a very volatile time.

We often hear about violence happening, but what in particular has had people so concerned about an escalation now in this region?

A couple of things. First of all, Ramadan. We have seen in the past Israeli police use force against crowds at Al-Aqsa Mosque. It's caused war in the past. I mean, remember, it's one of the holiest mosques in Islam. It's also for Palestinians a symbol of Israel's creeping takeover of Palestinian areas because nationalist Jewish activists are increasing their visits to this site where in the past there was an ancient Jewish temple. And

There was a small fringe group of Jewish nationalist activists who were calling to carry out a Passover goat sacrifice at that spot. Of course, that didn't happen, but the rumors spread and Palestinians gathered in the mosque overnight to confront the Jewish visitors. They barricaded themselves with fireworks and rocks, and that's why police said that they wanted to evacuate those worshipers.

And that's when the police raided the mosque. But, you know, there are a lot of other factors like Israel being in turmoil with unprecedented protests against the government's plan to weaken the judiciary and fears that Israel's enemy could perceive it as a good time to strike. And they did strike. And with this rocket fire from Lebanon, there are worries about a multi-front conflict. So what's the mood there now? Because as you mentioned, it's a busy weekend with Ramadan, Passover and Easter. Yeah.

It really feels like being on a seesaw, Aisha. I mean, I just saw the spot in Tel Aviv where the car ramming happened last night. There are pieces of the car still strewn on the grass and people lighting memorial candles. It's really dizzying because at the same time, people are celebrating their holidays and it is a joyous time for many people. But

Tonight, Israelis will be back in Tel Aviv demonstrating against the government's judicial overhaul. And there are questions about whether, you know, if there is more violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Israeli police force there, we could see perhaps a wider regional war. That's NPR's Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv. Daniel, thank you so much. You're welcome. Thank you.

And that's Up First for Saturday, April 8, 2023. I'm Scott Simon. And I'm Aisha Roscoe. Tomorrow on Up First, the story of two men of color who went missing from the same stretch of road in 2003 after having been seen with the same white sheriff's deputy. Their disappearances remain unsolved. Today's story is brought to you by the U.S. Department of State.

Today's episode of Up First was edited by Don Clyde, Krishna Dev Kalimer, Hadil Al-Shauchi, and Ed McNulty. It was produced by Hiba Ahmad and Michael Radcliffe, directed by Danny Hensel, and we had exquisite engineering support from Hannah Gloveden.

Evie Stone is our Senior Supervising Editor. Our Executive Producer is Sarah Oliver. And our Deputy Managing Editor is Jerry Holmes. As always, please be sure to find us on the radio every Saturday and Sunday morning on Weekend Edition from NPR News. You can find your NPR station at stations.npr.org.