Situational Analysis | May , 2022

Good morning! It's National Teacher Appreciation Day ðŸ‘ðŸ‘ 

Be in the Know

1.  In a rare breach of Supreme Court secrecy, a leaked document shows that the SCOTUS plans to completely overturn Roe v Wade and allow states to criminalize all abortions, without exceptions for rape and/or incest. "“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start...We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled," Justice Alito writes in an initial majority draft circulated inside the court. "The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision.” Utah is one of the states that has a trigger law that will go into effect if Roe is overturned. The official ruling is not expected until June.

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Utah Headlines

General

• ‘Don’t let him touch me’: 83 women say Provo OB-GYN sexually abused them (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Gov. Spencer Cox says admitting Ukrainian refugees is ‘the right thing’ to do (Deseret News)
• Utah road worker hit by truck, left in critical condition (ABC4)
• Utah activist Psarah Johnson remembered for her work and her “fire” (KUER)
• Two little boys playing outside in Eagle Mountain were hit and killed by an out-of-control car whose driver was high on meth (KUTV)

Politics

• Utah Sen. Mike Lee calls leaked court opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade ‘bittersweet’ (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Here’s the one word you can’t say in a room full of Republicans: climate (Deseret News)
• Cox ranks in the top 10 most popular governors, new poll shows (Fox13)
• In response to gerrymandering lawsuit, Legislature’s attorneys argue lawmakers — not the courts — decide redistricting (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Layton Rep. Steve Handy likely to run as a write-in GOP candidate after Trevor Lee’s use of transphobic slur (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Jeff Merchant: Utah Democrats want to see Mike Lee gone, not for the party’s benefit but for the country’s. (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Davina Smith is outraising Rep. Phil Lyman in fight for House District 69 (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Perspective: The Supreme sieve? Leaking any Supreme Court case is unprecedented. But having the most important case in half a century escape early is corrosive to the nation’s highest court (Deseret News)
• Rep. Moore cites Northern Utah roots despite home outside 1st District (Standard-Examiner)

Education

• Every 4-year-old in Colorado can attend preschool for free next year. Could Utah do the same? (Deseret News)
• Crisis in the Classroom special: Examining bullying in Utah (KUTV)

Environment

• Utahns asked to practice fire safety ahead of potentially severe wildfire season (ABC4)
  
• As wildfire season starts, Utah leaders plead with people to not 'burn the state down' (Fox13)
• Alex Veilleux: Utah’s emergency drought declaration is an emergency climate declaration (Salt Lake Tribune)
• ‘It feels like a dying reservoir’: Deltas of sediment are pushing into Glen Canyon as Lake Powell disappears (Salt Lake Tribune)
  

Family

• Want to raise a family in Utah? Here’s what you should know first. Utah ranks first in the nation for economic outlook, but it is only the 13th best state to raise a family — here’s why (Deseret News)
• Baby monitors are vulnerable to hackers (Deseret News)
• When your adventure partner keeps demanding gummy bears (Deseret News)

National Headlines

General

• Over 100 patients with brain tumors attended the same high school. Is there a connection? (Deseret News)
• Central U.S. faces severe storms, tornadoes on multiple days this week (Washington Post)
• ‘I Don’t Really Have a Business Plan’: How Elon Musk Wings It (New York Times)

Politics

• Protests erupt at Supreme Court after report of draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade (The Hill)
• Republicans condemn leak of Supreme Court draft abortion ruling (The Hill)
• Esper: Trump asked about shooting protesters ‘in the legs or something’ after George Floyd death (The Hill)
• 7 primary contests to watch Tuesday in Ohio and Indiana (NPR)
• Overturning Roe v. Wade could upend the midterms (Washington Post)

Ukraine 🇺🇦 

• Jill Biden to meet with displaced Ukrainians on Mother’s Day in Slovakia (Washington Post)
• Ukrainian refugees at camp in Mexico City await US action (AP)
• Aid workers prep stretchers, toys for Mariupol evacuees (AP)
• Death in Ukraine’s Kharkiv is everywhere, rarely explained (AP)
• Russia says Israel supports neo-Nazis in row over Ukraine (Reuters)
• Civilians rescued from Mariupol steel plant head for safety; Russia resumes attacks on the plant. (Politico)
• Russia planning to annex new areas of Ukraine, U.S. intelligence finds (Washington Post)

News Releases

Utah Democratic Party statement on leaked Supreme Court ruling invalidating Roe v. Wade

Today, Politico reported on a leaked majority opinion in the Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which involves Mississippi’s 15-week ban on abortions. In that opinion, a majority of the Court agrees that Roe v. Wade should be overturned, restricting the right to choose that has been the law of the land for almost 50 years. 

If this rulings holds and is officially announced by the Supreme Court, nearly half of the 50 states have trigger laws in place which will immediately ban abortions, including Utah. (Read More)

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Upcoming

• Breakfast Briefing with Utah Foundation, May 17, 8:30-10:00 am
• Envision Utah Breakfast, May 25, 8:00-9:30 am, Register here
• Ballots are mailed â€“ June 7
• Primary election day â€“ June 28
• General election â€“ Nov 8

On This Day In History

• 1469 - Italian philosopher and writer Niccolo Machiavelli is born.
• 1894 - Phyllis Greenacres is born. She became a psychoanalyst, interested in physical maturation and psychological development in children, which led to a study of gifted infants.
• 1898 - Golda Meir is born. She became the first (and only) female prime minister of Israel.
• 1915 - John McCrae writes the poem “In Flanders Fields.”
• 1940 - Henry Ossian Flipper, American soldier, former slave and first African American to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point, dies at 84.
• 1971 - The Nixon administration arrests 13,000 anti-war protesters in 3 days
• 1980 - Cari Lightner, age 13, is hit and killed by a drunk driver. Her mom, Candy Lightner, founded Mothers Against Drunk Drivers in Cari’s honor.
• 1992 - Exxon executive is murdered four days after being kidnapped from his driveway in New Jersey.
• 2007 - Three-year-old Madeleine McCann goes missing in Portugal. She has never been found. A formal suspect was named on April 22, 2022.

Wise Words

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields. 

Lighter Side

“That’s right, President Biden’s approval rating has increased to 42 percent. He now ranks slightly above leaf blowers.” 

— SETH MEYERS

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