Louisiana Pioneers New Abortion Pill Controls, Trump Election Controversies Intensify

Louisiana lawmakers have voted to classify abortion pills as controlled substances, making unprescribed possession punishable by law. Simultaneously, Donald Trump's early voting stance muddles Republican tactics, while the Supreme Court backs South Carolina's race-based voting map. Furthermore, fake election-related accounts are rising on social media platform X.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Louisiana lawmakers vote to reclassify abortion pills as controlled substances

The Louisiana Senate gave final legislative approval on Thursday to a bill that would make the state the first in the U.S. to reclassify two abortion-inducing drugs as controlled substances that carry the potential for abuse or addiction. The bill would make unprescribed possession of the abortion pills mifepristone and misoprostol a crime punishable by one to five years in prison and fines of up to $5,000, though pregnant women are expressly exempt from prosecution.

Trump's attacks on early voting muddle Republican election plans

Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin was traveling to a campaign rally aboard Donald Trump's private jet in early April when he decided to broach the delicate issue of early voting. As the Boeing 757 flew from Florida to Green Bay, Wisconsin, Johnson pressed the Republican candidate to use his speech to urge his supporters to cast their votes ahead of Election Day.

US House committee advances farm bill draft with little support from Democrats

The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives Agriculture Committee passed its version of a $1.5 trillion farm spending bill late Thursday night with few Democratic votes, prolonging a standoff between the parties over key nutrition, agriculture, and climate policies. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

Trump hush money trial: What comes next?

Closing arguments are expected on Tuesday in Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial in New York, wrapping up what is likely to be the only case against the former U.S. president to reach a jury before the November election. Here is a look at what comes next.

US Supreme Court backs S. Carolina Republicans in race-based voting map fight

The U.S. Supreme Court made it harder on Thursday to prove racial discrimination in electoral maps in a major ruling backing South Carolina Republicans who moved out 30,000 Black residents when they redrew a congressional district. The 6-3 decision, with the conservative justices in the majority and liberal justices dissenting, reversed a lower court's ruling that the map had violated the rights of Black voters under the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment, which guarantees equal protection under the law. Conservative Justice Samuel Alito wrote the decision.

Fake US election-related accounts proliferating on X, study says

Fake accounts posting about the U.S. presidential election are proliferating on the social media platform X, according to a social media analysis company's report shared with Reuters exclusively ahead of its release on Friday. Analysts from Israeli tech company Cyabra, which uses a subset of artificial intelligence called machine learning to identify fake accounts, found that 15% of X accounts praising former President Donald Trump and criticizing President Joe Biden are fake. The report also found that 7% of accounts praising Biden, a Democrat, and criticizing Trump, a Republican, are fake.

Georgia prosecutor to appeal dismissal of some Trump election case charges

Georgia prosecutors on Thursday said they would appeal a judge's ruling dismissing some criminal counts in the 2020 election subversion case against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and several of his allies. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, the prosecutor overseeing the case, said a state appeals court's decision to take up Trump's bid to disqualify her office from the case also allows the court to review other rulings.

Promising pipelines and fracking, Trump rakes in millions at Texas fundraisers

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump raised tens of millions of dollars during a fundraising swing through Texas this week, promising he would support the oil and gas industry by backing new pipelines and restoring fracking on federal land. Trump has courted support from the energy industry with a pro-fossil fuel and anti-regulation agenda and regularly criticizes President Joe Biden's policies to accelerate the energy transition toward a low-carbon economy.

Trump claims of FBI threat 'extremely dangerous,' US attorney general says

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday called former President Donald Trump's claims that the FBI was authorized to shoot him during its 2022 search of his Florida club "false" and "extremely dangerous." Garland told reporters that Trump and some of his allies were referring to a "standard operations plan" that limits when agents can use lethal force while executing search warrants.

NCAA agrees to 'road map' settlement for college athlete payments

The National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) has agreed to allow member schools to share revenue with athletes directly and will pay nearly $2.8 billion in past damages, in a settlement resolving claims from players suing over their athletic service. The NCAA and two plaintiffs' law firms that led the class-action lawsuits in U.S. court disclosed the framework of the landmark settlement on Thursday, after the collegiate athletics governing body and member conferences approved the accord.

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