Court Ruling Upends Abortion Access in the U.S., and Trump’s New Plan for the Strait of Hormuz

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0:33From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today is Monday, May 4th. Here's what we're covering.

0:44A federal appeals court ruling on Friday has upended abortion access in the U.S. and put the issue back in front of the Supreme Court. Here's what to know about the case. It centers on the abortion pill Mifepristone. Since 2021, the FDA has allowed medical providers to send that drug through the mail. It made that change at the height of the pandemic when a lot of people couldn't get to the doctor. After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade the next year, telemedicine appointments for abortion pills became even more popular. Patients in states with bans or restrictions on the procedure turned to out-of-state providers.

1:24And just in general, nationwide, abortion through telemedicine has become more and more common. By one count, more than a quarter of all abortions in the first half of last year were provided that way. But now Louisiana has sued to stop that, claiming the practice has allowed patients to get around the state's near-total abortion ban and put the state on the hook for Medicaid bills for women harmed by the drug. On Friday, a federal appeals court ruled that while Louisiana's lawsuit is moving forward, the FDA must require patients to visit medical providers in person to get mifepristone. Two manufacturers of the drug filed an emergency request with the Supreme Court over the weekend, asking the justices to step in and immediately restore full access.

2:12One called the lawsuit a baseless attack on an essential medication. More than 100 studies have found mifepristone to be safe and effective. In the meantime, abortion providers have already been forced to adapt over the last few days, either canceling telehealth appointments or prescribing a medication that's considered somewhat less effective and more likely to have side effects. The change is upending care not just for women getting medication from out of state, but also for patients in rural areas or those who can't find child care or get time off work to see a doctor in person. The only abortion clinic in Wyoming told The Times that it has temporarily suspended all telehealth abortion appointments for now.

2:57In another quick update related to the Supreme Court. Now that we're on the other side of this Louisiana decision, it is time for us to redraw these maps. After the justices' decision last week weakened the Voting Rights Act, southern states are now launching new redistricting efforts. The governors of Alabama and Tennessee moved to call special sessions, as some Republicans rushed to dilute majority Black districts before the midterms. The way they're going to change it, it'll extend these districts out 100, 120 miles out of Memphis. They'll probably split it into thirds. That's alarmed Democrats, especially in Memphis, where Republicans are clamoring to split up a district that's the only one in state history to ever elect a Black lawmaker to the U.S.

3:44House of Representatives. The state's lieutenant governor said, quote, Tennessee now has the opportunity to send another Republican voice to Washington. We intend to seize it.

4:00Now, in the latest on the war with Iran, President Trump announced yesterday that the U.S. is launching a new effort this morning to try and help the ships that have been stranded in the Strait of Hormuz. Hundreds of cargo ships have been stuck near the waterway since the war began. They're carrying not just oil and natural gas, which has driven up fuel prices, but also things like fertilizer and helium, which is crucial for making the computer chips that power artificial intelligence. Traffic's been pretty much at a standstill for two months now, due to fears about Iran attacking ships with drones or laying mines.

4:35Iran has also floated charging tolls upwards of$2 million a ship. Trump is calling his effort to fix that Project Freedom, saying the U.S. will now, quote, guide ships through the waterway. It's not clear what that will look like, though the U.S. military followed up with a statement that indicated it would be coordinating traffic rather than directly escorting any ships through the strait. Trump's announcement is essentially a challenge to Iran. He's betting the country won't want to fire on any ships trying to leave and risk being the first to break the ceasefire. Meanwhile, any talks between the U.S.

5:12and Iran on a potential long-term deal to end the war remain stalled.

5:23I'm actually stranded in Dallas now. Currently stuck in the Orlando airport trying to get home. I flew Spirit to Miami yesterday and I just woke up to the text message that Spirit has literally shut down. Spirit Airlines closed down in dramatic fashion over the weekend, stopping all operations and leaving tens of thousands of passengers out of luck. If you have a flight scheduled with Spirit Airlines, don't show up at the airport. There will be no one here to assist you. This was not a total surprise. the company was in its second bankruptcy in two years and had been asking the White House for a bailout, which did not come through.

6:00The rising fuel prices from the war in Iran didn't help either. Almost 20 ,000 employees have lost their jobs, though other airlines may quickly snap them up, especially pilots and mechanics who are in high demand. The other airlines have also been offering discounted fares to try and help out any stranded-spirit customers. In terms of what this could mean for air travel in the long run, Spirit leaves kind of a complicated legacy. In its heyday, the ultra-low-cost airline was credited with essentially democratizing air travel by offering such low fares. People who might never have been able to afford, say, a trip to Fort Lauderdale now could.

6:40It also helped keep ticket prices down in general at airports where it operated, a phenomenon economists dubbed the Spirit Effect. But Spirit also created a kind of race to the bottom by charging for things like printing your boarding pass, choosing a seat ahead of time, or having a carry-on bag. Its competitors started to do the same, and other airlines also started introducing their own super no-frills option, dubbed basic economy. With Spirit now totally out of the market, some experts think prices could go up somewhat across the board, though just how much remains to be seen.

7:25And finally. I'm about to walk into Andon Market, which was founded by Andon Labs. It opened a few weeks ago. And it's an experiment to see what happens when you put an AI agent in charge of a boutique. My colleague Heather Knight has been reporting on a shop in San Francisco that is run by AI. Specifically, an AI agent called Luna. There are some greeting cards, mugs. What is that? Dates. Multiple types of dates. I guess Luna's gotten into dates now. Lots of books. It's getting a little bit better at picking products, I think. There's more here than there was last time. And it was pretty empty.

8:04The shop is being billed as the first in the country to let AI run the show, choosing the products, doing the ordering, setting the prices, etc. There are a few things Luna can't do, though, like unpack boxes or ward off shoplifters. So the AI agent posted some job openings, interviewed people and brought on staff. Heather says so far there have been some hiccups. Luna ordered 1 ,000 toilet seat covers for the employee bathroom, then seemed to get confused and listed them as merchandise. It also messed up the employee schedule so much at one point that the store had to close for a few days. And for some reason, it seems like Luna just can't stop ordering candles.

8:48Every shape, size, and smell, which Luna, of course, can't. The whole thing is either an experiment or a stunt, depending on who you ask. The company behind it, Andon Labs, is committed. They have signed a three-year lease and not in a cheap neighborhood. And they gave Luna the explicit mission to make money. So far, the shop has lost$13 ,000.

9:16Those are the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow.