Supreme Court allows Trump administration’s cancellation of TPS for Haitians, Syrians

(MONTGOMERY, Ala.) — The former Alabama Supreme Court justice who wrote the controversial ruling that temporarily halted in vitro fertilization services two years ago is running for state attorney general — and a group of conservative IVF parents is banding together to try to stop him.

Jay Mitchell wrote the majority opinion in a ruling that classified frozen embryos as people, prompting three of the state’s largest IVF treatment providers to halt care out of fear of wrongful death lawsuits when handling embryos.

“Unborn children are ‘children’ … without exception based on developmental stage, physical location, or any other ancillary characteristics,” Mitchell wrote in the majority ruling in 2024.

The decision led to widespread public outcry and an effort at the Alabama statehouse to pass a bill protecting IVF treatments. Republican Gov. Kay Ivey signed the bill shortly after the legislature passed it.

In the aftermath of the ruling, a group of parents who relied on in vitro fertilization to build their families created “Alabama Families for IVF,” a conservative grassroots coalition. The group is now airing ads against Mitchell in the state, voiced by Annie Hensler, who became a mother through IVF, though they have not yet endorsed a specific candidate.

“The attorney general’s office is a very powerful position, and we cannot have someone in that position that has this kind of judgment,” Katelanne Fadalla, an IVF parent who chairs the group, told ABC News.

Alabama’s attorney general would be responsible for enforcing state laws, including those related to reproductive health.

“We cannot risk having someone in office with this much influence over Alabama legislation who has already demonstrated that they cannot think through the consequences of the words that they write,” she added.

In a statement to ABC, Mitchell said, “I support IVF. My opinion protected IVF families and upheld Alabama law, but woke liberals and my political opponents continue to push lies about this case because they know I will fearlessly advance President Trump’s agenda as Alabama’s next Attorney General.”

Fadalla said she was preparing for her first consultation about IVF when news of the ruling broke in 2024.

“It was absolutely devastating,” she said.

“The opinion that came out of the Supreme Court from Jay Mitchell was not only extremely disruptive, but it was devastating to families across the state of Alabama during a time when all we are trying to do is grow our families,” Fadalla said.

In an ad airing across the state, the group accuses Mitchell of going against President Donald Trump, who declared his support for IVF after the 2024 ruling and called on the state legislature “to act quickly to find an immediate solution to preserve the availability of IVF in Alabama.”

“We want to make it easier for mothers and fathers to have babies, not harder — you know that. That includes — and you saw this was a big deal over the last few days — that includes supporting the availability of fertility treatments like IVF in every state in America,” Trump said during the 2024 presidential campaign shortly after the ruling.

Mitchell has defended his record, describing himself as a “rock-solid conservative and warrior for the Trump agenda.”

“Jay shares the incredible commitment Alabamians have to faith, family and freedom, and his legal record proves that he is ready and willing to defend those values in court,” his campaign states on its website.

Three candidates are running in the Republican primary for Alabama attorney general, which will take place on May 19.

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(WASHINGTON) — After NATO allies rebuffed his call to assist the U.S. in securing the critical Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the U.S. doesn’t need their help after all.

“I think NATO’s making a very foolish mistake,” Trump said, airing out his grievances with the transatlantic alliance during an Oval Office meeting with Ireland’s Taoiseach Micheál Martin.

“This was a great test because we don’t need them, but they should have been there,” the president added.

Trump over the weekend requested U.S. partners in Europe and Asia send warships to help police the strait, where roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply is caught in the crosshairs of the U.S. and Israeli war with Iran.

No country has publicly announced plans to send ships or other kinds of assistance to unblock the strait.

“This is not our war; we did not start it,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on Monday.

“We will not be drawn into the wider war,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer similarly said.

Despite the cold shoulder from several allies, President Trump on Monday said that “numerous countries” had told him “they’re on the way.” Trump did not identify which countries, and said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would soon provide a list.

As of Tuesday afternoon, no list had been released.

When asked what countries would join in a coalition to secure the strait, Trump said he’s had “great support from the Middle East” including Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and “of course Israel” — but did not explicitly say what those countries would be doing.

In a social media post on Tuesday, Trump wrote the U.S. military had been “informed by most of our NATO ‘Allies’ that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon.”

Trump said the U.S. didn’t need the assistance from those countries, or from “Japan, Australia and South Korea.”

“Well, we don’t need too much help, and we don’t need any help, actually,” Trump later said in the Oval Office.

When asked if he would retaliate against NATO countries for not heeding his call or if he was rethinking the alliance, Trump said no.

“I have nothing currently in mind. But I will say that I’m not exactly thrilled,” Trump said.

Trump pointed to the assistance the U.S. provided to help Ukraine fight Russia’s invasion under the Biden administration as he criticized NATO for not stepping in to help with reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

“You would have thought they would have said, ‘We’d love to send a couple of minesweepers,'” Trump said. “It’s not a big deal. It doesn’t cost very much money. But they didn’t do that. So, you know, it’s — I think it’s very unfair to the United States, not to me, but to the United States.”

Meanwhile, the impact of Iran’s stranglehold is being felt abroad and at home. The price of oil has hovered around $100 a barrel this week. In the U.S., the national average for a gallon of gas is $3.79 — up about 88 cents from a month ago.

President Trump had also called on China, which Iran is still allowing to transit the Gulf, to assist in the Strait of Hormuz. The response from China’s foreign ministry was a call for all parties to immediately stop military operations.

President Trump announced Tuesday that his previously planned trip to China is now postponed for five to six weeks. Trump didn’t provide details on why, only that he was “resetting the meeting” originally scheduled for early April.

“I look forward to seeing President Xi. He looks forward to seeing me, I think,” Trump said.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump doubled down on his claim that the term “86” is a “mob term” for a killing as former FBI Director James Comey faces a federal indictment over a social media post of seashells arranged to read “86 47.”

“’86’ is a mob term for ‘kill him.’ They say 86 him! ’86 47′ means ‘kill President Trump,'” Trump wrote in a social media post Wednesday night, before going on to assail Comey as a “Dirty Cop” who “knows this full well!”

Comey, who was indicted on Tuesday by a federal grand jury in North Carolina, made an initial court appearance on Wednesday after self-surrendering to law enforcement at the courthouse in the Eastern District of Virginia. Comey did not enter a plea.

The former FBI director, who was fired in 2017 by Trump during the president’s first term, faces one charge of threats against the president and successors, and one charge of transmitting a threat in interstate commerce.

The indictment centers on a controversy that erupted nearly a year ago when Comey, in a since-deleted Instagram post, shared a picture showing the numbers “86 47” written in seashells on the beach with the caption “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”

“EIGHT MILES OUT, SIX FEET DOWN! Didn’t he also lie to the FBI about this??? I think so!” Trump said on Wednesday night, describing his apparent interpretation of what the eight and six represent.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary, which lists several definitions of “eighty-six,” says the most common use for the informal saying is to describe a way “to refuse to serve” or “to eject or ban” a customer from a restaurant or bar. The dictionary says it’s often used as a way to say something has been removed. The American Heritage dictionary says the term may have derived as a rhyming slang for “nix.”

The origin of the president’s assertion that the term comes from the mob is unclear. A search of scripts from the American Film Institute’s top 10 gangster films shows no instance of the phrase being used, despite Trump referring reporters to mob movies on Wednesday.

“You ever see the movies? ’86 ’em’ — the mobster says to one of his wonderful associates, ’86 ’em.’ That means kill ’em. It’s — I think of it as a mob term,” he said.

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis said he did some of his own research on the term.

“I searched to the end of the internet last night, I can’t find one example where the number 86 had anything to do with any violent threat. So hopefully there’s more to it than just the picture in the sand,” Tillis told reporters on Wednesday. “Otherwise, I just think it’s another example of where we’re going to regret this because we’re setting a fairly low bar and political physics, like I’ve said around here for years, is what it is. For every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction.”

Tillis later added, “maybe there’s deep history in the use of this word and communicating threats. I just can’t find it anywhere.”

The Department of Justice in announcing that the indictment that had been handed up said that “a reasonable recipient [of Comey’s image] who is familiar with the circumstances would interpret as a serious expression of an intent to do harm to the President of the United States.”

And while the president has repeated his claim that Comey’s post was a call for him to be killed, Trump appeared to hedge when asked directly Wednesday whether he believed his life was in danger.

“Probably, I don’t know,” he said. “You know, based on — based on what I’m seeing out there, yeah.”

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