Texas Abortion Case, Biden and Zelenskyy, Trump and SCOTUS

The Supreme Court is asked to consider whether former President Donald Trump is protected from criminal prosecutions.

Could the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination face a jury before the 2024 election?

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You can count on Ukraine, and we hope just as much to be able to count on you.

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The man appointed to lead the prosecution of former President Donald Trump for interfering in the last election has made an extraordinary request.

Yeah. Special Counsel Jack Smith wants the Supreme Court to fast track the case in what looks like an effort to make sure that Trump will face a jury before the 2024 election.

NPR Justice correspondent Carrie Johnson has been following the story and she's with us now. Good morning.

Good morning.

So, Carrie, I take it. The reason this is a story is that it's pretty unusual for the Supreme Court to weigh in at this stage of a criminal case. What's the prosecution's argument for moving so quickly?

Special Counsel Jack Smith says this case is a matter of enormous public importance. He says the question is fundamental to democracy Is a former president totally immune from criminal prosecution for acts committed when he was president? The Supreme Court has never answered that question. All we know is that presidents enjoy some immunity from civil lawsuits.

So the judge in this case in Washington, D.

If the Supreme Court waits for a lower appeals court to act on this case before it hears this central dispute about presidential immunity, that d.

So what kind of precedent is there for the Supreme Court to move so fast?

You know, the prosecutors say the Supreme Court moved this quickly back in 1974, when President Richard Nixon refused to turn over White House tapes in the Watergate investigation. Steve Vladek, a law professor at the University of Texas, posted The High Court had moved quickly in this way about 19 times since 2019. But former President Trump says this is a Hail Mary move from prosecutors. He said in a statement yesterday. This case is politically motivated and a sham, and there is no reason to rush it. Four of nine justices need to agree to hear the case in order for the High Court to take it.

And the Supreme Court is also considering another issue related to the effort to overturn the last election. Would you tell us about that?

Sure. Several people accused of taking part in the Capitol riot on January 6 want the High Court to weigh in about the obstruction law they've been charged with breaking. It's an important issue because the Justice Department has used that same statute in hundreds of January 6 cases. And if the High Court finds prosecutors overreach there, it could really take away a major tool for the Justice Department. Donald Trump faces that same charge in the D..C.

That is NPR's Kerry Johnson, Kerry, thank you.

My pleasure.

A Texas mother experiencing serious complications in her pregnancy has left the state to get an abortion.

Now, Kay Cox did file a lawsuit to try to get access to the procedure at home after she learned her fetus had a genetic condition that is almost always fatal. The state Supreme Court ruled Monday that her circumstance did not meet the state's requirement to have an abortion.

NPR's Selena Simmons-Stefan is with us now in our studios to explain Selena, Good morning morning, Michelle, All right.

OK, well, she is 31 years old, she lives in the Dallas area with her husband and two young kids. So she was pregnant for the third time. And about 20 weeks into her pregnancy, she learned that her fetus has trisomy 18. That's a serious genetic condition with very little chance of survival.

So what did the Texas Supreme Court say in its ruling?

OK, so here is a twist. Even though the justices knew Kate Cox had decided to travel and no longer needed an abortion in Texas, the court didn't dismiss the case. It instead, it issued a seven page opinion that really dives into the details. It says Kate Cox did not appear to meet the definition in Texas law that would allow an abortion.

The Texas Supreme Court is disclaiming all responsibility. We saw the Attorney General, the Texas Medical Board and the State of Texas just throw up their hands and say, it's not our fault that abortion is banned when your life and health are at stake. And all we're seeing is the justices agree, it's not our fault, it's the doctor's fault.

She explains The law just doesn't just require a physician to say, in my good faith judgment, Kate Cox's pregnancy poses a danger. It's actually a higher standard of reasonable medical judgment.

The problem is that the Reasonable Medical Judgment standard invites other doctors to second guess, and, more importantly, invites the state to second guess the reasonableness of that medical judgment.

The stakes are extremely high for doctors in Texas if they get it wrong and provide an abortion that another doctor or the state decides to challenge. They could face life in prison, a minimum of $100,000 in fines and the loss of their medical license.

So what does all this mean for the state of abortion rights in Texas? Are there more legal challenges to this medical exception?

Yes, there are 20 patients suing in another case, women who face similar circumstances to Kate Cox. That case was argued before the Texas Supreme Court just a few weeks ago, and a decision is pending. But Liz Sepper told me she thinks this decision gives a preview of how that one might go.

What it looks like they're going to do is lay down the gauntlet. It is not the fault of judges when women die in these scenarios or lose their fertility, it is the fault of doctors.

She says she's not optimistic that the court will side with pregnant patients in that case, either.

That's NPR's Selena Simmons-Devon Selena, thank you.

Thank you.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is back in Washington, D.

The whole world is watching us.

Nearly a year ago, he made a surprise trip to the U.

NPR national political correspondent Mara Liason is with us now to tell us more about why it's quite different and how it's quite different. Good morning Mara.

Good morning.

So what is President Zelensky trying to achieve today?

What he's trying to do really is a last-ditch effort to get u.

So, you know, traditionally, the Republican Party has seen itself as strong on defense and national security. What happened with Ukraine to change that?

Well, some Republicans in Congress share the animus of their party's leader, former President Donald Trump. He doesn't like Ukraine at all. Remember, his first impeachment in 2019 was over pressure he put on Zelensky to give him information he could use against Joe Biden during the election campaign. And he said many positive things about Vladimir Putin. But most Republicans say they want deep concessions on immigration policy in order to vote for this aid.

Why has u?

It's completely unrelated to Ukraine, but the situation at the border is the top issue for Republican voters. Immigration policy is one of the most intractable issues in U.S politics. It's something Democrats and Republicans engage on every couple of years and always fail to make headway on.

That is NPR's Maura Lison Maura, thank you.

You're welcome.

And that's up first for Tuesday, December 12th. I'm Michelle Martin.

And I'm Laila Faultel. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Diana Weber, Roberta Rampton, Krishnadev Calimer and Olivia Hampton. It was produced by Katie Klein, David West and Lindsay Tauti. We get engineering support from James Willits and our technical director is Zach Coleman.

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