Our Best Stuff From the Week of a Bombshell Leak

Roe v. Wade, GOP primaries, and the debate over student loan forgiveness.

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Hello and happy Saturday. When I woke up Monday morning, I expected that the news week might be dominated by whatever happened in my home state’s GOP Senate primary. Who would win the right to run for the seat that Rob Portman is vacating at the end of his term: Trump-endorsed J.D. Vance, Trump-aligned Josh Mandel (campaign slogan: “Pro-God. Pro-Guns. Pro-Trump.”), or the late-surging, Trump-avoidant Matt Dolan? 

It ended up being Vance, but that was overshadowed by the story that broke Monday evening when Politico published a leaked draft opinion written by Samuel Alito in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health that indicated the Supreme Court would overturn Roe v. Wade.

Don’t worry: I’m not going to spend the next few hundred words giving you my opinion on Roe, the Supreme Court, or the leak. David wrote a great and very useful newsletter on it (summarized below), he and Sarah discussed it at length on Advisory Opinions, the gang talked about it in Tuesday’s Dispatch Live (video here for members), and Jonah tackled it in his Wednesday G-File. 

I did write about abortion in the past, but these days I’d rather dig up the weeds in my flowerbeds with a dinner spoon than try to tackle it. So instead I’ll try to share some lessons I learned. 

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  1. ErikB

    Thank you for that perfect description of how to think about both sides of the Roe issue. How do we elect people who will take the same thoughtful. Inquisitive empathetic approach to solving our national problems. ?

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  2. Payette

    Thank you, Rachael, for your sane words of introduction.

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  3. Jay Rogers

    Thank you .... I needed these remarks earlier in the week trying to explain to an ultra left to at least listen. Understanding doesn't mean you have to agree.

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    Paul Britton

    Rachael’s pieces are always good for the over-wrought soul.

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    Pat Riot

    This week millions of Republicans are learning that the "leave the decision to the States" thing was a grand misdirection by the GOP: overturning RvW means *nationwide* bans are now on the table. The hardcore anti-abortion faction of the GOP--the single most energetic, most monied and most organized within the party--is now going to put this question to every single federal GOP candidate in the country: do you favor a nationwide ban on abortion or not?

    Blue state Republicans always told themselves that they didn't have to care what was happening in the flyover states where the nuttier aspects of their party lived; richer red state Republicans always imagined they could take a quick trip out of town--to a free state--if the problem arose.

    Perhaps this coming national political shitshow is part of why 67% of Americans polled did *not* want RvW overturned...

    https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/05/07/mitch-mcconnell-says-federal-abortion-ban-possible-gop-dodges-topic/9687867002/

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      BikerChick

      Except the GOP is not overturning Roe v Wade.

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        Pat Riot

        Huh? Who was it then, Santa Claus?

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          BikerChick

          SCOTUS.

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            Pat Riot

            Yes, the *Republicans* on SCOTUS.

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        JohnM.

        Exactly. Mr. "Riot" also fails to note that the majority of Americans think that overturning RvW means that abortion will be illegal nationwide.

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          Pat Riot

          As usual, you didn't even read my comment, which specifically revolves around the GOP desire to make abortion illegal nationwide. (Don't you dare click on the link and read what Mitch McConnell says because it will completely shatter your world view).

          That's what happens when you comment based on pure emotion: you see my screen name and start to rage. You don't even care what it says. I'd say it's a waste of money to pay $100/year just to get your jollies this way, but sadly I know that at $100/year it's a bargain compared to what a lot of other stuff costs. Oh well. Comment away...

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            BikerChick

            Also the article is behind a paywall.

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            BikerChick

            I don’t see rage in his comment.

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          BikerChick

          I'm not sure Pat is a Mr?

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            JohnM.

            I am.

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    BikerChick

    I was touching those beautiful marble columns of the Supreme Court Building almost one month ago today. I feel bad for the tourists who can't view that beautiful building up close right now. As a lawyer, it was the highlight of my trip.

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  7. Barry Bishop

    Thank you, Rachael, especially for the first half of your offering tonight. It was so refreshingly honest, rational, compassionate--a real breath of fresh air in a highly divided and often irrational set of debates.

    Barry

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  8. Laurie Appleby

    Thank you Ms. Larimore for your reasoned and thoughtful comments. You have talked me off the cliff, figuratively speaking of course, 😉. Also, I love your weekend wrap ups. Thanks again.

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    theharp74

    All I can say is thank you for your nuanced , good faith approach to the abortion discussion, and for showing that it is a complex and emotional topic. It’s not a happy event, and even the most ardent, pro-choice people recognize that, but still have reasons for feeling it’s important not to eliminate a woman’s access to it. If only we could talk more about the root causes of why women seek out abortions, it would help us as a society to figure out the best ways to make it a rare procedure in the first place. I think we would find a lot of common ground there.

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  10. GLENDA M HAGELBERGER

    everyone focuses on federal student debt, but no one talks about private student debt if your parents earned too much to let you get a federal loan and couldn't fund your college tuition, private loans are what you have to get. my daughter has $265,000 in student debt with a payment of $2500 a month. That's an impossible financial burden to handle.

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