ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø

President Donald Trump promised Wednesday to sign an executive order that would require health care providers to provide medical care to all babies born alive as he makes an election-year push to appeal to voters who oppose abortion. The White House did not release further details about the order, but Trump’s announcement follows numerous attempts by GOP lawmakers in Washington and in state capitals around the country to pass legislation that threatens prison for doctors who don’t try to save the life of infants born alive during abortions. (Freking, 9/23)

"Today I am announcing that I will be signing the born alive executive order to assure that all precious babies born alive, no matter their circumstances, receive the medical care that they deserve. This is our sacrosanct moral duty," Trump said during a pre-recorded address to the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast. The president said his administration would also increase federal funding for neonatal research. The text of the order was not available after the announcement, making it unclear what it actually does. (Samuels, 9/23)

In related news on abortion, the Supreme Court and Justice Ginsburg's death —

This week Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will lie in state at the U.S. Capitol. She'll be the first woman in history to do so. Ginsburg's death sparked record political donations from Democrats, explains Jessica Taylor of Cook Political Report. Those donations may help Democrats in an uphill battle to retake the Senate. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans appear to have the numbers to fill Ginsburg's seat with a conservative nominee, which would shift the balance of power on the court. Professor Mary Ziegler of Florida State University explains why that could change the outcome of several cases concerning abortion restrictions that could land before the Supreme Court. (9/23)

If confirmed, that replacement would give conservatives a rock solid 6-3 advantage on a Supreme Court that already leaned sharply to the right, with the potential to reshape abortion rights, affirmative action, policing, and many other crucial issues over the coming decades while erecting a judicial barrier to attempts by future Democratic administrations to enact bold liberal policies. (Goodwin, 9/23)

When Ruth Bader Ginsburg joined the Supreme Court in 1993, she was its lone Democratic appointee, the first in 26 years. Her eight colleagues were named by the four Republican presidents from Richard Nixon to George H.W. Bush. They were not all conservatives, however. Ginsburg voted regularly with John Paul Stevens and David H. Souter, nominees of Gerald R. Ford and Bush, respectively. And in her later years, she aligned with President Obama’s two picks, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan —as well as Stephen G. Breyer who, like her, was named by President Clinton. (Savage, 9/23)

In the hours following Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death on Friday evening, thousands of mourners flocked to the Supreme Court, a pilgrimage propelled by raw grief. Many sang and lit candles; they cried together, and hugged. ... We’ve seen similar outpourings of sorrow following the death of a public figure this year. It happened in Los Angeles, when those grieving basketball legend Kobe Bryant gathered outside the arena where he had played, leaving piles of flowers, basketballs and written messages. In Georgia, Alabama and the District, as crowds showed up to see Rep. John Lewis’s funeral processions. ... But grieving a public figure — someone we didn’t know personally — can be perplexing. Why are we so affected? And how can we — should we — deal with these feelings? (Haupt, 9/23)