By LAURAN NEERGAARD and MATTHEW PERRONE, Associated Press

At least some U.S. adults may get updated COVID-19 shots this fall, as government advisers voted Tuesday that it’s time to tweak booster doses to better match the most recent virus variants.

Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration wrestled with how to modify doses now when there’s no way to know how the rapidly mutating virus will evolve by fall — especially since people who get today’s recommended boosters remain strongly protected against COVID-19′s worst outcomes.

Ultimately the FDA panel voted 19-2 that COVID-19 boosters should contain some version of the super-contagious omicron variant, to be ready for an anticipated fall booster campaign.

“We are going to be behind the eight-ball if we wait longer,” said one adviser, Dr. Mark Sawyer of the University of California, San Diego.

The FDA will have to decide the exact recipe, but expect a combination shot that adds protection against either omicron or some of its newer relatives to the original vaccine.

“None of us has a crystal ball” to know the next threatening variant, said FDA vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks. But “we may at least bring the immune system closer to being able to respond to what’s circulating” now rather than far older virus strains.

It’s not clear who would be offered a tweaked booster — they might be urged only for older adults or those at high risk from the virus. But the FDA is expected to decide on the recipe change within days and then Pfizer and Moderna will have to seek authorization for the appropriately updated doses, time for health authorities to settle on a fall strategy.

Current COVID-19 vaccines have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-england-54d29ae3af5c700f15d704c14ee224b5">saved millions of lives</a>&nbsp;globally. With a booster dose, those used in the U.S. retain strong protection against hospitalization and death but their ability to block infection dropped markedly when omicron appeared. And the omicron mutant that caused the winter surge has been replaced by its&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-united-states-pandemics-72462053f8d60fd548cf34377864100b">genetically distinct relatives</a>. The two newest omicron cousins, called BA.4 and BA.5, together now make up half of U.S. cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Pfizer and Moderna already were brewing boosters that add protection to the first omicron mutant. Their combination shots, what scientists call “bivalent” vaccines, substantially boosted levels of antibodies capable of fighting that variant, more than simply giving another dose of today’s vaccine.

Both companies found the tweaked shots also offered some cross-protection against those worrisome BA.4 and BA.5 mutants, too, but not nearly as much.

Many scientists favor the combination approach because it preserves the original vaccines’ proven benefits, which include some cross-protection against other mutants that have cropped up during the pandemic.

The question facing FDA is the correct recipe change. Both companies said they’d have plenty of omicron-targeted combo shots by October but Moderna said switching to target omicron’s newest relatives might delay its version another month.

Further complicating the decision is that only half of vaccinated Americans have received that all-important first booster. And while the CDC says protection against hospitalization has slipped some for older adults, a second booster that’s recommended for people 50 and older seems to restore it. But only a quarter of those eligible for the additional booster have gotten one.

Marks said that by tweaking the shots, “we’re hoping we can convince people to go get that booster to strengthen their immune response and help prevent another wave.”

The logistics will be challenging. Many Americans haven’t had their first vaccinations yet, including young children who just became eligible — and it’s not clear whether tweaked boosters eventually might lead to a change in the primary vaccine. But the FDA’s advisers said it’s important to go ahead and study updated vaccine recipes in children, too.

And one more complexity: A third company, Novavax, is awaiting FDA authorization of a more traditional kind of COVID-19 vaccine, protein-based shots. Novavax argued Tuesday that a booster of its regular vaccine promises a good immune response against the new omicron mutants without a recipe change.

Advisers to the World Health Organization recently said omicron-tweaked shots would be most beneficial as a booster only, because they should increase the breadth of people’s cross-protection against multiple variants.

“We don’t want the world to lose confidence in vaccines that are currently available,” said Dr. Kanta Subbarao, a virologist who chairs that WHO committee.

By LAURAN NEERGAARD and MATTHEW PERRONE, Associated PressAt least some U.S. adults may get updated COVID-19 shots this fall, as government advisers voted Tuesday that it’s time to tweak booster doses to better match the most recent virus variants.Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration wrestled with how to modify doses now when there’s no way to know how the rapidly mutating virus will evolve by fall — especially since people who get today’s recommended boosters remain strongly protected against COVID-19′s worst outcomes.Ultimately the FDA panel voted 19-2 that COVID-19 boosters should contain some version of the super-contagious omicron variant, to be ready for an anticipated fall booster campaign.“We are going to be behind the eight-ball if we wait longer,” said one adviser, Dr. Mark Sawyer of the University of California, San Diego.The FDA will have to decide the exact recipe, but expect a combination shot that adds protection against either omicron or some of its newer relatives to the original vaccine.“None of us has a crystal ball” to know the next threatening variant, said FDA vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks. But “we may at least bring the immune system closer to being able to respond to what’s circulating” now rather than far older virus strains.It’s not clear who would be offered a tweaked booster — they might be urged only for older adults or those at high risk from the virus. But the FDA is expected to decide on the recipe change within days and then Pfizer and Moderna will have to seek authorization for the appropriately updated doses, time for health authorities to settle on a fall strategy.Current COVID-19 vaccines have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-england-54d29ae3af5c700f15d704c14ee224b5">saved millions of lives</a>&nbsp;globally. With a booster dose, those used in the U.S. retain strong protection against hospitalization and death but their ability to block infection dropped markedly when omicron appeared. And the omicron mutant that caused the winter surge has been replaced by its&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-united-states-pandemics-72462053f8d60fd548cf34377864100b">genetically distinct relatives</a>. The two newest omicron cousins, called BA.4 and BA.5, together now make up half of U.S. cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Pfizer and Moderna already were brewing boosters that add protection to the first omicron mutant. Their combination shots, what scientists call “bivalent” vaccines, substantially boosted levels of antibodies capable of fighting that variant, more than simply giving another dose of today’s vaccine.Both companies found the tweaked shots also offered some cross-protection against those worrisome BA.4 and BA.5 mutants, too, but not nearly as much.Many scientists favor the combination approach because it preserves the original vaccines’ proven benefits, which include some cross-protection against other mutants that have cropped up during the pandemic.The question facing FDA is the correct recipe change. Both companies said they’d have plenty of omicron-targeted combo shots by October but Moderna said switching to target omicron’s newest relatives might delay its version another month.Further complicating the decision is that only half of vaccinated Americans have received that all-important first booster. And while the CDC says protection against hospitalization has slipped some for older adults, a second booster that’s recommended for people 50 and older seems to restore it. But only a quarter of those eligible for the additional booster have gotten one.Marks said that by tweaking the shots, “we’re hoping we can convince people to go get that booster to strengthen their immune response and help prevent another wave.”The logistics will be challenging. Many Americans haven’t had their first vaccinations yet, including young children who just became eligible — and it’s not clear whether tweaked boosters eventually might lead to a change in the primary vaccine. But the FDA’s advisers said it’s important to go ahead and study updated vaccine recipes in children, too.And one more complexity: A third company, Novavax, is awaiting FDA authorization of a more traditional kind of COVID-19 vaccine, protein-based shots. Novavax argued Tuesday that a booster of its regular vaccine promises a good immune response against the new omicron mutants without a recipe change.Advisers to the World Health Organization recently said omicron-tweaked shots would be most beneficial as a booster only, because they should increase the breadth of people’s cross-protection against multiple variants.“We don’t want the world to lose confidence in vaccines that are currently available,” said Dr. Kanta Subbarao, a virologist who chairs that WHO committee.___

FDA advisers recommend updating COVID booster shots for fall

The 
Federal Trade Commission today sued Walmart for allowing its money 
transfer services to be used by fraudsters, who fleeced consumers out of
 hundreds of millions of dollars. In its lawsuit, <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/1823012WalmartComplaint.pdf">the FTC alleges</a>&nbsp;that
 for years, the company turned a blind eye while scammers took advantage
 of its failure to properly secure the money transfer services offered 
at Walmart stores. The company did not properly train its employees, 
failed to warn customers, and used procedures that allowed fraudsters to
 cash out at its stores, according to the FTC’s complaint. The FTC is 
asking the court to order Walmart to return money to consumers and to 
impose civil penalties for Walmart’s violations.

“While scammers used its money transfer 
services to make off with cash, Walmart looked the other way and 
pocketed millions in fees,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s 
Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Consumers have lost hundreds of 
millions, and the Commission is holding Walmart accountable for letting 
fraudsters fleece its customers.” &nbsp;

In addition to its retail business, Walmart 
offers financial services to consumers in its stores, including money 
transfers, credit cards, reloadable debit cards, check cashing, bill 
payments and more. Walmart acts as an agent for multiple money transfer 
services, including MoneyGram, Ria and Western Union, offering some 
services under its own brand, like “Walmart2Walmart” and 
“Walmart2World.” According to the complaint, tens of millions of money 
transfers are sent or received at Walmart stores each year, where they 
are processed by Walmart employees.

Money transfers are services that people use 
to send money to a recipient in another location. They are frequently 
used by fraudsters across a wide variety of scams because they are 
nearly impossible to retrieve after the money has been picked up. The 
FTC has brought multiple cases against money transfer services in recent
 years, including against MoneyGram and Western Union, alleging they 
failed to protect consumers who used their services.

Walmart’s practice of turning a blind eye to 
fraud had grave consequences for consumers, according to the complaint. 
The complaint cites numerous instances in which law enforcement 
investigations found that scammers relied on Walmart money transfers as a
 primary way to receive payments, including in telemarketing schemes 
like IRS impersonation schemes, relative-in-need “grandparent” scams, 
sweepstakes scams, and others. Based on information from fraud databases
 maintained by MoneyGram, Western Union, and Ria, from 2013 to 2018 more
 than $197 million in payments that were the subject of fraud complaints
 were sent or received at Walmart, with more than $1.3 billion in 
related payments also possibly connected to the fraud.

The FTC’s investigation of Walmart’s money 
transfer practices showed, according to the complaint, that Walmart knew
 about the role money transfer services play in scams and frauds. 
Despite that, the company’s money transfer services harmed consumers in 
numerous ways, including:

The Commission vote to file the civil penalty
 complaint was 3-2, with Commissioners Noah Joshua Phillips and 
Christine S. Wilson dissenting. The FTC filed the complaint in the U.S. 
District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. 

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1619632629588.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>FTCThe 
Federal Trade Commission today sued Walmart for allowing its money 
transfer services to be used by fraudsters, who fleeced consumers out of
 hundreds of millions of dollars. In its lawsuit, <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/1823012WalmartComplaint.pdf">the FTC alleges</a>&nbsp;that
 for years, the company turned a blind eye while scammers took advantage
 of its failure to properly secure the money transfer services offered 
at Walmart stores. The company did not properly train its employees, 
failed to warn customers, and used procedures that allowed fraudsters to
 cash out at its stores, according to the FTC’s complaint. The FTC is 
asking the court to order Walmart to return money to consumers and to 
impose civil penalties for Walmart’s violations.“While scammers used its money transfer 
services to make off with cash, Walmart looked the other way and 
pocketed millions in fees,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s 
Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Consumers have lost hundreds of 
millions, and the Commission is holding Walmart accountable for letting 
fraudsters fleece its customers.” &nbsp;In addition to its retail business, Walmart 
offers financial services to consumers in its stores, including money 
transfers, credit cards, reloadable debit cards, check cashing, bill 
payments and more. Walmart acts as an agent for multiple money transfer 
services, including MoneyGram, Ria and Western Union, offering some 
services under its own brand, like “Walmart2Walmart” and 
“Walmart2World.” According to the complaint, tens of millions of money 
transfers are sent or received at Walmart stores each year, where they 
are processed by Walmart employees.Money transfers are services that people use 
to send money to a recipient in another location. They are frequently 
used by fraudsters across a wide variety of scams because they are 
nearly impossible to retrieve after the money has been picked up. The 
FTC has brought multiple cases against money transfer services in recent
 years, including against MoneyGram and Western Union, alleging they 
failed to protect consumers who used their services.Walmart’s practice of turning a blind eye to 
fraud had grave consequences for consumers, according to the complaint. 
The complaint cites numerous instances in which law enforcement 
investigations found that scammers relied on Walmart money transfers as a
 primary way to receive payments, including in telemarketing schemes 
like IRS impersonation schemes, relative-in-need “grandparent” scams, 
sweepstakes scams, and others. Based on information from fraud databases
 maintained by MoneyGram, Western Union, and Ria, from 2013 to 2018 more
 than $197 million in payments that were the subject of fraud complaints
 were sent or received at Walmart, with more than $1.3 billion in 
related payments also possibly connected to the fraud.The FTC’s investigation of Walmart’s money 
transfer practices showed, according to the complaint, that Walmart knew
 about the role money transfer services play in scams and frauds. 
Despite that, the company’s money transfer services harmed consumers in 
numerous ways, including:<ul>
 <li>Allowing the payout of suspicious transfers: For
 years, according to the complaint, it was Walmart’s stated policy for 
its employees to issue payouts even in the case of a suspicious money 
transfer, making it easy for scammers to retrieve fraud proceeds at a 
Walmart location. The complaint cites a Walmart reference guide for 
employees that stated: “If you suspect fraud, complete the transaction.” &nbsp;Walmart
 did not begin training employees to deny fraudulent payouts until at 
least May 2017, but even then it provided this training only to 
employees at a limited number of locations.</li>
 </ul><ul>
 <li>Having no anti-fraud policy or an ineffective, poorly enforced policy: According
 to the complaint, despite offering money transfer services for many 
years, Walmart did not have a written anti-fraud or consumer protection 
program until November 2014. After that time, the complaint cites 
numerous instances in which Walmart failed to have an effective program 
or violated its own policies, as well as the policies of its partners, 
like MoneyGram, that were ostensibly in place to protect consumers from 
fraud. </li>
 </ul><ul>
 <li>Allowing cash pickups for large payments: The
 complaint notes that Walmart, unlike most other outlets where money 
transfers can be received, pays even large payments in cash. In 
addition, the complaint notes that scammers were often able to retrieve 
their payments from Walmart by using fake IDs. This made it an 
attractive option for fraudsters looking to conceal their identities. </li>
 </ul><ul>
 <li>Not providing materials to prevent consumers from sending fraudulent payments:
 According to the complaint, Walmart failed to display or provide 
required materials to consumers at many of its locations that could have
 warned them about potential frauds and stopped them from sending money 
to scammers. More recently, the company stopped using a paper “send 
form” that included important information for consumers to help them 
realize they may be making a bogus payment, replacing it with a printout
 that contains only small print warnings.</li>
 </ul><ul>
 <li>Failing to effectively train or retrain staff: The
 complaint alleges that Walmart’s training materials for the tens of 
thousands of employees who worked with money transfers was often 
contradictory or unclear. In many cases, employees who were authorized 
to handle money transfers as “backups” received no anti-fraud training 
at all or only limited training related to transfers. The complaint 
notes that in some instances Walmart staff were complacent or complicit 
in scams, accepting cash tips from scammers in exchange for processing 
fraudulent payments or being directly involved in the scams themselves.</li>
 </ul><ul>
 <li>Allowing money transfers to be used for telemarketing purchases:
 The FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule has since 2016 prohibited money 
transfers from being used to pay for telemarketing purchases because of 
the high risk of fraud. But the complaint alleges that, for years, 
Walmart failed to take steps to comply with that provision.</li>
 </ul>The Commission vote to file the civil penalty
 complaint was 3-2, with Commissioners Noah Joshua Phillips and 
Christine S. Wilson dissenting. The FTC filed the complaint in the U.S. 
District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

FTC sues Walmart over alleged money transfer fraud

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege">Jan. 6 committee</a>&nbsp;held a surprise hearing Tuesday delivering alarming new testimony about Donald Trump’s angry, defiant and vulgar actions as he ignored repeated warnings against summoning the mob to the Capitol and then refused to intervene to stop the deadly violence as rioters laid siege.

(Click below to watch a replay of the hearing)

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-government-and-politics-9e7c03bb83f43fb17b4fd90d1360993d">Witness Cassidy Hutchinson</a>, a lesser-known White House aide, rebuffed Trump’s team warnings against testifying and provided first-hand knowledge of what she saw and heard in the run-up to the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, a proximity to power that gives stunning new details in the panel’s year-long investigation.

With calm, detailed recollections,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-government-and-politics-9e7c03bb83f43fb17b4fd90d1360993d">Hutchinson testified</a>&nbsp;about a defiant Trump who knew there were guns and other weapons in the rally crowd at the White House, sent his supporters to the Capitol anyway and tried unsuccessfully to physically pry the steering wheel from his presidential limousine driver so he could join them.

Before joining the White House, Hutchinson had worked in some of the most conservative Republican offices on Capitol Hill. She was hired as special assistant to the president and promoted up to Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows.

Here are highlights from the sixth hearing.

Trump was angry and defiant on the morning of Jan. 6, as he assessed the size of the crowd for his rally in front of the White House, upset that not everyone who had answered his summons to come to Washington could get in to see him because of the security lines.

Told that guns, knives and other weapons were being confiscated from the security screenings, Trump didn’t care. “They’re not here to hurt me,” the president said. He wanted to take away the magnetometer stations to allow more people inside the grounds, regardless of their weaponry.

“Take the effing mags away,” an agitated Trump barked at security moments before taking the stage, Hutchinson recalled.

Trump’s lawyers at the White House were trying to tamp down the president’s speech to the crowd he had summoned for his “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, and they were trying to stop his plans to go to the Capitol that day when Congress would be certifying the election results for Joe Biden’s victory.

Hutchinson testified that lawyer Eric Herschmann said it “would be foolish” to include some of the language the defeated president wanted to add to his speech — comments like fighting for Trump, or him telling the crowd “I’ll be there with you.” Herschmann warned such language shouldn’t be included for legal concerns and because of the optics it would portray.

That language ultimately stayed in the script as Trump rallied the crowd to “fight like hell” and promised he would join them at the Capitol.

Days before Jan. 6, White House counsel Pat Cipollone suggested there were “serious legal concerns” if Trump went to the Capitol with the crowd, Hutchinson recalled.

“We need to make sure this doesn’t happen,” she recalled Cipollone saying in the run-up to the rally.

The morning of Jan. 6, Cipollone restated his concerns that if Trump did go to the Capitol to intervene in the certification of the election, “We’re going to get charged with every crime imaginable.”

Hutchinson then described what happened after the rally as Trump climbed into the presidential limousine, the “beast,” as it is called, as relayed to her later by Trump’s deputy chief of staff for operations.

Trump, inside the vehicle, tried to pry the steering wheel away from the driver, demanding to be taken to the Capitol.

The hearing opened with a calm, even-spoken Hutchinson explaining her job responsibilities advising Meadows, often handling his cell phones, as the committee showed an architectural rendering of the layout of the West Wing.

Hutchinson’s office was situated between the Oval Office on one side and Meadow’s office on the other. Hers was also next to that of the vice president’s staff.

She had an upfront view of conversations across the offices and beyond.

Hutchinson described fielding a desperate phone call as she stood backstage at Trump’s rally that day from House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, who was upset that Trump had sent the crowd to the Capitol when she had promised they would not go.

She also told of helping the White House staff mop up ketchup off the walls of the Oval Office dining room after Trump, learning that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/barr-no-widespread-election-fraud-b1f1488796c9a98c4b1a9061a6c7f49d">his attorney general, William Barr, told The Associated Press</a>&nbsp;there was no fraud on a scale to tip the presidential election, apparently hurled a plate of food at the wall.

In one gripping scene Hutchinson recalled walking Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani out of the White House when he asked if she was “excited about the 6th.”

“We’re going to the Capitol, it’s going to be great, the president’s going to be there, he’s going to look powerful,” she recalled Giuliani saying.

When she returned inside and told Meadows of that conversation, he told her a lot was going on.

“Things might get real, real bad,” Meadows told her, she recalled.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House panel investigating the Capitol insurrection will hear testimony Tuesday from Cassidy Hutchinson, a top aide in Donald Trump’s White House who is a vital witness in the sweeping investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021 attack, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

The 25-year-old, who was a special assistant and aide to former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, has already provided a trove of information to congressional investigators and sat for multiple interviews behind closed doors.

Her appearance has been cloaked in extraordinary secrecy and has raised expectations for new revelations in the nearly yearlong investigation. The committee announced the surprise hearing with only 24 hours’ notice, and Hutchison’s appearance was only confirmed to The Associated Press by a person familiar with the matter.

While it is unclear what new evidence she might provide Tuesday, Hutchinson’s testimony could tell a first-hand story of Trump’s pressure campaign, and how the former president responded after the violence began, more vividly than any other witness the committee has called in thus far.

In brief excerpts of testimony revealed in court filings, Hutchinson told the committee she was in the room for White House meetings where challenges to the election were debated and discussed, including with several Republican lawmakers. In one instance, Hutchinson described seeing Meadows incinerate documents after a meeting in his office with Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa.,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/26/meadows-burned-papers-meeting-scott-perry-00035411" target="_blank">Politico reported in May.</a>

She also revealed that the White House counsel’s office cautioned against plans to enlist fake electors in swing states, including in meetings involving Meadows and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

During her three separate depositions, Hutchinson also testified about her boss’ surprise trip to Georgia weeks after the election to oversee the audit of absentee ballot envelope signatures and ask questions about the process.

She also detailed how Jeffrey Clark — a top Justice Department official who championed Trump’s false claims of election fraud and whom the president contemplated naming as attorney general — was a “frequent presence” at the White House.

The plot to remove the then-acting attorney general, Jeffrey Rosen, unraveled during a Jan. 3, 2021, meeting in the Oval Office when other&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-elections-donald-trump-campaigns-presidential-4e7e68e2ff57aadd96d09c873a43a317">senior Justice Department officials warned Trump that they would resign if he followed through with his plan to replace Rosen with Clark.</a>

The House panel has not explained why it abruptly scheduled the 1 p.m. hearing as lawmakers are away from Washington on a two-week recess. The committee had said last week that there would be no more hearings until July.

The precise subject of Tuesday’s hearing remained unclear, but the panel’s announcement Monday said it would be “to present recently obtained evidence and receive witness testimony.” A spokesman for the panel declined to elaborate and Hutchinson’s lawyer did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

The person familiar with the committee’s plans to call Hutchinson could not discuss the matter publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

The nine-member committee’s investigation has continued during the hearings, which&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jan-6-capitol-riot-hearings-live-updates-eefb79f2cffb705f04bf43ea164db20f">started three weeks ago</a>&nbsp;into&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-confirm-joe-biden-78104aea082995bbd7412a6e6cd13818">the attack by Trump supporters</a>. Among the evidence, the committee recently obtained&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-entertainment-elections-donald-trump-presidential-7e345ec818d277b8896c193c658c52fc">footage of Trump and his inner circle</a>&nbsp;taken both before and after Jan. 6 from British filmmaker Alex Holder.

Holder said last week that he had complied with a congressional subpoena to turn over all the footage he shot in the final weeks of Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign, including exclusive interviews with Trump, his children and then-Vice President Mike Pence.

Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the panel’s Democratic chairman, told reporters last week that the committee was in possession of the footage and needed more time to go through the hours of video.

The panel has held five hearings so far, mostly laying out Trump’s pressure campaign on various institutions of power in the weeks leading up to the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress, when hundreds of the Republican’s supporters violently&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-joe-biden-capitol-siege-police-health-6b5a6c9d2069bf1325f684532d006013">pushed past police</a>, broke into the building and interrupted the certification of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-wins-white-house-ap-fd58df73aa677acb74fce2a69adb71f9">Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential election victory</a>.

The committee has used the hearings to detail the pressure from Trump and his allies on Pence, on the states that were certifying Biden’s win, and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-elections-donald-trump-campaigns-presidential-4e7e68e2ff57aadd96d09c873a43a317">on the Justice Department</a>. The panel has used live interviews, video testimony of its private witness interviews and footage of the attack to detail what it has learned.

Lawmakers said last week that the two July hearings would focus on domestic extremists who breached the Capitol that day and on what Trump was doing as the violence unfolded.

Punchbowl News first reported that Hutchinson would be testifying.

John Dean, the former White House counsel to President Richard Nixon, also set the expectations high for Tuesday’s hearing. He tweeted: “The January 6 Committee is dealing with a very high historical standard in springing a surprise hearing and witness tomorrow.” Dean, who was the first administration official to testify that Nixon was directly involved in the Watergate coverup, pointed to the surprise testimony from Alex Butterfield, who testified to Nixon’s secret taping system, as “forever changing history.”

“If it is not really important information it’s going to hurt the credibility of this committee! Cancel now if you can’t match!” Dean continued.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/6/1656449432654.png" alt="<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-government-and-politics-9e7c03bb83f43fb17b4fd90d1360993d">Witness Cassidy Hutchinson</a>, a lesser-known White House aide, rebuffed Trump’s team warnings against testifying and provided first-hand knowledge of what she saw and heard in the run-up to the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection-image from Tuesday's hearing" />
 <figcaption><a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-government-and-politics-9e7c03bb83f43fb17b4fd90d1360993d">Witness Cassidy Hutchinson</a>, a lesser-known White House aide, rebuffed Trump’s team warnings against testifying and provided first-hand knowledge of what she saw and heard in the run-up to the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection-image from Tuesday's hearing</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The House&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege">Jan. 6 committee</a>&nbsp;held a surprise hearing Tuesday delivering alarming new testimony about Donald Trump’s angry, defiant and vulgar actions as he ignored repeated warnings against summoning the mob to the Capitol and then refused to intervene to stop the deadly violence as rioters laid siege.(Click below to watch a replay of the hearing)<div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HeQNV-aQ_jU?start=729" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-government-and-politics-9e7c03bb83f43fb17b4fd90d1360993d">Witness Cassidy Hutchinson</a>, a lesser-known White House aide, rebuffed Trump’s team warnings against testifying and provided first-hand knowledge of what she saw and heard in the run-up to the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, a proximity to power that gives stunning new details in the panel’s year-long investigation.With calm, detailed recollections,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-government-and-politics-9e7c03bb83f43fb17b4fd90d1360993d">Hutchinson testified</a>&nbsp;about a defiant Trump who knew there were guns and other weapons in the rally crowd at the White House, sent his supporters to the Capitol anyway and tried unsuccessfully to physically pry the steering wheel from his presidential limousine driver so he could join them.Before joining the White House, Hutchinson had worked in some of the most conservative Republican offices on Capitol Hill. She was hired as special assistant to the president and promoted up to Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows.Here are highlights from the sixth hearing.ANGRY, DEFIANT, VULGAR TRUMPTrump was angry and defiant on the morning of Jan. 6, as he assessed the size of the crowd for his rally in front of the White House, upset that not everyone who had answered his summons to come to Washington could get in to see him because of the security lines.Told that guns, knives and other weapons were being confiscated from the security screenings, Trump didn’t care. “They’re not here to hurt me,” the president said. He wanted to take away the magnetometer stations to allow more people inside the grounds, regardless of their weaponry.“Take the effing mags away,” an agitated Trump barked at security moments before taking the stage, Hutchinson recalled.WHITE HOUSE LAWYERS WORRY OF CRIMESTrump’s lawyers at the White House were trying to tamp down the president’s speech to the crowd he had summoned for his “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, and they were trying to stop his plans to go to the Capitol that day when Congress would be certifying the election results for Joe Biden’s victory.Hutchinson testified that lawyer Eric Herschmann said it “would be foolish” to include some of the language the defeated president wanted to add to his speech — comments like fighting for Trump, or him telling the crowd “I’ll be there with you.” Herschmann warned such language shouldn’t be included for legal concerns and because of the optics it would portray.That language ultimately stayed in the script as Trump rallied the crowd to “fight like hell” and promised he would join them at the Capitol.Days before Jan. 6, White House counsel Pat Cipollone suggested there were “serious legal concerns” if Trump went to the Capitol with the crowd, Hutchinson recalled.“We need to make sure this doesn’t happen,” she recalled Cipollone saying in the run-up to the rally.The morning of Jan. 6, Cipollone restated his concerns that if Trump did go to the Capitol to intervene in the certification of the election, “We’re going to get charged with every crime imaginable.” Hutchinson then described what happened after the rally as Trump climbed into the presidential limousine, the “beast,” as it is called, as relayed to her later by Trump’s deputy chief of staff for operations.Trump, inside the vehicle, tried to pry the steering wheel away from the driver, demanding to be taken to the Capitol.PROXIMITY TO POWER, AND KETCHUPThe hearing opened with a calm, even-spoken Hutchinson explaining her job responsibilities advising Meadows, often handling his cell phones, as the committee showed an architectural rendering of the layout of the West Wing.Hutchinson’s office was situated between the Oval Office on one side and Meadow’s office on the other. Hers was also next to that of the vice president’s staff.She had an upfront view of conversations across the offices and beyond.Hutchinson described fielding a desperate phone call as she stood backstage at Trump’s rally that day from House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, who was upset that Trump had sent the crowd to the Capitol when she had promised they would not go.ADVERTISEMENTShe also told of helping the White House staff mop up ketchup off the walls of the Oval Office dining room after Trump, learning that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/barr-no-widespread-election-fraud-b1f1488796c9a98c4b1a9061a6c7f49d">his attorney general, William Barr, told The Associated Press</a>&nbsp;there was no fraud on a scale to tip the presidential election, apparently hurled a plate of food at the wall.In one gripping scene Hutchinson recalled walking Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani out of the White House when he asked if she was “excited about the 6th.”“We’re going to the Capitol, it’s going to be great, the president’s going to be there, he’s going to look powerful,” she recalled Giuliani saying.When she returned inside and told Meadows of that conversation, he told her a lot was going on.“Things might get real, real bad,” Meadows told her, she recalled.---------WASHINGTON (AP) — The House panel investigating the Capitol insurrection will hear testimony Tuesday from Cassidy Hutchinson, a top aide in Donald Trump’s White House who is a vital witness in the sweeping investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021 attack, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.The 25-year-old, who was a special assistant and aide to former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, has already provided a trove of information to congressional investigators and sat for multiple interviews behind closed doors.Her appearance has been cloaked in extraordinary secrecy and has raised expectations for new revelations in the nearly yearlong investigation. The committee announced the surprise hearing with only 24 hours’ notice, and Hutchison’s appearance was only confirmed to The Associated Press by a person familiar with the matter.While it is unclear what new evidence she might provide Tuesday, Hutchinson’s testimony could tell a first-hand story of Trump’s pressure campaign, and how the former president responded after the violence began, more vividly than any other witness the committee has called in thus far.In brief excerpts of testimony revealed in court filings, Hutchinson told the committee she was in the room for White House meetings where challenges to the election were debated and discussed, including with several Republican lawmakers. In one instance, Hutchinson described seeing Meadows incinerate documents after a meeting in his office with Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa.,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/26/meadows-burned-papers-meeting-scott-perry-00035411" target="_blank">Politico reported in May.</a>She also revealed that the White House counsel’s office cautioned against plans to enlist fake electors in swing states, including in meetings involving Meadows and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani.During her three separate depositions, Hutchinson also testified about her boss’ surprise trip to Georgia weeks after the election to oversee the audit of absentee ballot envelope signatures and ask questions about the process.She also detailed how Jeffrey Clark — a top Justice Department official who championed Trump’s false claims of election fraud and whom the president contemplated naming as attorney general — was a “frequent presence” at the White House.The plot to remove the then-acting attorney general, Jeffrey Rosen, unraveled during a Jan. 3, 2021, meeting in the Oval Office when other&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-elections-donald-trump-campaigns-presidential-4e7e68e2ff57aadd96d09c873a43a317">senior Justice Department officials warned Trump that they would resign if he followed through with his plan to replace Rosen with Clark.</a>The House panel has not explained why it abruptly scheduled the 1 p.m. hearing as lawmakers are away from Washington on a two-week recess. The committee had said last week that there would be no more hearings until July.The precise subject of Tuesday’s hearing remained unclear, but the panel’s announcement Monday said it would be “to present recently obtained evidence and receive witness testimony.” A spokesman for the panel declined to elaborate and Hutchinson’s lawyer did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.The person familiar with the committee’s plans to call Hutchinson could not discuss the matter publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.The nine-member committee’s investigation has continued during the hearings, which&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jan-6-capitol-riot-hearings-live-updates-eefb79f2cffb705f04bf43ea164db20f">started three weeks ago</a>&nbsp;into&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-confirm-joe-biden-78104aea082995bbd7412a6e6cd13818">the attack by Trump supporters</a>. Among the evidence, the committee recently obtained&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-entertainment-elections-donald-trump-presidential-7e345ec818d277b8896c193c658c52fc">footage of Trump and his inner circle</a>&nbsp;taken both before and after Jan. 6 from British filmmaker Alex Holder.Holder said last week that he had complied with a congressional subpoena to turn over all the footage he shot in the final weeks of Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign, including exclusive interviews with Trump, his children and then-Vice President Mike Pence.Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the panel’s Democratic chairman, told reporters last week that the committee was in possession of the footage and needed more time to go through the hours of video.The panel has held five hearings so far, mostly laying out Trump’s pressure campaign on various institutions of power in the weeks leading up to the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress, when hundreds of the Republican’s supporters violently&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-joe-biden-capitol-siege-police-health-6b5a6c9d2069bf1325f684532d006013">pushed past police</a>, broke into the building and interrupted the certification of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-wins-white-house-ap-fd58df73aa677acb74fce2a69adb71f9">Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential election victory</a>.The committee has used the hearings to detail the pressure from Trump and his allies on Pence, on the states that were certifying Biden’s win, and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-elections-donald-trump-campaigns-presidential-4e7e68e2ff57aadd96d09c873a43a317">on the Justice Department</a>. The panel has used live interviews, video testimony of its private witness interviews and footage of the attack to detail what it has learned.Lawmakers said last week that the two July hearings would focus on domestic extremists who breached the Capitol that day and on what Trump was doing as the violence unfolded.Punchbowl News first reported that Hutchinson would be testifying.John Dean, the former White House counsel to President Richard Nixon, also set the expectations high for Tuesday’s hearing. He tweeted: “The January 6 Committee is dealing with a very high historical standard in springing a surprise hearing and witness tomorrow.” Dean, who was the first administration official to testify that Nixon was directly involved in the Watergate coverup, pointed to the surprise testimony from Alex Butterfield, who testified to Nixon’s secret taping system, as “forever changing history.”“If it is not really important information it’s going to hurt the credibility of this committee! Cancel now if you can’t match!” Dean continued.

🎥 1/6 panel hearing Day 6 replay: Angry Trump, legal warnings and ketchup       

KANSAS CITY (AP) — “Woman’s Choice,” the sign proclaims in bold pink letters. But despite promising abortion information and free pregnancy testing, the facility in Charleston, West Virginia, is designed to steer women facing an unwanted pregnancy away from choosing an abortion.

That will become much easier now that the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-supreme-court-decision-854f60302f21c2c35129e58cf8d8a7b0">U.S. Supreme Court has ruled</a>&nbsp;that states like West Virginia can make abortion illegal.

It's one of hundreds of so-called crisis pregnancy centers nationwide whose aim is to discourage women from seeking abortions. The facilities, which have been accused repeatedly of deceiving women about their true purpose, are expected to wield even more influence in states where the dwindling number of clinics&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-abortion-ruling-states-a767801145ad01617100e57410a0a21d">are now canceling abortion appointments.</a>

Often religiously affiliated, the anti-abortion centers are not licensed medical facilities and do not provide medical services such as pre- or post-natal care or other health care for uninsured women, unlike clinics that offer abortions — which are subject to strict government regulations and patient privacy laws. They do sometimes have nurses on staff or as volunteers.

“Basically, these centers are looking around and saying, ‘Our services are going to be needed now more than ever because there’s going to be so many pregnant people who need support during their pregnancy — particularly unintended pregnancies,’” said Andrea Swartzendruber, a University of Georgia public health professor who has&nbsp;<a href="https://crisispregnancycentermap.com/">helped map center locations nationwide</a>.

Shortly after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-politics-reproductive-rights-cb1ea0156e9faac86470ad8ce89794f0">Friday's Supreme Court decision</a>, West Virginia's only abortion clinic announced it was suspending abortion services, but continuing to provide birth control, STI treatment and other services.

The Charleston anti-abortion center, which calls itself the Woman’s Choice Pregnancy Resource Center, has been located next to the abortion clinic for years. The people who run it say their work won't change. They will continue to offer parenting and health classes, counseling for “women who regret a past decision to abort and wish to find comfort from guilt and sadness" and provide “facts about abortion risks — both physical and psychological," they said in an email to The Associated Press.

The board also said staff must complete training emphasizing the importance of clients' “right to be respected regardless of their decision.”

At the clinic next door, called the Women's Health Center of West Virginia, executive director Katie Quinonez has her doubts about such statements. She has repeatedly seen patients seeking to end their pregnancies lured into the anti-abortion center and bombarded with warnings about abortion risks. Some who found their way to her office have shared pamphlets declaring that “abortion causes new problems that can haunt a woman for the rest of her life.”

One titled “Abortion — Living Without Regret” shows a woman crying on the cover and lists “abortion risks,” including “suicidal feelings,” “death” and “cervical incompetence.”

Quinonez said she worries about the dozens of patients whose abortion appointments were cancelled after the Supreme Court decision came down.

“I’m incredibly concerned," she said. “It’s possible that they could think maybe there is another provider and state that’s doing abortions. 'How about I call ‘A Woman’s Choice,’ located in Charleston?' and then they make an appointment and go there because they’ve been lied to by a fake clinic that says ‘Yes, we can provide you with care.'"

While the anti-abortion centers are mostly mum about their plans now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, experts say they're likely to redouble efforts to persuade women not to end their pregnancies. The logistics work in their favor, since many women won’t have the legal option of abortion without leaving their state.

The centers have been expanding in every state with support from wealthy conservative donors, powerful state lawmakers and religious institutions. They've also received&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-business-health-nashville-personal-taxes-fffa6f6f86e6eaa448b8ea89087a1c46">tens of millions of tax dollars</a>&nbsp;funneled to them by conservative state leaders.

Left-leaning states have shown more willingness to regulate how the centers advertise their services. Last year&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/bills-health-government-and-politics-301ed363e06d33d382fc124aca660d97">Connecticut banned them</a>&nbsp;from using “deceptive advertising” about the services they provide.

Connecticut had&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cga.ct.gov/2018/rpt/pdf/2018-R-0209.pdf">18 health clinics</a>&nbsp;that provided abortions as of 2018; there are also around 20 pregnancy crisis centers.

“As we head into this new world and into this next phase, I think it’s more important than ever for women to be able to access medically accurate information,” said Democratic Rep. Jillian Gilchrest, who sponsored the Connecticut legislation.

“The last thing we want is for women to be at what they believe to be a health clinic only to receive misinformation about their options."

Nationally, crisis pregnancy centers outnumber abortion clinics more than 3 to 1, but in Republican-led states the numbers can be far higher, according to a 2021 report from The Alliance: State Advocates for Women’s Rights and Gender Equality. Some 2,500 centers are located across the country, while there are fewer than 800 abortion clinics.

In Missouri, which has just one abortion clinic, Swartzendruber and her colleagues identified nearly 70 anti-abortion centers in 2021. The situation is similar in North Dakota, where at least seven centers operated last year and the state’s lone abortion clinic&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-us-supreme-court-politics-north-dakota-fargo-d214ac0e1347c9c64b0009c1ad219635">is relocating now that Roe v. Wade was overturned.</a>

In Mississippi, there are 30 centers, while the Jackson Women’s Health Organization — a plaintiff in the legal battle that came before the Supreme Court — was the lone provider offering abortion services.

Those three states are among 13 with so-called trigger laws that banned most abortions after Roe was overturned. West Virginia doesn’t have a trigger law, but does have an old statute on the books that had been shelved while Roe was in place.

“I see states with trigger laws working to continue to fund or increase funding to crisis pregnancy centers and trying to pass new legislation that would make the centers even more prominent,” Swartzendruber said.

Earlier this month, anti-abortion leaders called on churches to support their local crisis pregnancy centers.

“I believe that we have an opportunity like never before as the church to really rush in and to make a huge difference," said Dean Nelson, vice president of government relations for Human Coalition, a national anti-abortion group that frequently directs pregnant women seeking information online to the centers and operates a handful of its own.

Some centers offer financial counseling, free diapers and food pantries for mothers after they’ve given birth. By expanding and strengthening the network of centers, anti-abortion advocates hope women will see they have resources and options.

That concerns reproductive rights advocates, who worry that without licensed abortion providers, women who become unexpectedly pregnant and desperate for help will wind up in places intent on deceiving them. Earlier this year, the Center for Countering Digital Hate, an internet watchdog group,&nbsp;<a href="https://counterhate.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/CCDH-Anti-Abortion-Fake-Clinic-Report.pdf">released a report</a>&nbsp;that found 1 in 10 Google searches for abortion services in states with trigger laws led people to the centers.

Amanda Furdge says that happened to her while searching for information about Mississippi's only abortion clinic in 2014. Instead, she found a listing for what turned out to be a crisis pregnancy center in Jackson.

“I went for an appointment, and they kept me there all day, traumatized me. They gave me a pregnancy test and they told me, ‘We are not going to be able to recommend any abortion services for you,’" she said. “I was clear: ‘I don’t want to carry this pregnancy. I want to terminate it.'”

By the time she found the abortion clinic, she said she decided on her own she was too far along to have the procedure. She is now happily raising her 7-year-old son.

In West Virginia, the Charleston abortion clinic has rows of hedges blocking view of the building next door to reduce confusion. In front a sign reads “WARNING: The building behind this sign is an ANTI-CHOICE, ANTI-BIRTH CONTROL Crisis Pregnancy Center. It is not affiliated with the Women's Health Center."

“You shouldn’t be able to pose as a medical facility and just straight up lie to patients,” director Quinonez said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/6/1656360664076.png" alt="Alliance for Life offices in Lee's Summit-Google image" />
 <figcaption>Alliance for Life offices in Lee's Summit-Google image</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY (AP) — “Woman’s Choice,” the sign proclaims in bold pink letters. But despite promising abortion information and free pregnancy testing, the facility in Charleston, West Virginia, is designed to steer women facing an unwanted pregnancy away from choosing an abortion.That will become much easier now that the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-supreme-court-decision-854f60302f21c2c35129e58cf8d8a7b0">U.S. Supreme Court has ruled</a>&nbsp;that states like West Virginia can make abortion illegal.It's one of hundreds of so-called crisis pregnancy centers nationwide whose aim is to discourage women from seeking abortions. The facilities, which have been accused repeatedly of deceiving women about their true purpose, are expected to wield even more influence in states where the dwindling number of clinics&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-abortion-ruling-states-a767801145ad01617100e57410a0a21d">are now canceling abortion appointments.</a>Often religiously affiliated, the anti-abortion centers are not licensed medical facilities and do not provide medical services such as pre- or post-natal care or other health care for uninsured women, unlike clinics that offer abortions — which are subject to strict government regulations and patient privacy laws. They do sometimes have nurses on staff or as volunteers.“Basically, these centers are looking around and saying, ‘Our services are going to be needed now more than ever because there’s going to be so many pregnant people who need support during their pregnancy — particularly unintended pregnancies,’” said Andrea Swartzendruber, a University of Georgia public health professor who has&nbsp;<a href="https://crisispregnancycentermap.com/">helped map center locations nationwide</a>.Shortly after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-politics-reproductive-rights-cb1ea0156e9faac86470ad8ce89794f0">Friday's Supreme Court decision</a>, West Virginia's only abortion clinic announced it was suspending abortion services, but continuing to provide birth control, STI treatment and other services.The Charleston anti-abortion center, which calls itself the Woman’s Choice Pregnancy Resource Center, has been located next to the abortion clinic for years. The people who run it say their work won't change. They will continue to offer parenting and health classes, counseling for “women who regret a past decision to abort and wish to find comfort from guilt and sadness" and provide “facts about abortion risks — both physical and psychological," they said in an email to The Associated Press.The board also said staff must complete training emphasizing the importance of clients' “right to be respected regardless of their decision.”At the clinic next door, called the Women's Health Center of West Virginia, executive director Katie Quinonez has her doubts about such statements. She has repeatedly seen patients seeking to end their pregnancies lured into the anti-abortion center and bombarded with warnings about abortion risks. Some who found their way to her office have shared pamphlets declaring that “abortion causes new problems that can haunt a woman for the rest of her life.”One titled “Abortion — Living Without Regret” shows a woman crying on the cover and lists “abortion risks,” including “suicidal feelings,” “death” and “cervical incompetence.”Quinonez said she worries about the dozens of patients whose abortion appointments were cancelled after the Supreme Court decision came down.“I’m incredibly concerned," she said. “It’s possible that they could think maybe there is another provider and state that’s doing abortions. 'How about I call ‘A Woman’s Choice,’ located in Charleston?' and then they make an appointment and go there because they’ve been lied to by a fake clinic that says ‘Yes, we can provide you with care.'"While the anti-abortion centers are mostly mum about their plans now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, experts say they're likely to redouble efforts to persuade women not to end their pregnancies. The logistics work in their favor, since many women won’t have the legal option of abortion without leaving their state.The centers have been expanding in every state with support from wealthy conservative donors, powerful state lawmakers and religious institutions. They've also received&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-business-health-nashville-personal-taxes-fffa6f6f86e6eaa448b8ea89087a1c46">tens of millions of tax dollars</a>&nbsp;funneled to them by conservative state leaders.Left-leaning states have shown more willingness to regulate how the centers advertise their services. Last year&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/bills-health-government-and-politics-301ed363e06d33d382fc124aca660d97">Connecticut banned them</a>&nbsp;from using “deceptive advertising” about the services they provide.Connecticut had&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cga.ct.gov/2018/rpt/pdf/2018-R-0209.pdf">18 health clinics</a>&nbsp;that provided abortions as of 2018; there are also around 20 pregnancy crisis centers.“As we head into this new world and into this next phase, I think it’s more important than ever for women to be able to access medically accurate information,” said Democratic Rep. Jillian Gilchrest, who sponsored the Connecticut legislation.“The last thing we want is for women to be at what they believe to be a health clinic only to receive misinformation about their options."Nationally, crisis pregnancy centers outnumber abortion clinics more than 3 to 1, but in Republican-led states the numbers can be far higher, according to a 2021 report from The Alliance: State Advocates for Women’s Rights and Gender Equality. Some 2,500 centers are located across the country, while there are fewer than 800 abortion clinics.In Missouri, which has just one abortion clinic, Swartzendruber and her colleagues identified nearly 70 anti-abortion centers in 2021. The situation is similar in North Dakota, where at least seven centers operated last year and the state’s lone abortion clinic&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-us-supreme-court-politics-north-dakota-fargo-d214ac0e1347c9c64b0009c1ad219635">is relocating now that Roe v. Wade was overturned.</a>In Mississippi, there are 30 centers, while the Jackson Women’s Health Organization — a plaintiff in the legal battle that came before the Supreme Court — was the lone provider offering abortion services.Those three states are among 13 with so-called trigger laws that banned most abortions after Roe was overturned. West Virginia doesn’t have a trigger law, but does have an old statute on the books that had been shelved while Roe was in place.“I see states with trigger laws working to continue to fund or increase funding to crisis pregnancy centers and trying to pass new legislation that would make the centers even more prominent,” Swartzendruber said.Earlier this month, anti-abortion leaders called on churches to support their local crisis pregnancy centers.“I believe that we have an opportunity like never before as the church to really rush in and to make a huge difference," said Dean Nelson, vice president of government relations for Human Coalition, a national anti-abortion group that frequently directs pregnant women seeking information online to the centers and operates a handful of its own.Some centers offer financial counseling, free diapers and food pantries for mothers after they’ve given birth. By expanding and strengthening the network of centers, anti-abortion advocates hope women will see they have resources and options.That concerns reproductive rights advocates, who worry that without licensed abortion providers, women who become unexpectedly pregnant and desperate for help will wind up in places intent on deceiving them. Earlier this year, the Center for Countering Digital Hate, an internet watchdog group,&nbsp;<a href="https://counterhate.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/CCDH-Anti-Abortion-Fake-Clinic-Report.pdf">released a report</a>&nbsp;that found 1 in 10 Google searches for abortion services in states with trigger laws led people to the centers.Amanda Furdge says that happened to her while searching for information about Mississippi's only abortion clinic in 2014. Instead, she found a listing for what turned out to be a crisis pregnancy center in Jackson.“I went for an appointment, and they kept me there all day, traumatized me. They gave me a pregnancy test and they told me, ‘We are not going to be able to recommend any abortion services for you,’" she said. “I was clear: ‘I don’t want to carry this pregnancy. I want to terminate it.'”By the time she found the abortion clinic, she said she decided on her own she was too far along to have the procedure. She is now happily raising her 7-year-old son.In West Virginia, the Charleston abortion clinic has rows of hedges blocking view of the building next door to reduce confusion. In front a sign reads “WARNING: The building behind this sign is an ANTI-CHOICE, ANTI-BIRTH CONTROL Crisis Pregnancy Center. It is not affiliated with the Women's Health Center."“You shouldn’t be able to pose as a medical facility and just straight up lie to patients,” director Quinonez said.

Anti-abortion centers to grow, wield more influence post-Roe

By PAUL HAMMEL <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/06/28/fortenberry-sentenced-to-probation-not-prison-for-lying-to-federal-investigators/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN
 — Former U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry will not go to prison for lying and
 misleading federal investigators, a California federal judge announced 
Tuesday.

U.S.
 District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld sentenced the 61-year-old Republican 
to two years’ probation, a $25,000 fine and 320 hours of community 
service.

Blumenfeld
 said he didn’t agree with prosecutors — who had suggested a six-month 
prison term — that spending time behind bars would provide a significant
 deterrent to future crimes involving politicians lying to 
investigators.

The
 judge said he read and took into consideration the 64 letters submitted
 to the court asking for leniency, letters that came from family, 
friends, Bishop James Conley of the Lincoln Catholic Diocese and Lt. 
Gov. Mike Foley. Blumenfeld also noted that three others indicted in 
“Operation Titan’s Grip” did not get prison time.

Fortenberry betrayed no emotion when the sentence was finally announced and declined to address the court.

The
 judge said the former congressman turned a “blind eye and deaf ear” 
when the organizer of a Los Angeles campaign fundraiser in 2016 told him
 in a phone call, two years later, that the $30,000 he had received 
didn’t come from a group of Lebanese-Americans living in L.A., but was 
funneled to them from Gilbert Chagoury, a Nigerian-Lebanese billionaire 
living in Paris.

It is illegal for foreigners to donate to U.S. political campaigns, either directly or, as in this case, through conduits.

In
 March, after a seven-day trial, a jury found Fortenberry guilty of two 
counts of lying to the FBI and one count of trying to mislead 
investigators by failing to amend his federal campaign contribution 
report.

At the time, Fortenberry pledged to appeal his conviction.

A
 tape recording of the 2018 call with Dr. Elias Ayoub in which he told 
Fortenberry that the $30,000 he received in 2016 “probably” came from 
Chagoury, who lives in Paris and had a home in Los Angeles, was a key 
bit of evidence during the trial.&nbsp; &nbsp;

Fortenberry
 had represented eastern Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District since 
2005 and faced up to five years in prison on each of the three counts.

Prosecutors,
 in pre-sentence briefs, argued for six months in prison, followed by 
two years of supervised release, a $30,000 fine and 150 hours of 
community service. The federal probation office had recommend a 
three-month prison term, as well as a $9,500 fine.&nbsp;

Lead
 prosecutor Mack Jenkins, an assistant U.S. attorney based in L.A., 
argued Tuesday that prison is the best deterrent to white-color crime. 
He had asked for an enhancement in the sentence because Fortenberry was 
an elected official, an enhancement rejected by the judge.&nbsp;

“He
 made choice after choice after choice to not live up to his oath (of 
office),” Jenkins said. He asked the judge to reconsider his proposed 
sentence to provide a greater deterrent to people of “great power.”&nbsp;

Fortenberry’s
 legal team asked for a sentence of probation, saying that sending the 
congressman to prison would present a severe financial hardship for his 
family, which includes a daughter born with a heart defect and two 
daughters in college.

On
 Tuesday, lead defense lawyer John Littrell asked the judge to impose 
only one year of probation. He argued that the $25,000 fine was too 
large for Fortenberry, who was not a man of great financial means.

But Littrell agreed with the lack of prison time.

“Sentencing
 is not just about the offense, it’s about the person,” Liltterll said, 
quoting Foley’s letter that Fortenberry was “a good and honest man.”

“His resignation (from Congress) is the bitterest consequence of this case,” Littrell added.

The
 judge noted that two other politicians convicted in the same California
 judicial district had received prison terms for impeding a federal 
investigation, but he said that Fortenberry’s offenses were not as 
serious by comparison.

&nbsp;“I do wish you the best of luck, Mr. Fortenberry,” the judge said at the conclusion of the one-hour hearing.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/6/1656436514990.png" alt="U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry and his wife, Celeste, arrive at the federal courthouse in Los Angeles during his trial in March. (Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner)" />
 <figcaption>U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry and his wife, Celeste, arrive at the federal courthouse in Los Angeles during his trial in March. (Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
 </figure>By PAUL HAMMEL <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/06/28/fortenberry-sentenced-to-probation-not-prison-for-lying-to-federal-investigators/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN
 — Former U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry will not go to prison for lying and
 misleading federal investigators, a California federal judge announced 
Tuesday.U.S.
 District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld sentenced the 61-year-old Republican 
to two years’ probation, a $25,000 fine and 320 hours of community 
service.Blumenfeld
 said he didn’t agree with prosecutors — who had suggested a six-month 
prison term — that spending time behind bars would provide a significant
 deterrent to future crimes involving politicians lying to 
investigators.<h2>64 letters sought leniency</h2>The
 judge said he read and took into consideration the 64 letters submitted
 to the court asking for leniency, letters that came from family, 
friends, Bishop James Conley of the Lincoln Catholic Diocese and Lt. 
Gov. Mike Foley. Blumenfeld also noted that three others indicted in 
“Operation Titan’s Grip” did not get prison time.Fortenberry betrayed no emotion when the sentence was finally announced and declined to address the court.The
 judge said the former congressman turned a “blind eye and deaf ear” 
when the organizer of a Los Angeles campaign fundraiser in 2016 told him
 in a phone call, two years later, that the $30,000 he had received 
didn’t come from a group of Lebanese-Americans living in L.A., but was 
funneled to them from Gilbert Chagoury, a Nigerian-Lebanese billionaire 
living in Paris.It is illegal for foreigners to donate to U.S. political campaigns, either directly or, as in this case, through conduits.<h2>Found guilty in March</h2>In
 March, after a seven-day trial, a jury found Fortenberry guilty of two 
counts of lying to the FBI and one count of trying to mislead 
investigators by failing to amend his federal campaign contribution 
report.At the time, Fortenberry pledged to appeal his conviction.A
 tape recording of the 2018 call with Dr. Elias Ayoub in which he told 
Fortenberry that the $30,000 he received in 2016 “probably” came from 
Chagoury, who lives in Paris and had a home in Los Angeles, was a key 
bit of evidence during the trial.&nbsp; &nbsp;Fortenberry
 had represented eastern Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District since 
2005 and faced up to five years in prison on each of the three counts.<h2>Prison sentence sought </h2>Prosecutors,
 in pre-sentence briefs, argued for six months in prison, followed by 
two years of supervised release, a $30,000 fine and 150 hours of 
community service. The federal probation office had recommend a 
three-month prison term, as well as a $9,500 fine.&nbsp;Lead
 prosecutor Mack Jenkins, an assistant U.S. attorney based in L.A., 
argued Tuesday that prison is the best deterrent to white-color crime. 
He had asked for an enhancement in the sentence because Fortenberry was 
an elected official, an enhancement rejected by the judge.&nbsp;<h2>Bad ‘choice after choice’</h2>“He
 made choice after choice after choice to not live up to his oath (of 
office),” Jenkins said. He asked the judge to reconsider his proposed 
sentence to provide a greater deterrent to people of “great power.”&nbsp;Fortenberry’s
 legal team asked for a sentence of probation, saying that sending the 
congressman to prison would present a severe financial hardship for his 
family, which includes a daughter born with a heart defect and two 
daughters in college.On
 Tuesday, lead defense lawyer John Littrell asked the judge to impose 
only one year of probation. He argued that the $25,000 fine was too 
large for Fortenberry, who was not a man of great financial means.But Littrell agreed with the lack of prison time.<h2>Bitterest consequence</h2>“Sentencing
 is not just about the offense, it’s about the person,” Liltterll said, 
quoting Foley’s letter that Fortenberry was “a good and honest man.”“His resignation (from Congress) is the bitterest consequence of this case,” Littrell added.The
 judge noted that two other politicians convicted in the same California
 judicial district had received prison terms for impeding a federal 
investigation, but he said that Fortenberry’s offenses were not as 
serious by comparison.&nbsp;“I do wish you the best of luck, Mr. Fortenberry,” the judge said at the conclusion of the one-hour hearing.

Fortenberry sentenced to probation for lying to federal investigators

Watch out when selling big-ticket items on Facebook Marketplace. Scammers have a new trick up their sleeves! According to <a href="https://www.bbb.org/scamtracker" target="_blank">BBB Scam Tracker</a> reports, be wary of phony buyers who “need” you to upgrade your Zelle or another digital wallet app to accept money from them.

You list a big-ticket item worth several hundred dollars on Facebook 
Marketplace. You are quickly contacted by a buyer who wants to pay using
 a peer-to-peer payment app. Recent <a href="https://www.bbb.org/scamtracker" target="_blank">BBB Scam Tracker</a> reports reference Zelle, but this scam could also work with CashApp, <a href="https://www.bbb.org/us/ca/san-jose/profile/payment-processing-services/venmo-1216-634567" target="_blank">Venmo (a BBB Accredited Business)</a>, or another similar service. &nbsp;

Shortly after receiving the payment, you get an email, supposedly 
from Zelle. Allegedly, the buyer paid via a Zelle “business account.” 
Now, you also need to upgrade your account to business status to accept 
the transfer. To do so, the buyer will need to send you another $300. 
They are happy to do you a favor - if you promise to refund them.

One scam victim reported this experience: “I received an email from 
zelle@bankconfirmedpayment.com explaining that the funds were waiting, 
but the buyer had to send an additional $300 in order to upgrade my 
account because the transaction was over $600, and I would need a 
business account.” The scammer then “sent” the extra funds and included 
screenshots of his Zelle app with the money deducted from his account. 
Then, he started pressuring the victim into repaying him: “He was very 
upset and persistent that I needed to pay him back for the fees that he 
incurred on my behalf.”

If you refund the scammer, you’ll quickly realize that they never 
sent you any money in the first place. You’ll be out a few hundred 
dollars, and the scammer will disappear.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/1/1579883951052.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>BBBWatch out when selling big-ticket items on Facebook Marketplace. Scammers have a new trick up their sleeves! According to <a href="https://www.bbb.org/scamtracker" target="_blank">BBB Scam Tracker</a> reports, be wary of phony buyers who “need” you to upgrade your Zelle or another digital wallet app to accept money from them.<h2>How the scam works</h2>You list a big-ticket item worth several hundred dollars on Facebook 
Marketplace. You are quickly contacted by a buyer who wants to pay using
 a peer-to-peer payment app. Recent <a href="https://www.bbb.org/scamtracker" target="_blank">BBB Scam Tracker</a> reports reference Zelle, but this scam could also work with CashApp, <a href="https://www.bbb.org/us/ca/san-jose/profile/payment-processing-services/venmo-1216-634567" target="_blank">Venmo (a BBB Accredited Business)</a>, or another similar service. &nbsp;Shortly after receiving the payment, you get an email, supposedly 
from Zelle. Allegedly, the buyer paid via a Zelle “business account.” 
Now, you also need to upgrade your account to business status to accept 
the transfer. To do so, the buyer will need to send you another $300. 
They are happy to do you a favor - if you promise to refund them.One scam victim reported this experience: “I received an email from 
zelle@bankconfirmedpayment.com explaining that the funds were waiting, 
but the buyer had to send an additional $300 in order to upgrade my 
account because the transaction was over $600, and I would need a 
business account.” The scammer then “sent” the extra funds and included 
screenshots of his Zelle app with the money deducted from his account. 
Then, he started pressuring the victim into repaying him: “He was very 
upset and persistent that I needed to pay him back for the fees that he 
incurred on my behalf.”If you refund the scammer, you’ll quickly realize that they never 
sent you any money in the first place. You’ll be out a few hundred 
dollars, and the scammer will disappear.<h2>How to avoid scams when selling online:</h2><ul>
 <li>Don’t trust anyone willing to overpay you. Unless 
your item is rare and you receive multiple offers, be wary of buyers 
offering you more than your asking price. Consider it a red flag if 
someone is quick to send you more money than you are asking. </li><li>Check email addresses carefully. If you seem to 
have received an email from Zelle or another payment app, double-check 
the email address. Scammers use fake email addresses that are similar to
 official ones. </li><li>Get to know payment app policies before you use them.
 If someone claims you need a business account to accept payments, check
 the app’s official website or contact customer service to find out if 
the claim is true. Scammers often make up fake policies to trick their 
victims. </li><li>Report scams to Facebook Marketplace. If you spot a seller trying to pull off a scam, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/help/ipad-app/196126404168290" target="_blank">report them.</a> Your report can help protect other unsuspecting sellers.</li>
 </ul>

Scam alert: Crafty scheme targets Facebook Marketplace sellers

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — NASA wants to experiment with a new orbit around the moon that it hopes to use in the coming years to once again land astronauts on the lunar surface.

So it is sending up a test satellite from New Zealand, with the launch scheduled for late Tuesday. If successful, the Capstone CubeSat satellite — only about the size of a microwave oven — will be the first to take the new path around the moon and will send back vital information for at least six months.

Technically, the new orbit is called a near-rectilinear halo orbit. It’s a stretched-out egg shape with one end passing close to the moon and the other far from it.

Imagine stretching a rubber band back from your thumb. Your thumb would represent the moon and the rubber band the flight path.

“It will have equilibrium. Poise. Balance,” NASA wrote on its website. “This pathfinding CubeSat will practically be able to kick back and rest in a gravitational sweet spot in space – where the pull of gravity from Earth and the Moon interact to allow for a nearly-stable orbit.”

Eventually, NASA plans to put a space station called Gateway into the orbital path, from which astronauts can descend to the moon’s surface as part of its Artemis program.

For the satellite mission, NASA is teaming up with two commercial companies. California-based Rocket Lab will launch the rocket carrying the satellite, which in turn is owned and operated by Colorado-based Advanced Space.

The mission came together relatively quickly and cheaply for NASA, with the total mission cost put at $32.7 million.

Getting the 25-kilogram (55-pound) satellite into orbit will take more than four months and be done in three stages.

First, Rocket Lab’s small Electron rocket will launch from New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula. After just nine minutes, the second stage called Photon will separate and go into orbit around Earth. Over five days, Photon’s engines will fire periodically to raise its orbit further and further from Earth.

Six days after the launch, Photon’s engines will fire a final time, allowing it to escape Earth’s orbit and head for the moon.

Photon will then release the satellite, which has its own small propulsion system but which won’t use much energy as it cruises toward the moon over four months, with a few planned trajectory course corrections along the way.

Rocket Lab spokesperson Morgan Bailey said it was the most ambitious and complex mission it has undertaken so far and comes after more than two years of work with NASA and Advanced Space. She said it will be the first time Rocket Lab has tested its HyperCurie engine that will be used to power Photon.

“Certainly lots of hard problems to solve along the way, but we’ve ticked them off one by one, and made it to launch day,” Bailey said.

Bailey said one of the advantages of the orbit is that, theoretically, a space station should be able to maintain continuous communication with Earth because it will avoid being eclipsed by the moon.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/6/1656421777011.jpg" alt="Image courtesy of Pixabay" />
 <figcaption>Image courtesy of Pixabay</figcaption>
 </figure>By ASSOCIATED PRESSWELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — NASA wants to experiment with a new orbit around the moon that it hopes to use in the coming years to once again land astronauts on the lunar surface.So it is sending up a test satellite from New Zealand, with the launch scheduled for late Tuesday. If successful, the Capstone CubeSat satellite — only about the size of a microwave oven — will be the first to take the new path around the moon and will send back vital information for at least six months.Technically, the new orbit is called a near-rectilinear halo orbit. It’s a stretched-out egg shape with one end passing close to the moon and the other far from it.Imagine stretching a rubber band back from your thumb. Your thumb would represent the moon and the rubber band the flight path.“It will have equilibrium. Poise. Balance,” NASA wrote on its website. “This pathfinding CubeSat will practically be able to kick back and rest in a gravitational sweet spot in space – where the pull of gravity from Earth and the Moon interact to allow for a nearly-stable orbit.”Eventually, NASA plans to put a space station called Gateway into the orbital path, from which astronauts can descend to the moon’s surface as part of its Artemis program.For the satellite mission, NASA is teaming up with two commercial companies. California-based Rocket Lab will launch the rocket carrying the satellite, which in turn is owned and operated by Colorado-based Advanced Space.The mission came together relatively quickly and cheaply for NASA, with the total mission cost put at $32.7 million.Getting the 25-kilogram (55-pound) satellite into orbit will take more than four months and be done in three stages.First, Rocket Lab’s small Electron rocket will launch from New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula. After just nine minutes, the second stage called Photon will separate and go into orbit around Earth. Over five days, Photon’s engines will fire periodically to raise its orbit further and further from Earth.Six days after the launch, Photon’s engines will fire a final time, allowing it to escape Earth’s orbit and head for the moon.Photon will then release the satellite, which has its own small propulsion system but which won’t use much energy as it cruises toward the moon over four months, with a few planned trajectory course corrections along the way.Rocket Lab spokesperson Morgan Bailey said it was the most ambitious and complex mission it has undertaken so far and comes after more than two years of work with NASA and Advanced Space. She said it will be the first time Rocket Lab has tested its HyperCurie engine that will be used to power Photon.“Certainly lots of hard problems to solve along the way, but we’ve ticked them off one by one, and made it to launch day,” Bailey said.Bailey said one of the advantages of the orbit is that, theoretically, a space station should be able to maintain continuous communication with Earth because it will avoid being eclipsed by the moon.

NASA hopes New Zealand launch will pave way for moon landing

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facebook and Instagram have begun promptly removing posts that offer abortion pills to women who may not be able to access them following a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-supreme-court-decision-854f60302f21c2c35129e58cf8d8a7b0">Supreme Court decision that stripped away constitutional protections</a>&nbsp;for the procedure.

Such social media posts ostensibly aimed to help women living in states where preexisting laws banning abortion suddenly snapped into effect on Friday. That’s when the high court overruled Roe v. Wade, its 1973 decision that declared access to abortion a constitutional right.

Memes and status updates explaining how women could legally obtain abortion pills in the mail exploded across social platforms. Some even offered to mail the prescriptions to women living in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-abortion-ruling-states-a767801145ad01617100e57410a0a21d">states that now ban the procedure</a>.

Almost immediately, Facebook and Instagram began removing some of these posts, just as millions across the U.S. were searching for clarity around abortion access. General mentions of abortion pills, as well as posts mentioning specific versions such as mifepristone and misoprostol, suddenly spiked Friday morning across Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and TV broadcasts, according to an analysis by the media intelligence firm Zignal Labs.

By Sunday, Zignal had counted more than 250,000 such mentions.

The AP obtained a screenshot on Friday of one Instagram post from a woman who offered to purchase or forward abortion pills through the mail, minutes after the court ruled to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion.

“DM me if you want to order abortion pills, but want them sent to my address instead of yours,” the post on Instagram read.

Instagram took it down within moments. Vice Media first reported on Monday that Meta, the parent of both Facebook and Instagram, was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7gav3/facebook-is-banning-people-who-say-they-will-mail-abortion-pills" target="_blank">taking down posts about abortion pills</a>.

On Monday, an AP reporter tested how the company would respond to a similar post on Facebook, writing: “If you send me your address, I will mail you abortion pills.”

The Facebook account was immediately put on a “warning” status for the post, which Facebook said violated its standards on “guns, animals and other regulated goods.”

Yet, when the AP reporter made the same exact post but swapped out the words “abortion pills” for “a gun,” the post remained untouched. A post with the same exact offer to mail “weed” was also left up and not considered a violation.

Marijuana is illegal under federal law and it is illegal to send it through the mail.

Abortion pills, however, can legally be obtained through the mail after an online consultation from prescribers who have undergone certification and training.

In an email, a Meta spokesperson pointed to company policies that prohibit the sale of certain items, including guns, alcohol, drugs and pharmaceuticals. The company did not explain the apparent discrepancies in its enforcement of that policy.

Meta spokesperson Andy Stone confirmed in a tweet Monday that the company will not allow&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/andymstone/status/1541489203434897408" target="_blank">individuals to gift or sell pharmaceuticals on its platform</a>, but will allow content that shares information on how to access pills. Stone acknowledged some problems with enforcing that policy across its platforms, which include Facebook and Instagram.

“We’ve discovered some instances of incorrect enforcement and are correcting these,” Stone said in the tweet.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said Friday that states should not ban mifepristone, the medication used to induce an abortion.

“States may not ban mifepristone based on disagreement with the FDA’s expert judgment about its safety and efficacy,”&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-supreme-court-decision-854f60302f21c2c35129e58cf8d8a7b0">Garland said in a Friday statement</a>.

But some Republicans have already tried to stop their residents from obtaining abortion pills through the mail,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-abortion-ruling-states-a767801145ad01617100e57410a0a21d">with some states like West Virginia and Tennessee prohibiting</a>&nbsp;providers from prescribing the medication through telemedicine consultation.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/2/1581004285984.jpeg" alt="Credit Celia Llopis-Jepsen / Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption>Credit Celia Llopis-Jepsen / Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Facebook and Instagram have begun promptly removing posts that offer abortion pills to women who may not be able to access them following a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-supreme-court-decision-854f60302f21c2c35129e58cf8d8a7b0">Supreme Court decision that stripped away constitutional protections</a>&nbsp;for the procedure.Such social media posts ostensibly aimed to help women living in states where preexisting laws banning abortion suddenly snapped into effect on Friday. That’s when the high court overruled Roe v. Wade, its 1973 decision that declared access to abortion a constitutional right.Memes and status updates explaining how women could legally obtain abortion pills in the mail exploded across social platforms. Some even offered to mail the prescriptions to women living in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-abortion-ruling-states-a767801145ad01617100e57410a0a21d">states that now ban the procedure</a>.Almost immediately, Facebook and Instagram began removing some of these posts, just as millions across the U.S. were searching for clarity around abortion access. General mentions of abortion pills, as well as posts mentioning specific versions such as mifepristone and misoprostol, suddenly spiked Friday morning across Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and TV broadcasts, according to an analysis by the media intelligence firm Zignal Labs.By Sunday, Zignal had counted more than 250,000 such mentions.The AP obtained a screenshot on Friday of one Instagram post from a woman who offered to purchase or forward abortion pills through the mail, minutes after the court ruled to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion.“DM me if you want to order abortion pills, but want them sent to my address instead of yours,” the post on Instagram read.Instagram took it down within moments. Vice Media first reported on Monday that Meta, the parent of both Facebook and Instagram, was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7gav3/facebook-is-banning-people-who-say-they-will-mail-abortion-pills" target="_blank">taking down posts about abortion pills</a>.On Monday, an AP reporter tested how the company would respond to a similar post on Facebook, writing: “If you send me your address, I will mail you abortion pills.”The post was removed within one minute.The Facebook account was immediately put on a “warning” status for the post, which Facebook said violated its standards on “guns, animals and other regulated goods.”Yet, when the AP reporter made the same exact post but swapped out the words “abortion pills” for “a gun,” the post remained untouched. A post with the same exact offer to mail “weed” was also left up and not considered a violation.Marijuana is illegal under federal law and it is illegal to send it through the mail.Abortion pills, however, can legally be obtained through the mail after an online consultation from prescribers who have undergone certification and training.In an email, a Meta spokesperson pointed to company policies that prohibit the sale of certain items, including guns, alcohol, drugs and pharmaceuticals. The company did not explain the apparent discrepancies in its enforcement of that policy.Meta spokesperson Andy Stone confirmed in a tweet Monday that the company will not allow&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/andymstone/status/1541489203434897408" target="_blank">individuals to gift or sell pharmaceuticals on its platform</a>, but will allow content that shares information on how to access pills. Stone acknowledged some problems with enforcing that policy across its platforms, which include Facebook and Instagram.“We’ve discovered some instances of incorrect enforcement and are correcting these,” Stone said in the tweet.Attorney General Merrick Garland said Friday that states should not ban mifepristone, the medication used to induce an abortion.“States may not ban mifepristone based on disagreement with the FDA’s expert judgment about its safety and efficacy,”&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-supreme-court-decision-854f60302f21c2c35129e58cf8d8a7b0">Garland said in a Friday statement</a>.But some Republicans have already tried to stop their residents from obtaining abortion pills through the mail,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-abortion-ruling-states-a767801145ad01617100e57410a0a21d">with some states like West Virginia and Tennessee prohibiting</a>&nbsp;providers from prescribing the medication through telemedicine consultation.___

Social media sites remove posts offering abortion pills

KANSAS CITY (AP) —The Supreme Court’s decision to end the nation’s constitutional protections for abortion has catapulted businesses of all types into the most divisive corner of politics.

Some companies that stayed silent last month — when a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-abortion-draft-opinion-07439f9fc4542f1500ab78dfd34036b1">draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito was leaked to Politico</a>&nbsp;— spoke up for the first time Friday, including The Walt Disney Company, which said it will reimburse employees who must travel out of state to get an abortion.

Facebook parent Meta, American Express, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs also said they would cover employee travel costs while others like Apple, Starbucks, Lyft and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-covid-technology-politics-health-f948ba6b05102ed11273a003b0d20de6">Yelp</a>&nbsp;reiterated&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/voting-rights-abortion-us-supreme-court-health-business-52cbf7dd6ec4391c8e3be766bc7c6f66">previous announcements</a>&nbsp;taking similar action. Outdoor clothing maker Patagonia went so far as to post on LinkedIn Friday that it would provide “training and bail for those who peacefully protest for reproductive justice” and time off to vote.

But of the dozens of big businesses that The Associated Press reached out to Friday, many like McDonald’s, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, General Motors, Tyson and Marriott did not respond. Arkansas-based Walmart — the nation’s largest employer with a good portion of its stores in states that will immediately trigger abortion bans following the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-supreme-court-decision-854f60302f21c2c35129e58cf8d8a7b0">Friday’s Supreme Court ruling</a>&nbsp;— also kept quiet.

Meanwhile, the Business Roundtable, an organization that represents some of the nation’s most powerful companies, said it “does not have a position on the merits of the case.”

A lot is at stake for companies, many of which have publicly pledged to promote women’s equality and advancement in the workplace. For those in states with restrictive abortion laws, they could now face big challenges in attracting college-educated workers who can easily move around.

Luis von Ahn, the CEO of the language app Duolingo, sent a tweet Friday aimed at lawmakers in Pennsylvania, where the company is headquartered: “If PA makes abortion illegal, we won’t be able to attract talent and we’ll have to grow our offices elsewhere.”

The ruling and the coming patchwork of abortion bans also threatens the technology boom in places like Austin, Texas as companies like Dell -- which was already becoming more flexible to remote work because of the tight labor market -- struggle to recruit newly minted tech graduates to their corporate hubs, said Steven Pedigo, a professor who studies economic development at the University of Texas at Austin.

“Rather than stay in Austin, do you go to New York or Seattle or the Bay Area? I think that’s a real possibility,” Pedigo said. “It becomes much more challenging, particularly when you’re looking at a young, progressive workforce, which is what technology workers tend to be.”

Emily M. Dickens, chief of staff and head of government affairs for the Society for Human Resource Management, said in a statement that nearly a quarter of organizations in a recent poll agreed that offering a health savings account to cover travel for reproductive care in another state will enhance their ability to compete for talent.

“But how these policies interact with state laws is unclear, and employers should be aware of the legal risks involved,” she said.

Dickens noted that companies that use third-party administrator to process claims on their behalf — typically big employers — are subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act rather than state law. But companies that have to buy their own health insurance for their employees — typically small businesses — are subject to state regulations and have less flexibility in designing benefits.

Offering to cover travel expenses could also make companies a target for anti-abortion lawmakers. In March, Texas State Representative Briscoe Cain, a Republican, sent a cease-and-desist letter to Citigroup, saying he would propose legislation barring localities in the state from doing business with any company that provides travel benefits for employees seeking abortions.

In his concurring opinion released Friday, Justice Brett Kavanaugh suggested it would be unconstitutional for a state to bar residents from traveling to another state to get an abortion.

“In my view, the answer is no based on the constitutional right to interstate travel,” Kavanaugh wrote.

But a corporation’s right to fund what would be an illegal act in another state is still questionable, argues Teresa Collett, a law professor at the University of St. Thomas.

“That’s not an interstate commerce question, per se,” she said. “So you’d need the right plaintiff.”

Meanwhile, tech companies are facing tough questions about what they’ll do if some of their millions of customers in the U.S. are prosecuted for having an abortion. Services like Apple, Google, Facebook and Microsoft routinely hand over digital data sought by law enforcement agencies pursuing criminal investigations. That’s raised concerns from privacy advocates about&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-technology-health-government-and-politics-f372714bd13846d62e2ac8c5d8e233d5">enforcers of abortion laws tapping into period apps</a>, phone location data and other sensitive online health information.

A letter Friday from four Democrats in Congress&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-technology-data-privacy-mobile-phones-30999c52b3144490c7c97d89f9a6451d">called on the Federal Trade Commission</a>&nbsp;to investigate the phone-tracking practices of Google and Apple, warning that location identifiers used for advertising could fall into the hands of prosecutors or bounty hunters looking “to hunt down women who have obtained or are seeking an abortion.”

KANSAS CITY (AP) —The Supreme Court’s decision to end the nation’s constitutional protections for abortion has catapulted businesses of all types into the most divisive corner of politics.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://t.co/TvOX7rNkkr">pic.twitter.com/TvOX7rNkkr</a>&mdash; DICK&#39;S Sporting Goods (@DICKS) <a href="https://twitter.com/DICKS/status/1540399862688223234?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 24, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Some companies that stayed silent last month — when a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-abortion-draft-opinion-07439f9fc4542f1500ab78dfd34036b1">draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito was leaked to Politico</a>&nbsp;— spoke up for the first time Friday, including The Walt Disney Company, which said it will reimburse employees who must travel out of state to get an abortion.Facebook parent Meta, American Express, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs also said they would cover employee travel costs while others like Apple, Starbucks, Lyft and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-covid-technology-politics-health-f948ba6b05102ed11273a003b0d20de6">Yelp</a>&nbsp;reiterated&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/voting-rights-abortion-us-supreme-court-health-business-52cbf7dd6ec4391c8e3be766bc7c6f66">previous announcements</a>&nbsp;taking similar action. Outdoor clothing maker Patagonia went so far as to post on LinkedIn Friday that it would provide “training and bail for those who peacefully protest for reproductive justice” and time off to vote.But of the dozens of big businesses that The Associated Press reached out to Friday, many like McDonald’s, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, General Motors, Tyson and Marriott did not respond. Arkansas-based Walmart — the nation’s largest employer with a good portion of its stores in states that will immediately trigger abortion bans following the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-supreme-court-decision-854f60302f21c2c35129e58cf8d8a7b0">Friday’s Supreme Court ruling</a>&nbsp;— also kept quiet.Meanwhile, the Business Roundtable, an organization that represents some of the nation’s most powerful companies, said it “does not have a position on the merits of the case.”A lot is at stake for companies, many of which have publicly pledged to promote women’s equality and advancement in the workplace. For those in states with restrictive abortion laws, they could now face big challenges in attracting college-educated workers who can easily move around.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Starbucks will always ensure partners have access to quality healthcare. Enrolled partners will be offered reimbursement for eligible travel expenses when accessing abortion or gender-affirming procedures not available within 100 miles of their home. <a href="https://t.co/K2gQYdxIMZ">https://t.co/K2gQYdxIMZ</a>&mdash; Starbucks News (@StarbucksNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/StarbucksNews/status/1526200591579594753?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 16, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Luis von Ahn, the CEO of the language app Duolingo, sent a tweet Friday aimed at lawmakers in Pennsylvania, where the company is headquartered: “If PA makes abortion illegal, we won’t be able to attract talent and we’ll have to grow our offices elsewhere.”The ruling and the coming patchwork of abortion bans also threatens the technology boom in places like Austin, Texas as companies like Dell -- which was already becoming more flexible to remote work because of the tight labor market -- struggle to recruit newly minted tech graduates to their corporate hubs, said Steven Pedigo, a professor who studies economic development at the University of Texas at Austin.“Rather than stay in Austin, do you go to New York or Seattle or the Bay Area? I think that’s a real possibility,” Pedigo said. “It becomes much more challenging, particularly when you’re looking at a young, progressive workforce, which is what technology workers tend to be.”Emily M. Dickens, chief of staff and head of government affairs for the Society for Human Resource Management, said in a statement that nearly a quarter of organizations in a recent poll agreed that offering a health savings account to cover travel for reproductive care in another state will enhance their ability to compete for talent.“But how these policies interact with state laws is unclear, and employers should be aware of the legal risks involved,” she said.Dickens noted that companies that use third-party administrator to process claims on their behalf — typically big employers — are subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act rather than state law. But companies that have to buy their own health insurance for their employees — typically small businesses — are subject to state regulations and have less flexibility in designing benefits.Offering to cover travel expenses could also make companies a target for anti-abortion lawmakers. In March, Texas State Representative Briscoe Cain, a Republican, sent a cease-and-desist letter to Citigroup, saying he would propose legislation barring localities in the state from doing business with any company that provides travel benefits for employees seeking abortions.In his concurring opinion released Friday, Justice Brett Kavanaugh suggested it would be unconstitutional for a state to bar residents from traveling to another state to get an abortion.“In my view, the answer is no based on the constitutional right to interstate travel,” Kavanaugh wrote.But a corporation’s right to fund what would be an illegal act in another state is still questionable, argues Teresa Collett, a law professor at the University of St. Thomas.“That’s not an interstate commerce question, per se,” she said. “So you’d need the right plaintiff.”Meanwhile, tech companies are facing tough questions about what they’ll do if some of their millions of customers in the U.S. are prosecuted for having an abortion. Services like Apple, Google, Facebook and Microsoft routinely hand over digital data sought by law enforcement agencies pursuing criminal investigations. That’s raised concerns from privacy advocates about&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-technology-health-government-and-politics-f372714bd13846d62e2ac8c5d8e233d5">enforcers of abortion laws tapping into period apps</a>, phone location data and other sensitive online health information.A letter Friday from four Democrats in Congress&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-technology-data-privacy-mobile-phones-30999c52b3144490c7c97d89f9a6451d">called on the Federal Trade Commission</a>&nbsp;to investigate the phone-tracking practices of Google and Apple, warning that location identifiers used for advertising could fall into the hands of prosecutors or bounty hunters looking “to hunt down women who have obtained or are seeking an abortion.”The Supreme Court ruling comes at a time when companies have become increasingly reliant on women to fill jobs, and especially as they face a nationwide labor shortage. Women now account for nearly 50% of the U.S. workforce, up dramatically from 37.5% in 1970 — three years before the Supreme Court ruled abortions to be legal in Roe vs. Wade — according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.Denied access to abortion could hit low-income workers the hardest because they’re typically in jobs with fewer protections and that are also demanding, from loading groceries onto store shelves to working as a health aide.“As a direct result of this ruling, more women will be forced to choose between paying their rent or traveling long distances to receive safe abortion care,” said Mary Kay Henry, international president of the Service Employees International Union, which represents nearly 2 million janitors, health care workers and teachers in the U.S. “Working women are already struggling in poverty-wage jobs without paid leave and many are also shouldering the caregiving responsibilities for their families, typically unpaid.”Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants told The Associated Press that the ruling was “devastating.”“It cuts to the core of all the work that our union has done for 75 years,” she said. “This decision is not about whether or not someone supports abortion. That’s the distraction ... This is about whether or not we respect the rights of women to determine their own future.”Maurice Schweitzer, a professor at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, said the handful of companies are taking a stand on the court’s ruling because their customers and employees are expecting them to speak out.“We’re in this moment in time where we’re expecting corporate leaders to also be leaders in the political sphere,” he said. “A lot of employees expect to work in companies that not only pay them well, but whose values are aligned with theirs.”But the vast majority of executives will likely avoid the thorny topic and focus on things like inflation or supply chain disruptions, he said.That, too, comes with risks.“They can either support travel for out-of-state care and risk lawsuits and the ire of local politicians, or they can not include this coverage and risk the ire of employees,” Schweitzer said.___