Weekend thread: What's happening?

MAGA Texas judge bans abortion pill nationwide. Hours later, another federal judge orders FDA to keep it available. Clarence Thomas claims he was told he didn't need to report gifts from billionaire.

As expected, a Christian nationalist MAGA federal judge in Texas—who tried to keep oral arguments in the case hidden from the media weeks ago—has ruled that medication abortion is unsafe and blocked it nationwide.

This came after the abortion pill had been on the market, approved by the FDA, for two decades. The case was brought by over 20 Republican attorneys general in the states. The judge stayed his order for seven days, pending appeal, and the Department of Justice immediately appealed to the Fifth Circuit.

Hours later, a Washington State federal judge, in a separate case brought by attorneys general in blue states, ordered the FDA to keep the drug available. This will no doubt be headed to the Supreme Court. And all bets are off as to what happens there.

The corruption on that court came into full view this week, when a bombshell story revealed Clarence Thomas and his wife have taken what appear to be millions of dollars in gifts—in the form of trips to far-off and lavish locales—from a right-wing billionaire without disclosing them. Thomas, in a rare instance of responding to accusations of his corruption, now says he was told he didn’t need to disclose them but will from now on. This feigned ignorance does not cut it.