Post Reports

The president is taking steps to safeguard abortion access, even as some lawmakers are talking about blocking patients from seeking the procedure across state lines. Today on “Post Reports,” we explore abortion’s next legal battleground.Read more:Two weeks after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending constitutional protection to abortion in the United States, President Biden signed an executive order aimed at safeguarding abortion rights. This includes measures to ensure access to abortion medication and emergency contraception, protecting patient privacy, and bolstering legal options for those seeking access to such care.These measures will potentially help people who already face obstacles to getting an abortion. But they’re also a defense against new laws that could be coming in antiabortion states. Some antiabortion lawmakers are looking to prevent people from traveling to other states to obtain abortions. Caroline Kitchener brings us behind the scenes with some of the key players in the interstate legal fight.

It’s official: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has resigned. We review the scandals that led Johnson here and try to understand what happens next for his party. Then we discuss WNBA star Brittney Griner’s guilty plea and why it’s not surprising.Read more:After a week of government resignations, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Thursday that he is stepping down as the leader of the Conservative Party.The calls for Johnson to resign came after the discovery that the prime minister had promoted a lawmaker to a position of power, despite knowing of accusations of sexual misconduct against the appointee. After a long string of scandals throughout Johnson’s term, cabinet members said they could no longer trust the prime minister. So we asked London bureau chief William Booth: Where does this leave the future of the British government? Later in the show, Dave Sheinin, a sports reporter for The Post, breaks down the guilty plea of WNBA star Brittney Griner. Griner, who remains detained in Russia on a drug charge, submitted the plea in court Thursday. Meanwhile, pressure mounts on the Biden administration to make larger strides to get her back to the United States.

Many of those who are covering the war in Ukraine also call it home. Today on Post Reports, the story of a reporting trip to Chernihiv that also became a rescue mission for one of our colleagues. Read more:As the battle for the east of Ukraine intensifies, we take you to a city north of Kyiv that survived weeks of Russian siege. It also happens to be the hometown of Kostiantyn Khudov, a Ukrainian journalist who has been working for The Post since before Russia’s full-scale invasion in February. The relationship between foreign and local journalists is a crucial one — as Kostiantyn and The Post’s Siobhán O’Grady explain, it allows the world to see what’s happening in cities like Chernihiv. Today we go there with Siobhan and Kostiantyn, and learn what it’s like to cover a war so close to home.

Today on “Post Reports,” we talk about the chaos and terror at July Fourth celebrations over the holiday weekend. Then, we break down a big decision point for the Justice Department on whether to seek the death penalty in another recent mass shooting. Read more:In Highland Park, Ill., a holiday parade became a scene of horror as a gunman opened fire on the crowd. At other celebrations in cities nationwide, the booming sounds of fireworks were apparently mistaken for gunshots, sending scores of revelers fleeing for cover. “I think a big piece of what we saw on Monday is this loss of trust over the last several years,” reporter Marc Fisher said.The rise of mass shootings in America has brought up so many complicated and sad questions: How are we supposed to live in a society where we have to be so fearful? What will it take to prevent these shootings from happening? And how do we punish the people who perpetrate unthinkable acts of violence?Today, we are diving into that last question, in an interview with our colleague David Nakamura. In the aftermath of the mass shooting in Buffalo, the Biden administration must decide whether to pursue the death penalty for the 18-year-old suspect. When he visited Buffalo last month, Attorney General Merrick Garland assured survivors and victims’ families that a full investigation was taking place. It’s a “death penalty eligible crime,” Garland said in a news conference. But this Justice Department is conflicted — civil rights advocates have long opposed capital punishment, saying that it is inhumane and disproportionately used against racial minorities.

Gas prices are high, unemployment is low and the tools the federal government has to fight inflation could cause a recession. So how should we think about the economy right now? We asked our econ reporters and a personal finance columnist for advice. Read more:Businesses and consumers are increasingly worried the U.S. economy will tip into a recession. There are already growing signs that Americans are starting to spend less on dining out, vacation plans and even such routine services as manicures and haircuts. Today on “Post Reports,” we take some of your questions about the economy, and get answers from economics correspondent Abha Bhattarai, personal finance columnist Michelle Singletary and reporter Rachel Siegel, who covers the Federal Reserve.

Doctors are worried gray areas in new abortion bans force a choice between breaking their oath and breaking the law. Today on “Post Reports,” we talk to an OB/GYN about what those decisions are like. Plus, how to cover your digital trail if you seek an abortion.Read more:Health and science reporter Ariana Eunjung Cha recently wrote about the fear and confusion many doctors are facing since Roe was overturned.. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) joined numerous other professional organizations and medical journals over the past few days in warning that the ruling will affect health care beyond abortion, creating new risks for patients and potentially increasing maternal mortality. We interviewed Nisha Verma, an OB/GYN in Atlanta who is also a fellow at ACOG. She talked about the gray areas these laws and restrictions don’t cover. “These laws don’t make any sense,” Verma told Elahe Izadi. While lawmakers point out that there are exceptions for the life of the pregnant person, Verma says it’s very unclear what that means. “There's not a moment in time. This line where someone goes from being completely fine to dying. It's a continuum. People get sicker and sicker. And so we have to be able to make decisions in that continuum with all of the training that we have without having to worry about whether the person was sick enough or whether we're going to get in trouble under the law,” Verma said. Also on the show, tech reporter Heather Kelly explains how to protect your privacy if you’re seeking abortion care — and why period-tracking apps are best avoided. 

Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in as the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court — just after the court delivered a blow to President Biden’s climate plan. Today, we talk about the divided court and what it means for the future of our democracy.Read more:On Thursday, the Supreme Court sharply cut back the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to reduce the carbon output of existing power plants, a major setback for the Biden administration’s plans to combat climate change.The vote was 6 to 3 — like many votes were this term — with the court’s conservative supermajority voting together on blockbuster issue after issue, including gun control and abortion.“Any one of these would have been a big decision on its own,” says Supreme Court reporter Robert Barnes. “The fact that there were so many of them this term is what I think has really put the Supreme Court in the public eye in a way that it hasn't been for years.”

Congress notched a major legislative win last week by passing gun control legislation. But will a recent Supreme Court ruling on a concealed-carry law blunt the victory?Read more:One day before Congress sent a landmark piece of gun legislation to President Biden’s desk, the Supreme Court issued a ruling on New York’s concealed-carry licenses that could weaken the law. Then, the morning of the bill’s passage, the Supreme Court announced another landmark decision, overturning of Roe v. Wade. Leigh Ann Caldwell, anchor for Washington Post Live and the co-author of the Early 202 politics newsletter, joins us to talk about how those two rulings affected Congress. And she explains what’s in the new gun control bill that was signed by President Biden last week, and how Republicans in the Senate came on board for a genuinely bipartisan effort.

Aaron Blake, a seasoned reporter for The Washington Post, breaks down the explosive testimony from former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson. She revealed alarming insights into President Trump's awareness of potential violence on January 6, despite being warned. Hutchinson also spoke of Trump’s disregard for chaos as he pushed for supporters to march to the Capitol. The discussion dives into the ramifications of this testimony, examining how it could affect Trump's legal standing and public perception as investigations continue.

After Brooke Alexander learned she was pregnant last August, she and then-boyfriend Billy High initially wanted an abortion. Just 18 and 17, the pair had been dating only a month. But Brooke and Billy live in Texas, where a state-wide abortion ban prohibited the procedure after about six weeks of pregnancy. Brooke was too far along, and this past spring, she gave birth to twins. When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade Friday, ending the constitutional right to an abortion, it set off a cascade of abortion bans and restrictions. That means that more Americans are now facing the same conundrum as Brooke and Billy. National political reporter Caroline Kitchener recently spent a week with Brooke and Billy, to see how parenthood had upended their lives in ways they couldn’t have predicted. As we navigate a world without the protections of Roe, they give us a preview of what could be in store for other people who could be pushed into parenthood. Read more:Read Caroline Kitchener’s profile of Brooke and Billy and see pictures of them and their twins here.