Salon

Court ruling fuels new push to restrict abortion pills by mail

Targeting mifepristone’s delivery system raises practical and medical questions that extend far beyond abortion Weekend Editor Published May 2, 2026 11:16AM (EDT) With the rise of telehealth, more prescriptions are arriving by mail, often from out-of-state pharmacies. Some states want to restrict those packages of medication associated with abortion care. (Peter Dazeley / Getty Images) The fight over abortion pills isn’t happening in a courtroom alone — it’s landing in Americans’ mailboxes. For many patients, birth control and other reproductive health medications already arrive by delivery, prescribed through telehealth and filled by out-of-state pharmacies. But as conservative states move to restrict access to abortion pills like mifepristone, that everyday convenience is colliding with a new and complicated legal reality. A federal appeals court ruled that mail-order abortifacients, specifically mifepristone, cannot be mailed into states where the drug is restricted. At the center of the debate is whether states can limit or even punish the mailing of abortion medication across state lines, a question that could ultimately reach the U.S. Supreme Court. Supporters of restrictions argue the drugs should not be accessible in states where abortion is banned. But the medication in question are not used exclusively for abortion. Doctors routinely

Trump's latest science purge could bring major risks, experts say

The abrupt firing of the board comes at a time of climate crisis and international competition National Affairs Fellow Published May 2, 2026 9:00AM (EDT) President Donald Trump speaks during an event with the Artemis II astronauts in the Oval Office of the White House on April 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) The Trump administration’s recent firing of the entire 22-person board of the National Science Foundation has drawn condemnation from lawmakers, scientists and their advocates across the country, who say the decision is irresponsible and based on political control. Members of the National Science Board, made up mostly of scientists, reportedly received emails last Friday informing them that they would be removed from their positions effective immediately. “No reason was given,” former board member, Yolanda Gill, an employee at the Information ‌Sciences ⁠Institute of the University of Southern California, told Reuters. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., a ranking member of the House Science Committee, blasted the decision as “a real Bozo the Clown move” by President Donald Trump. “The NSB is apolitical. It advises the president on the future of NSF,” Lofgren said in a statement on Saturday. “It unfortunately is no surprise a president

Democrats’ Hasan Piker problem is a boon for Fox News

analysis Leftist streamer becomes litmus test for Democrats — and Fox News’ favorite boogeyman Senior Writer Published May 2, 2026 6:30AM (EDT) Hasan Piker (Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile for Web Summit Qatar via Getty Images) There are many strange spectacles in modern American politics, but few are more frustrating to watch than a major political party tying itself in knots over a Twitch streamer in the middle of a war. Predictably, the campaign to de-platform Hasan Piker is a political gift to Fox News, which has eagerly elevated the leftist gamer into a kind of all-purpose villain. The network has run somewhere between 20 and 25 distinct pieces of content — articles, newsletter items, podcast episodes, television and radio segments — about Piker in the month of April alone. A man who holds no office, no formal power and a relatively narrow slice of public recognition has garnered coverage on cable’s most-watched network on roughly 18 to 20 out of the last 30 days — and often with multiple mentions throughout the day. The irony is hard to ignore. After the 2024 election, Democrats and their aligned media figures belatedly fretted over their inability to reach younger audiences, particularly young men who

Immigration scams surge as Trump’s sweeps lure desperate people to eager defrauders

Con artists posing as ICE agents use WhatsApp, fake court hearings to bilk vulnerable people out of their savings Published May 2, 2026 6:00AM (EDT) In this handout photo provided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the New York City Fugitive Operations Team conducted targeted enforcement operations resulting in the arrest of a Dominican national on January 28, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement/Getty Images) This article originally appeared on ProPublica. As an asylum-seeker living in the U.S., Jasmir Urbina worried as she watched violence break out amid the military-style immigration sweeps across the country. Then she read about legal residents being arrested at immigration court and wondered when federal agents would set their sights on her city. Urbina had fled Nicaragua in 2022 and legally resided with her husband, a fellow asylum-seeker, in New Orleans while reporting to immigration agents for check-ins as she awaited her day in court. Finally, the date was approaching, in late November 2025. Days later, the Trump administration would flood the region with federal officers in “Operation Swamp Sweep.” Urbina, 35, began searching for a Spanish speaker who could help her, and said she stumbled on a Facebook

SCOTUS just unleashed a gerrymandering dragon

analysis The Court's 6-3 decision gutting the Voting Rights Act will reshape the nation's political map in dramatic fashion Contributing Writer Published May 1, 2026 1:30PM (EDT) The Supreme Court's 6-3 decision in Louisiana v. Callais will do severe damage to voters (Douglas Rissing/Getty Images) So much for the mid-decade redistricting wars ending in a tie. On April 21, Democrats engineered themselves a 10-1 gerrymander in Virginia, a pickup of four seats. Party leaders declared it payback and boasted about their new fighting spirit. Political pundits declared the mid-decade gerrymandering war had been fought to a stalemate, or that it had even backfired on Republicans. Five new red seats in Texas, balanced by five blue ones in California. Four new Democratic seats in Virginia to counterbalance Ohio, Missouri and North Carolina. No harm, no foul! Then the big shoe dropped. The Supreme Court, in a 6-3, party-line decision in Callais v. Louisiana, struck down Louisiana’s congressional map and installed new limits on the Voting Rights Act that will make it all but impossible to challenge districts that dilute minority voters. A report by Fair Fight Action and Black Voters Matter found this could erase up to 19 House seats held

The future of the White House Correspondents' Dinner is in doubt

commentary Saturday's shooting has prompted board members to consider how to fix the annual event White House columnist Published May 1, 2026 9:10AM (EDT) President Donald Trump used the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner to call for funding for his White House ballroom project (Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty Images) The fallout from Saturday’s shooting at the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner threatens to cut deep and last a long time, affecting the president, reporters and the future of the event itself. At a hastily assembled post-shooting press briefing at the White House, Donald Trump told us it was an honor to be targeted for assassination because it “only happens to the best.” Some Washington reporters left the event shaken, while some were convinced they were heroes for surviving. Others left determined to still have some fun. The White House Correspondents’ Association faces the possibility that we have seen the last dinner under the current format. The dinner was interrupted when a 31-year-old California man armed with a shotgun, a handgun and a knife opened fire after sprinting past the security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton. The president, Vice President JD Vance, First Lady Melania Trump, and

MAHA moms learn hard lesson about Trump

commentary RFK Jr.’s “wellness” movement is collapsing under its own contradictions Senior Writer Published May 1, 2026 6:45AM (EDT) WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: "The People vs the Poison" protesters gather at the US Supreme Court on April 27, 2026 in Washington, DC. The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments this morning in a case that could lead to the dismissal of tens of thousands of lawsuits against Bayer, the pharmaceutical and biotech giant, that claim the weedkiller Roundup, made by Monsanto, caused non-Hodgkin lymphoma. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images) (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images) If there was one single idea uniting the misnamed “Make America Healthy Again” movement, it’s that health is a matter of personal responsibility, and government is in the way. This is presumably why Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. abandoned his family’s long allegiance to the Democratic Party to support a Republican for president, Donald Trump, and serve in his administration. He and his army of affluent, white female supporters — dubbed “MAHA moms” — pride themselves in rejecting the federal government’s reliance on medical and scientific expertise to set healthcare policy. They characterize these authorities as an oppressive force, denying individuals the

Trump’s ballroom ploy might work, security experts say

The incident at the WHCD might help Trump get his ballroom built, but it’s not the quick security fix he’s selling Staff Reporter Published May 1, 2026 6:30AM (EDT) Construction on Trump's enormous ballroom began this week. Not everyone was pleased about it. Even on Fox News. (Salwan Georges / The Washington Post / Getty Images) In the wake of the attempted shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner last Saturday, President Donald Trump and his allies immediately parlayed the shooting into a push for Trump’s pet project, the proposed $400 million White House ballroom, claiming that its construction is now an issue of national security. The question that’s been glossed over, however, is whether the ballroom would really patch up security for the president. Coles Thomas Allen, 31, is accused of attempting to rush a staircase that led down to the ballroom where the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was taking place. He was immediately tackled by Secret Service agents, with law enforcement and Allen exchanging eight shots, one of which struck an agent in the chest, who was protected by their bulletproof vest. Trump and top White House officials were promptly evacuated. Roughly two minutes into the ensuing press

Republican lawmakers increasingly concerned over Hegseth's ideological military

Conservatives are voicing criticisms after Hegseth unceremoniously fired a top military leader National Affairs Fellow Published May 1, 2026 6:00AM (EDT) Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth looks on during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the Department of Defense budget request for Fiscal Year 2027 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on April 30, 2026. (Photo by Alex Wroblewski / AFP via Getty Images) Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth sat for hearings with Congress this week to discuss his handling of the Iran war, along with fielding questions about the Trump administration’s controversial $1.5 trillion defense spending proposal for 2027. Meanwhile, his support among Republican lawmakers is wavering following his firings of numerous high-profile military leaders, which experts say is both concerning and unusual. Since becoming head of the Pentagon last year, Hegseth has overseen a dozen dismissals, retirements and reassignments among some of the highest positions in the U.S. military. Among them were the first female commandant of the Coast Guard, the head of the Army’s Chaplain Corps, and a four-star general overseeing the Army’s Transformation and Training Command. However, it was the recent firing of Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George in the middle of the