"Start Here": Fallout from the abortion ban in Alabama, Trump has an immigration plan, Graham asks "what's going on" in Iran



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1. Rape and looting

The most restrictive ban on abortions in the United States was enacted last night by Alabama Governor Kay Ivey.

An abortion in Alabama can become a crime in six months, even if the pregnancy results from rape or incest, and the doctors who practice the procedure risk up to 99 years in prison – a imprisonment much longer than that inflicted on many people actually convicted of rape or incest.

PHOTO: Alabama Governor, Kay Ivey, signs the Law on the Protection of Human Life in Alabama, after both Houses of the Alabama Legislature passed HB314 on 15 May 2019.
State of the Governor of Alabama
Alabama Governor, Kay Ivey, signs the Alabama Law for the Protection of Human Life, after both Houses of the Alabama Legislature passed HB314 on May 15. 2019.

Those who oppose the law are committed to fighting it in court. Staci Fox, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Southeast, said in a statement on Wednesday: "We have not lost a case in Alabama yet and we do not plan to start now, we will see Governor Ivey in court." .

Supporters said the law had been written in the hope that the Supreme Court would pick it up and allow Roe v. Wade to be overthrown by the conservative majority of the court, who could look into the case as soon as the next term, according to ABC News' Kate Shaw.

Chief Justice John Roberts is the one to watch for, Shaw said, adding, "I think it's possible that he's not ready to meet any of these challenges head-on for Roe v. Wade, and that he would prefer that the court adopt a law like that of Louisiana that actually restricts the possibility of abortion in the state but does not prohibit it directly, as basically does this law of Alabama. "

2. "Something that he can campaign on & # 39;

President Donald Trump is due to unveil an immigration plan in the Rose Garden later today to move the United States toward a merit-based system.

The proposal would allow more highly skilled workers in the country, but would not concern undocumented immigrants already in the United States nor the "Dreamers", a key issue in immigration for Democrats and some moderate Republicans, Jonathan Karl, White House correspondent at ABC News says on "Start here."

"They put it forward as an idea that the president can present, something he can campaign on," he said. "I think the White House has understood that there would be no major immigration bill that will be passed by this Congress before the elections."

PHOTO: On April 5, 2019, President Donald Trump meets with members of the US Customs and Border Patrol during his visit to the border wall between the United States and Mexico, in Calexico, California.
Saul Loeb / AFP / Getty Images
President Donald Trump meets with members of the US Customs and Border Patrol during his visit to the border wall between the United States and Mexico in Calexico, California on April 5, 2019.

3. 'Explain to us what's going on'

As tensions between the United States and Iran continue to intensify, the State Department has ordered all non-urgent employees to leave Iraq because of 39; an "imminent threat" of Iran or an Iranian attorney.

But the US authorities have not given any information on a possible attack and legislators such as Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S, ask the Trump administration "to come here and explain what is happening."

"I think there are a lot of people in my place who will support the opposition to Iran, but we need to understand what we are doing," Graham said Wednesday.

Democrats fear that escalating tensions may be a pretext for an invasion, similar to the first stage of the war in Iraq, but ABC News chief correspondent Ian Pannell is skeptical: "Iran is a powerful country which has powerful interests throughout the region, the invasion of Iraq was difficult, but the interference with Iran will be much more difficult. "

4. & # 39; Under a cloud & # 39;

A student from Georgetown University, trapped in the university admissions scandal, goes to court with his school to prevent his possible deportation.

Adam Semprevivo sued Wednesday, saying he was unaware of his father's role in paying $ 400,000 to be named as a tennis rookie and accusing Georgetown not to give him due process.

Georgetown said in a statement that the university "informed two students of its intention to revoke their admission and send them back" as a result of an internal investigation following the indictments of March, adding that "each student case was treated individually and that each student's opportunities to respond and provide information to the University".

Federal prosecutors said that a number of students whose parents were accused of participating in the scheme did not know what was going on. According to Aaron Katersky of ABC News, some of them risk the same consequences, while "the whole process of admission to college remains under a cloud".

PHOTO: Stephen Semprevivo, a California businessman, leaves the Federal Court on May 7, 2019 in Boston after pleading guilty to bribing the Georgetown tennis coach for admitting his son at school.
Steven Senne / AP, FILE
Californian businessman Stephen Semprevivo leaves the federal court on May 7, 2019, in Boston, after pleading guilty to bribing the Georgetown tennis coach to admit his son to school.

"Start Here," the flagship podcast of ABC News, offers an overview of the best stories of the day in 20 minutes. Listen for free every day on weekdays on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn or ABC News application. Follow @StartHereABC on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to get exclusive content and program updates.

Somewhere else:

"Social media platforms should advance freedom of expression": The Trump administration announces a new tool to report perceived censorship.

& # 39; Probable cause & # 39 ;: The deadliest fire in California was caused by power lines.

& # 39; C & # 39; is the reality & # 39 ;: The actress Yara Shahidi, 19, speaks politics of "The View".

From our friends at FiveThirtyEight:

Would the Democrats really face a reaction in case of Trump impunity ?: This leaves the Democrats with an underlying question: how firmly do they believe in the cause of Trump's removal from office, outside of electoral considerations? As long as Republicans remain behind Trump, dismissal would be a symbolic action to some extent. But this remains a powerful and important symbolic act.

Doff your cap:

Congratulations to Representative John Katko, RN.Y., for renewing his efforts to get Harriet Tubman, who helped slaves escape, on the $ 20 bill instead of Andrew Jackson, who , as owner of slaves, did exactly the opposite.

PHOTO: Harriet Tubman, an African-American abolitionist and Union spy during the American Civil War, is photographed around 1870.
HB Lindsey / Underwood Archives / Getty Images
Harriet Tubman, an African-American abolitionist and Union spy during the American Civil War, was photographed around 1870.

"That should not even be a problem, in my mind," Katko said in a story posted on WKRN.com, the ABC subsidiary in Nashville. "When the Trump administration arrived, she fell to the water."

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