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What is happening with abortion 'trigger' laws?

Nicole Fallert   | Paste BN

Two months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade, new laws banning abortion are scheduled to take effect in Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. Government lawyers have a deadline to provide a judge with an edited version of the Mar-a-Lago warrant affidavit. Keep reading to learn how psychedelic mushrooms could treat addiction.

🙋🏞‍♀ïļ I'm Nicole Fallert. Let's get started with Thursday's news.

🌅 Up first: Is NASA campaigning to have the galaxy's best Instagram page? It sure seems that way. The space agency has shared a remarkable image of the southern lights, or aurora australis, taken from the International Space Station. Read more

Abortion 'trigger' bans take effect in multiple states. What does that mean?

New laws banning abortion are are scheduled to take effect Thursday in three states – Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas – two months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that established a constitutional right to abortion. Two more states, North Dakota and Idaho, could also put in place more restrictive abortion laws this week, depending on upcoming judicial rulings. What do these laws change?

The main difference: The laws going into effect this week basically amount to a near-total ban on abortion. 

  • What is happening and why: All but the Oklahoma law are the result of so-called "trigger" laws, bills approved in the past to ban abortion that would take effect only if the Supreme Court overturned Roe and gave states the power to severely limit or even outlaw the procedure. 
  • How many states have bans? Are more bans coming? Thirteen states have trigger bans that have taken effect, are scheduled to or are being reviewed by the courts. Experts project nearly double that amount will restrict or ban abortion at some point. 
  • State battles continue: An Idaho judge ruled that the state's strict abortion ban cannot be enforced in medical emergencies.

More news to know now:

🎧 On today's 5 Things podcast, reporter Jessica Guynn talks about how more Asian Americans are calling out the racism they experience at work. You can listen to the podcast every day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your smart speaker.

DOJ lawyers must provide edited version of Mar-a-Lago warrant affidavit to judge

U.S. Magistrate Bruce Reinhart ordered Justice Department lawyers to provide an edited or redacted version of the search warrant affidavit by Thursday for his consideration in deciding whether any of the document’s contents could be released.  The move comes as a consortium of media companies are pushing for the document's public release. But government lawyers have opposed the release of the document, even in its edited state, arguing that it would provide a "roadmap" to the continuing investigation, which is reviewing possible obstruction of justice and violations of the Espionage Act. Read more

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75 days to the midterms: Biden holds rally in safely Democratic Maryland

President Joe Biden is aiming to turn months of legislative accomplishments into political energy. He is holding a kickoff rally Thursday evening to boost Democrats’ fortunes 75 days out from the midterm elections. The event is set for the safely Democratic Washington suburb of Rockville, Maryland. It's meant to ease Biden into what White House aides say will be an aggressive season of championing his policy victories and aiding his party’s candidates. The event comes a day after the president moved to fulfill a long-delayed campaign pledge to forgive federal student loans for lower and middle-income borrowers – a move that Democrats believe will animate younger and Black and Latino voters. Read more

Russian attack kills 22 on Ukraine's Independence Day

Ukraine's Independence Day celebrations were disrupted Wednesday after a Russian rocket strike on a railroad station killed 22 people, said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who had warned the Kremlin may attempt "something particularly cruel” on the holiday. The attack took place in Chaplyne, a town of about 3,500 people in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, according to Ukrainian news agencies. Besides being the 31st anniversary of Ukraine's independence from the Soviet Union, Wednesday also marked six months since the war began. Kyiv officials had banned large public gatherings this week and told government employees to work from home in anticipation of a Russian missile strike amid the elevated tensions. Read more

  • How Ukraine became a democracy: President Joe Biden marked Ukraine's Independence Day with $3 billion in security assistance, the largest aid package Washington has sent to Ukraine to date.

ICYMI: Some of our top stories yesterday

Here's how magic mushrooms show promise in fighting addiction

Experiences with psilocybin, more commonly called "magic mushrooms," expands the ability of people to change, loosening the functional organization of their brain networks and opening up possibilities, according to researchers involved in a new study published this week from the New York University Langone Center for Psychedelic Medicine in New York City. The alcohol addiction study offered 12 therapy sessions and two – later three – experiences with psilocybin. Researchers found that 48 people who received the active therapy drank fewer than 10 days a month, while the 45 who received the placebo continued to drink heavily for 23 days a month. Read more

📷 Photo of the day: One great photo from every game of the 2022 WNBA playoffs 📷

The Connecticut Sun earned its first winner-take-all victory Wednesday night since September 2004, and got past the opening round of the WNBA playoffs for the sixth straight season. The Sun will play the defending champion Chicago Sky on Sunday in a best-of-five series. Read more

Click here to see more photos of the competition from the 2022 WNBA playoffs.

Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at Paste BN. Send her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com or follow along with her musings on Twitter. Support journalism like this – subscribe to Paste BN here.

Associated Press contributed reporting.

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