🔵 Planned Parenthood Loses Big

Author

Citizen Frank
June 26, 2025

Good morning. It’s Thursday, June 26.

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that South Carolina can defund Planned Parenthood, clearing the way for other Republican-led states seeking to deprive the country’s largest abortion provider of taxpayer money.

In a 6–3 decision that split along ideological lines, the high court found the 1965 Medicaid Act does not allow individual patients to sue states over decisions to disqualify their preferred providers from receiving Medicaid money — enabling South Carolina to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood.

The ruling overturns lower court decisions that had allowed patients’ lawsuit to move forward. The Richmond, Va-based Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals favored Planned Parenthood by slapping an injunction on South Carolina’s implementation of its ban on funding for abortion.

 
 

Senate Republicans suffered a massive blow to their efforts to pass a major budget reconciliation bill Thursday morning when the Senate parliamentarian threw out several cost-saving provisions related to Medicaid.

The changes to financing for state-administered Medicaid programs were essential to offsetting the tax cuts included in President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill. The ruling that they cannot be included sent Republicans into a scramble to get the bill passed by the President Donald Trump’s July 4 deadline. The savings were critical to securing the votes of fiscally conservative Republicans.

The Senate parliamentarian specifically ruled against provisions in the Senate Finance Committee’s portion of the bill, including cuts to healthcare provider taxes, federal Medicaid reimbursements, and immigrant eligibility for Medicaid.

Fresh off striking Iranian nuclear facilities together with Israel, US President Donald Trump on Thursday demanded the end of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ongoing criminal trial.

“BREAKING NEWS… I was shocked to hear that the State of Israel, which has just had one of its Greatest Moments in History, and is strongly led by Bibi Netanyahu, is continuing its ridiculous Witch Hunt against their Great War Time Prime Minister!” Trump wrote in a lengthy post on Truth Social.

The unprecedented intervention in the Israeli justice system by an American president came as the cross-examination of Netanyahu, which began earlier this month, was due to resume after being halted while courts went on emergency footing amid the war with Iran, with only urgent proceedings taking place.

The Pentagon released stunning footage showcasing how the 30,000-pound heavy-duty bunker-buster bombs that were used against Iran demolish fortified targets deep underground.

The video shows a GBU-57 series MOP (Massive Ordnance Penetrator) crashing into a target and unleashing a bright inferno through a shaft.

“Unlike a normal surface bomb, you won’t see an impact crater because they’re designed to deeply bury and then function,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Lt. Gen. Dan Caine explained to reporters during a press briefing Thursday.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei congratulated the people of Iran for what he called a “decisive victory” over the US and Israel during the 12-Day War in posts on X/Twitter, and a recorded message released on Thrursday.

“I deem it necessary to extend a few congratulations to the great nation of Iran: First, congratulations on the victory over the fake Zionist regime. With all that clamor, with all those claims, the Zionist regime, under the blows of the Islamic Republic, has almost collapsed and been crushed,” he said.

He also said that the US got involved in the war because it was afraid that Israel would be destroyed without its assistance.

Iranians are experiencing internal turmoil as authorities intensify a domestic security crackdown following the 12-day war in which three major nuclear sites were effectively destroyed. There have been reports of mass arrests and executions in the country.

Authorities in Iran began the crackdown following Israel’s June 13 airstrikes. It started with widespread arrests and an intensified street presence, according to Reuters, which cited activists and officials.

The harsh measures have dampened hopes—among some in Israel as well as Iranian dissidents—that the country could see an uprising and regime change. However, no significant demonstrations have taken place yet, Reuters reported.

Prosecutors have removed some of the charges related to their sprawling indictment of Sean “Diddy” Combs as the government is looking to create clear instructions for the jury.

Attorneys for the Southern District of New York said they are removing instructions from the charge that relate to attempted kidnapping, attempted arson and aiding and abetting sex trafficking, according to court filings.

“The Government is no longer planning to proceed on these theories of liability so instructions are no longer necessary,” prosecutors wrote in a letter to Judge Arun Subramanian on Tuesday.

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