Morning Wire - Fallout Over Dobbs Decision | 6.27.22

Episode Date: June 27, 2022

Protests erupt over the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, political leaders respond to the monumental ruling, and Oregon drug overdoses spike after decriminalization. Get the facts first on Morning Wire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Protests have taken place across the country following the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade. But not everyone is protesting. We take a look at reactions from all sides. I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Monday, June 27th, and this is Morning Wire. Political fallout continues from the Supreme Court's decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health. How is the president responding and what new legislation could we see going forward? And drug overdoses have spiked.

in Oregon. This happening just a year after the state decided to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of hard drugs. What does it mean for drug policy nationwide? Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. This show is sponsored by Birch Gold. Have you considered what could happen in the stock market if our economy stalls out? Don't wait until it's too late to solidify some of your investment with gold from Birch Gold. Throughout history, gold has maintained its value better than any other investment in the world. Texts why? to 989898 today for a free zero-obligation info kit on holding gold in a tax-sheltered retirement account.

Again, text wire to 9-8-98-9-98 and secure the gains you've made while you can. Protests have been erupting in cities across the U.S. in the wake of the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Demonstrations have remained largely peaceful so far, but fiery rhetoric from some groups has authorities remaining on high alert. Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham joins us now to give us the details. So, Megan, the largest number of protesters are clearly gathered outside of the Supreme Court. What's going on there? Well, right now, the actual court building is still surrounded by security barriers, and it has a very heavy presence of armed police to keep those crowds of thousands of people in line. So on Tuesday, at least two protesters were arrested after handcuffing themselves to one of those security fences.

Then on Saturday night, officers arrested two protesters for vandalizing that fence with red peasant. paint. So they were charged with destruction of property. Now, our D.C. correspondent, Mary Margaret Ollahan, has been on the scene in front of the court, and she sent us some audio of those pro-choice crowds. We're going to have to bleep this just a bit for language, but listen. And here was one protester calling on people to demonstrate their anger in the streets. It's terrifying right now that those people sit on the highest court of land because they don't deserve to sit on even a misdemeanor case. And they just decided something for all of this country. something that 80% of Americans disagree with.

And we have sex. We're going to be in these streets all day and all night. And we need to turn these tears into anger, turn them into fury. Now, I think it's important to note, though, that while the focus right now is on people who are angry about the Dobbs decision that overturns Roe and sends the issue of abortion back to the states, pro-life groups are out in front of the court as well. And they're making it clear how happy they are about this decision. So beyond making sure that violence doesn't break out, Capitol Police are also having to make sure that they keep demonstrators safe in really record degree heat in D.C. Temperatures have reached the upper 80s with high humidity, and they've said they've had to treat about 12 people in the crowd so far for heat-related injuries. So police are having to make sure that these crowds are able to stay hydrated.

They're passing out water, and they're sometimes bringing them into air-conditioned buses that are. are stationed out on the scene for that purpose. So how about the pro-Roe leaders at these protests? What are they saying? Yeah, well, they're out in force and they're urging abortion activists to stay engaged. Another recording for Mary Margaret here. This is Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson,

and she's calling on protesters nationwide to reach out to lawmakers to express their displeasure. People need to understand. This is not acceptable. We need to be flooding. We need to be flooding every, jamming every single person's phone on this right now. Okay, so D.C. is the focus of the protest, but what other cities are seeing protests? Right. Really, a host of major downtown areas are seeing exactly what we're seeing at the

Capitol in smaller form. Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, many more. So really, it's nationwide. Along with these peaceful protests, a pro-abortion group called Jane's Revenge, which experts describe as something of a loose anarchist network. Well, they've firebombed some pro-life centers leading up to this decision, and they have been promising a night of rage. And you also have to remember that there was an alleged attempt to assassinate Justice Brett Kavanaugh a couple of weeks ago. So because of all this, President Biden has now signed a bill

to provide the justices families with more security. All right. Well, Megan, thanks so much for giving us that broad overview. Anytime. That was Daily Wire Culture Reporter, Megan Basham. Coming up, the political fallout from the Supreme Court's decision continues. You can get this show and

all of the content you love, wherever you are, all on the Daily Wire app. Even if you're not a Daily Wire member, you'll be the first to know what's trending with mobile notifications for the latest news, and you'll get content from all of your favorite Daily Wire shows. Download the Daily Wire app and keep up with the facts no matter where your day takes you.

As news of the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade continues to dominate the national conversation, President Biden and political leaders nationwide have shifted their attention to abortion. Here to discuss how lawmakers in both parties are responding to the monumental ruling, and what it means for states around the country

is Daily Wire Senior Editor Cabot Phillips. Cabot first, what sort of impact have we already seen coming out of this ruling? Well, now that Roe has been overturned, abortion laws will now be decided at the state level. So nine states had trigger laws on the books that went into effect immediately after the ruling, banning virtually all abortion.

Those states included Kentucky, Louisiana, and Utah. Though it is worth noting, of the nine, some, like Wisconsin, have governors and legislators who signal that they'll refuse to enforce the ban, which sets up a looming legal battle. Right.

12 other states, mostly those controlled by Republicans, have laws that will be taking effect within the next few weeks and months. These laws range from a near-total abortion ban in Texas and Tennessee to a six-week ban in Ohio to a 15-week ban in Arizona. So 21-1.

states with strict restrictions on abortion. Exactly. And what about the states controlled by Democrats? For the most part, abortion access really won't be any different in 21 other blue states. For example, places like Illinois, Colorado, and Nevada won't see any change in abortion access because existing state law already protects it. And other states like Maryland, New York, and California are actually working on laws to expand access proposing measures that would require insurance funding for the procedure or expand

funding for abortion providers in the state or even create so-called sanctuaries where people from other states could come for an abortion. So we're already starting to see a wide spectrum of abortion laws in the books now that states can decide for themselves and expect to see even more movement there in the coming weeks and months as legislators meet to address the issue. Now, politically speaking, what type of reaction have we seen to the news? Yeah, obviously that depends on which side you look at. Most liberals decried the ruling as an attack on women's rights and democracy as a whole.

They say abortion isn't ending a human life, but it's simply a health care procedure. And in their view without it, women will be in danger. For example, here's Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after the ruling on Friday. They chose to endanger the lives of all women and all birthing people in this country. But not only that, they've chosen to strip rights from men, too. Most conservatives viewed it very differently. They celebrated the ruling, calling it a victim. for life. They view the issue as being not about regulating a woman's body, but instead about

protecting the body of the unborn child, who they say has a right to protection under the Constitution. Republican leaders were also quick to point out over the weekend that the ruling removes the ability of nine Supreme Court justices to decide on abortion and gives it back to voters in all 50 states. Their message has been that it's actually more Democratic, not less, to handle abortion this way. So, as you can expect, very, very different opinions on the matter. What have we seen from President Biden to this point? The president was quick to denounce the ruling, calling it a, quote, sad day for the United States. His main response, though, from a legislative standpoint, was a call on Congress and local leaders around the country to pass laws protecting abortion access.

To that point, he called on Democrat voters to rally around the issue ahead of the midterms. This fall, we must elect more senators and representatives who will codify women's right to choose in the federal law once again. We need to restore the protections of Roe as law of the land. We need to elect officials who will do that. All right. Regarding midterms, what sort of impact do we expect this to have there? Yeah, it's hard to tell right now. Most polls show that while voters might have opposed overturning Roe, the majority actually tend to agree with Republican abortion policies,

especially heartbeat bills or laws banning abortion after about the first trimester. Generally, though, abortion is still just not as important as most people, might think it is in the mind of voters. We'll have to see if things change in the coming weeks, but most polls leading up to the decisions showed that abortion wasn't even a top five issue for voters. For example, a USA Today poll released Friday showed that just 22% of voters said the issue of abortion was more important to them than the economy, which 62% had as their top issue. Well, we'll definitely be tracking the political impact of all this in the coming months. Cabot, thanks for the reporting. Anytime.

That's Daily Wire senior editor, Cabot Phillips. Last year, Oregon became the first state to decriminalize possession of small amounts of hard drugs in an effort to get drug addicts more treatment and less jail time. Since then, drug overdoses have spiked. Daily Wire investigative reporter, Marade Ellorty, is here with the details for us. So Marade, in 2020, Oregon voters embraced a very progressive new drug decriminalization policy. It was the first of its kind in the nation. And at that time, there was very strong support for this measure. 58% of Oregonians voted yes on it, and it went into effect in February of 2021. So here we are, almost 18 months later, how are the numbers? Well, the numbers are pretty grim.

Last year, overdose deaths in Oregon were up 41% to 1069 deaths, according to the CDC. For comparison, nationally, overdoses are up an average of 15%. Last year, the U.S. saw a record death toll from overdoses at more than 100,000. Oregon now has the second highest substance abuse rate in the country, second to Montana by only a fraction of a percent. Almost one in five adults in Oregon are addicted. Meanwhile, Oregon has sunk to 50th in treatment access, making it the worst state in the nation for drug users who want to get help. In 2020, about 18 percent of Oregonians needed treatment but weren't getting it. Now, how does this law work exactly?

Right. So in November 2020, Oregon voters passed the Drug Addiction Treatment and Recovery Act, which decriminalized low-level offenses involving hard drugs, including heroin, meth, cocaine, and fentanyl. Today, open-air drug use in places like downtown Portland is common, and law enforcement is not able to do much about it. Portland streets are rampant with heroin, meth, and fentanyl use, and cops can often be seen driving by homeless people shooting up or buying drugs on the street. As you said, they are the first state in the country to pass that kind of measure. The law made the penalty for possessing small amounts of those drugs the same as a traffic ticket. with a maximum fine of $100. But if someone calls a help hotline and completes a health assessment, their fine is dropped.

However, in the first year, only 1% of those who received a ticket for drugs actually used the hotline to get help. So this ballot measure decriminalized drug use, but it was also supposed to fund treatment. What happened there? Right. The ballot measure included $300 million for treatment, but according to the state behavioral health director, Steve Allen, the department responsible for rolling out those programs was under-resourced and overwhelmed. According to Allen, a project of this kind, meaning drug decriminalization paired with treatment, has never been tried, and quote,

we didn't fully understand it until we were in the middle of it. So unfortunately, Oregon has been saddled with extraordinary spikes in drug use without the proven competency to address it. In early June, Representative Lily Morgan, a Republican from southwestern Oregon, reported a 700% increase in drug overdoses in her town grants pass. Morgan argued that the progressive drug policies were costing lives and that it was no longer appropriate to wait and have faith that the policy would save lives in the long term. However, proponents of the measure say criticism is premature.

Tara Hearst, executive director of the Health Justice Recovery Alliance, an organization working to implement Measure 110, said, quote, I don't think it's just about getting folks into treatment. It's also about meeting people and getting people out into the streets doing outreach for folks and getting them life-saving drugs. Similarly, Oregon Health Authority spokesperson Timothy Heider said, quote, people enter treatment when they are ready to. The support being built to help people will meet them where they are. All right. Well, this is a bold experiment in drug decriminalization.

Something for other states to keep an eye on. Maire, thanks for reporting. Thanks, Georgia. Daily Wire investigative reporter, Marade Allorty. for listening to Morning Wire. We created this show to bring more balance to the national conversation. If you love our show and you stand with our mission, consider subscribing, leaving us a five-star rating, and most importantly, sharing our podcast with a friend. That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back

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