Alabama Republicans look to protect IVF; Two big First Amendment cases at the Supreme Court

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up!

Morning everyone!

Here’s something that’ll make your Monday brighter: This 4-year-old from North Carolina, mimicking his dad’s animated reactions while coaching his high school’s basketball team. He’s hired!

Have a great day,

Mosheh, Jill & Courtney

📌 TRUMP SWEEPS SOUTH CAROLINA, STEAMROLLS TOWARD GOP NOMINATION

Former President Trump continued his clean sweep of GOP nominating contests with a quick, decisive win in South Carolina — winning nearly all of that state’s 50 delegates Saturday.

SATURDAY NIGHT IN SOUTH CAROLINA
Trump was projected the winner just moments after polls closed at 7 pm ET. “Celebrate for 15 minutes, then get back to work,” Trump told a crowd after his win.

In her speech after Saturday night’s outcome, Nikki Haley still argued there are broad swaths of the Republican party that want an alternative to Trump, noting her 40% of the vote. That said, most of her voters again were independents and Democrats, and it does not appear she has a path to victory in any major primaries coming up.

Trump’s 20-point victory in Haley’s home state, where she served as governor for six years, shows that the GOP remains Trump’s party in 2024.

DELEGATE TRACKER
The eventual GOP nominee will need 1,215 delegates to win the party’s spot on the 2024 ticket. Trump is now at 107, and Haley holds 20. Over 1/3 of the remaining delegates (800+) get allocated in the next two weeks, and Trump is set to dominate those contests—many allocate all delegates to the winner.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR HALEY?
Haley’s major problem is that she is not favored by a majority of Republican voters as she runs in the Republican primary. Nonetheless, she has vowed to stay in the race until at least Super Tuesday on March 5th, when 15 states will hold their primary elections all on the same day. Before that: Michigan voters head to the polls for their primary tomorrow.

Her argument remains: Many polls find she has a stronger chance against Biden than Trump, he has too many legal issues, she has the ability to serve for two full terms as president, and she is the only candidate under the age of 70 left in the race. But, it doesn’t appear that enough GOP voters care for those arguments, nor her more traditional pre-Trump 2016 Republican policies.

📌 ALABAMA REPUBLICANS TRYING TO SHORE UP IVF IN STATE

We told you last week about the unprecedented Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos used for IVF are legally considered children. In the days following, three IVF clinics in the state said they’d be pausing the procedure, concerned about legal ramifications about storing and destroying embryos.

WHO’S SPEAKING OUT?
Democrats want to use the ruling from Alabama’s all-Republican Supreme Court as an opportunity to showcase extremism in the GOP, especially in an election year.

But the vast majority of Republicans are now saying this ruling went too far. Many, like former President Trump, avoided commenting on the ruling for a number of days in an attempt to distance themselves from it. Now they’re speaking out, saying IVF is important and acknowledging the need to reform Alabama law:

Donald Trump: “We want to make it easier for mothers and fathers to have babies, not harder! That includes supporting the availability of fertility treatments like IVF in every State in America.”

Alabama’s Attorney General, Steve Marshall, says he “has no intention of using the recent Alabama Supreme court decision as a basis for prosecuting IVF families or providers.”

TIME FOR A FIX
When the court issued its ruling, it essentially said — this is our interpretation of the way the vague current law is written (feel free to change the law, but we’re interpreting it for the way it’s currently on the books).

Now a bipartisan effort is underway in the Alabama House and Senate to draft “clarifying” legislation to protect IVF treatment.

The court did not suggest protocols for embryos and made clear that it could not regulate fertility clinics nor the practice of reproductive medicine. But, Chief Justice Tom Parker urged it to be considered, citing other countries like Italy, New Zealand, and Australia, which all limit the number of embryos that can be created and implanted.

📌 SOCIAL MEDIA VS. FREE SPEECH

Social media content regulation will headline the Supreme Court today in two landmark cases over content control on social media. In both cases — NetChoice v. Paxton and Moody v. NetChoice — justices will have to decide whether some of the world’s biggest social media companies should be allowed to regulate content at their discretion, or if state laws, like the ones in question by Florida and Texas, can restrict the tech giants’ ability to decide what’s censored.

REGULATION DEBATE
In 2021, after social media platforms were accused of suppressing a wave of conservative viewpoints, Texas & Florida passed laws that took some power out of tech giants’ hands when it comes to determining what content is allowed to be censored. The states say social media is the modern day “public square” — and that anyone should be allowed to share their opinions freely without being muzzled.

While the two states’ laws are not identical, they share similar goals:

Both limit social media’s power in determining which user content can be restricted and how. For example, the FL law stops social media platforms from banning candidates running for political office.
Both FL and TX laws stop social media platforms from limiting the exposure of political candidates’ posts.
Both require social media platforms to publish the criteria they use to ban users and content.

Tech titans counter: They say the states’ laws are government overreach and an exploitation of power, and ultimately violate the First Amendment.

The tech groups believe the First Amendment protects the right of private social media accounts to decide what messages can be spread.

❝

“Just as Florida may not tell the NYT what opinion pieces to publish or Fox News what interviews to air, it may not tell Facebook or YouTube what content to disseminate.”

Tech Groups on Texas and Florida laws

WHY IT MATTERS
It’s not just about regulating political opinions. Other content like sexually explicit posts, Holocaust deniers, or content promoting eating disorders — to name a few — could all be more prevalent online if the Supreme Court decides social media sites must host all content.

HOW WE GOT HERE
It’s worth noting — neither of the states’ laws are currently being enforced:

A federal judge in Tallahassee blocked Florida from enacting its law. The U.S. Court of Appeals left that ruling in place, so Florida took its case to the Supreme Court.
In Austin, a federal judge put Texas’ law on hold before it could go into effect, but the U.S. Court of Appeals disagreed with that ruling... prompting the tech groups to take it up with the Supreme Court.

✔︎ Mo News Reality Check: This debate isn’t going away any time soon. The Biden administration will take on the Supreme Court on March 18th for arguments involving it’s own role in regulating Covid-19 information on social media. The case, Murthy v. Missouri, will consider whether - and to what extent - the federal government can work with social media platforms about what content is and is not regulated.

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨NATION

📌 Dartmouth, Northwestern, Rice, and Vanderbilt agree to pay $166M to settle financial aid lawsuit alleging the schools colluded on financial aid awarded to wealthier students (CNN)

📌 Murder suspect in death of nursing student found on UGA campus taken into custody, was in the U.S. illegally (NATIONAL REVIEW)

📌 US Air Force airman lights himself on fire outside Israeli Embassy in Washington to protest war (ABC)

📌 Border patrol releases hundreds of migrants at bus stop after San Diego aid runs out (ABC)

📌 Chief enforcer of US gun laws fears Americans may become numb to violence with each mass shooting (NBC)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

📌 U.S. says an “understanding” has been reached in Israel-Hamas hostage talks, but negotiations continue (CNN)

📌 Body of Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, has been returned to his mother (BBC)

📌 An attack by the Houthi rebels on a ship in the Red Sea has caused an 18 mile long oil slick (AP)

📌 Mexico’s “Hugs, Not Bullets” crime policy intended to quell violence has given more power to cartels (WALL STREET JOURNAL)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

📌 Husband who eavesdropped on his wife’s work calls pleads guilty to insider trading (WALL STREET JOURNAL)

📌 Airlines are boosting baggage fees and charging you more at the airport (CNBC)

📌 US spacecraft that successfully landed on the moon is tipped over sideways, but still “alive and well” (NYPOST)

📌 Why everyone is suddenly talking about Nvidia, the trillion-dollar company fueling the AI revolution (NBC)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

📌 Duke’s star basketball player injured after Wake Forest storms to court, Coach calls for ban (FOX NEWS)

📌 “I think I’ve seen this film before”: Chiefs’ Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes return to Las Vegas nightclubs to celebrate their Super Bowl victory AGAIN, belting out “we are the champions” (TMZ)

📌 Millennials and Gen-Z are putting their own spin on book clubs (CNN BUSINESS)

📌 Bob Marley “One Love” film surpasses $100 million at box office (THE WRAP)

📌 Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, Anne Hathaway reunite for The Devil Wears Prada at 2024 SAG Awards (PEOPLE)

🗓 ON THIS DAY: FEBRUARY 26

1952: Great Britain announced it had developed an atomic bomb.
1974: Nike got the patent for waffle-soled tennis shows that Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman invented in a waffle iron in his kitchen.
1993: The first World Trade Center terror attack takes place, intending to bring down the twin towers. The bomb goes off in an underground garage did not critically damage the skyscrapers’ main structure, but six people were killed and more than 1,000 were injured.
2017: “Moonlight” wins the Oscar’s best picture, but the announcer mistakenly says “La La Land” has won.