Kari Lake Doesn't Know What To Do

No more legal abortion in Arizona: Yesterday, the Supreme Court of Arizona upheld a 19th-century law that bans all abortions, except in cases where the mother's life is in peril, with no exceptions made for rape or incest. The law stipulates two to five years in prison for those who aid abortions.

But it's not all cut and dried: "The court, whose justices are all Republican appointees, also put its ruling on hold for the moment and sent the matter back to a lower court for additional arguments about the law's constitutionality," reports The New York Times. "Abortion providers said they expected to continue performing abortions through May as their lawyers and Democratic lawmakers searched for new legal arguments and additional tactics to delay the ruling."

Previously, abortion had been legal up until 15 weeks in the state. That's past the first trimester, and several weeks into the second, which makes it more permissive than most European countries. (Pre-Dobbs, dozens of American states were more liberal/permissive on abortion than most European countries, including states you'd never expect.)

Interestingly, Republicans in the state went into a panic over the ruling, fearing what happens to their candidates' electoral changes in a battleground state, in an election year, given that voters do not tend to be huge fans of hardcore abortion restrictions. Possibly the most interesting reaction came from Kari Lake, the Republican vying for the seat Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an independent, has vacated.

Two years ago, Lake called abortion "the ultimate sin" while noting that it should be determined at the state level, which is not technically inconsistent with her statement yesterday.

Still, there's been a palpable rhetoric shift as Republicans seeking office realize abortion bans don't play well—and, increasingly, a fracturing conservative movement torn between those who believe this is an area worth compromising on and those who believe steadfast protection of unborn life is more important than their own political ambitions.

Another effect, beyond the political implications for former President Donald Trump and Kari Lake, could be a state-level backlash. Activists in the state have already been working to get a measure on the ballot that would add abortion protections into the state's constitution. "Advocates say they've already got more than 500,000 signatures, well above the threshold of 383,923 signatures needed by an early July deadline," reports the Arizona Republic. (More background on the amending-the-state-constitution strategy, which we will see a lot more of in the years ahead.)

And Democrats, of course, will have to factor the decision into their campaign strategy. "Vice-president Kamala Harris will go to Arizona later this week, in a visit that was planned ahead of the Tuesday decision," reports The Guardian. "She blamed the impending state ban on Trump, whose three supreme court appointees voted to eliminate the federally guaranteed right to an abortion."

Scenes from New York: You know the city has gone to the dogs when an elderly woman is mugged on the steps of her Greek Orthodox Church at 8:20 a.m.

Though the woman is critically injured and hospitalized, she is expected to survive. It's worth noting that the attacker's face was partially obscured by mask, so either he's really COVID-cautious or masks, more normalized now than pre-2020, have become widely adopted by criminals to hide their identities—another horrid unintended consequence of pandemic-era policy.

The New York Daily News notes that both misdemeanor and felony assaults are up this year when compared with the same time period in 2023.

QUICK HITS

• Reading Tim Urban's post on his eclipse-watching experience, in the middle of rural Arkansas, was a beautiful way to start my morning. I hope you enjoy it, too!

• "Ukrainian military intelligence was responsible for an attack on a Russian naval missile carrier in the Baltic Sea, according to an official familiar with the operation, underscoring Kyiv's effort to strike Kremlin forces far from the front line," reports Bloomberg. I finally got around to watching 20 Days in Mariupol this past weekend and highly recommend it, for those who remain interested in what President Vladimir Putin is doing to Ukraine.

• This negative New York Times book review of Lionel Shriver's Mania just makes me want to read the book more. "Harrison Bergeron" vibes that offended the reviewer's sensibilities? Yes, please!

• "Power bills will keep rising even after the Fed tames inflation," reads an ominous Bloomberg headline. In fact, "residential electricity inflation is outpacing the wider consumer price index" across the country.

• What will it take to tame New York City's garbage problem?

• "The National Health Service in England started restricting gender treatments for children this month, making it the fifth European country to limit the medications because of a lack of evidence of their benefits and concern about long-term harms," reports The New York Times. "For most young people, a medical pathway will not be the best way to manage their gender-related distress," concludes the report, researched over the course of four years and released last night.

• YES:

• The only downside to defunding NPR would be libertarians no longer having as many threats to deploy to incentivize good child behavior:

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