Illinois Congresswoman Jan Schakosky and more than a dozen other Democratic members of Congress were arrested by Capitol Police on July 19 during an abortion-rights protest outside the U.S. Supreme Court, CBS News reported.
U.S. Capitol Police said they made a total of 35 arrests for crowding, obstructing or incommoding, which included 17 members of Congress. Some of the other U.S. reps included Barbara Lee, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Talib, Andy Levin and Cori Bush.
Schakowsky tweeted a video clip of her being led away by a police officer, writing "Today, I am making good trouble. #bansoffourbodies."
—According to a press release Windy City Times received, on July 20, the U.S. House passed funding legislation that included U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley's (D-Illinois) provision to protect abortion access for federal workers and the residents of Washington, D.C.
Quigley, Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, amended his own legislation to include language that would prohibit any federal funds from his bill from being used in contravention to President Biden's executive order on protecting access to reproductive healthcare.
—Also, White House officials plotting the administration's post-Roe v. Wade response are weighing a narrow public health directive aimed at safeguarding nationwide access to abortion pills, Politico reported.
They consider this approach to be the most feasible of the White House's limited options for protecting abortion rights, and have concluded that it could have the most immediate on-the-ground impact while also quelling Democrats' demands for stronger action.
The proposal would rely on powers under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act reserved for public health emergencies to shield doctors, pharmacies and others from liability for providing abortion pills to people across the country—even those who live in states that have outlawed or severely restricted the procedure.
