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Meet the woman behind the anti-abortion movement · Apple News Today

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  Shumita Basu, Narrating: Good morning! It's Wednesday, May 11th. I'm Shumita Basu. This is "Apple News Today." Each morning, hear about some of the most fascinating stories in the news, and how the world's best journalists are covering them.
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  Today the Senate is set to vote on a bill to give federal protection for abortion rights. The bill would essentially write Roe V. Wade into law, though there's little chance it will pass because of a Republican filibuster. Many anti-abortion members of Congress got there with help from a woman you may not know unless you follow politics closely.
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  "New York" Magazine is out with a profile of Marjorie Dannenfelser. She's the president of the Susan B. Anthony List, also known as the SBA List, an organization that supports anti-abortion candidates. Features writer Kerry Howley spent some time with Dannenfelser and told us how she became one of the most prominent and impactful voices in the anti-abortion movement.
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  Kerry Howley: It's not just that SBA list is attempting to elect legislators who vote a certain way on abortion. They're kind of policing the boundaries of that position.
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  Early in her career, Dannenfelser spent time working as an assistant to Alan Mollohan, a congressman with an impeccable record voting against abortion rights measures. In fact, he was the head of the pro-life caucus in the House. Dannenfelser said he was like a father to her, and she credits him for teaching her what she calls one of the most important lessons in politics.
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  Howley: He taught her one of her early lessons about political power. He said, "If you shoot a bear, you have to kill it." Meaning, you have to have strength and focus in the exercise of power.
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  Years later, she would put that lesson into practice. In 2010, the Affordable Care Act was coming up for a vote. Mollohan agreed to vote for the legislation as long as Obama issued an executive order that barred health plans with abortion funding from the ACA. But for Dannenfelser, that wasn't enough and the SBA list spent almost $80,000 on ads against him. Mollohan ended up losing his 14th bid for Congress.
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  Howley: And so Mollohan believing, he was sticking to his anti-abortion ideals, voted for the bill and Dannenfelser then, even though this man had been a mentor to her, campaigned against him, meaning supported his opponent. And in this, you know, she was really enacting that early lesson in politics. If you shoot a bear, you have to kill it. She didn't hesitate. This was not in accordance with her or her group's beliefs and she reacted.
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  Dannenfelser feels that a lot of mainstream Republicans, people like John McCain, George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, and even Ted Cruz, haven't been hardline enough in their anti-abortion positions. As Howley found in her reporting, Dannenfelser's attitude when it comes to abortion is: there is no middle ground.
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  Today, she's standing on the cusp of a Supreme Court decision that could end Roe V. Wade. And while that might feel like a pretty huge accomplishment, Dannenfelser's not done yet.
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  Howley: For the anti-abortion movement, this is just the beginning. What the end of Roe will open up is a battle in most states to particularize the abortion laws. And so groups like SBA List will be there well organized, fighting to make those laws as restrictive as possible.
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  Gun violence is on the rise. Yesterday, the CDC put out a report showing a surge in firearm-related homicides in 2020, the first year of the pandemic: Acting Principal Deputy Director, Debra Houry, explained the magnitude.
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  Debra Houry: This is a historic increase, with the rate having reached the highest level in over 25 years.
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  The CDC report doesn't take a resigned tone. It says this violence is preventable if we focus on the underlying economic and social factors that lead to people committing gun violence. "NPR's" "Fresh Air" recently spoke with a journalist whose focus is mass shootings, that's where four or more people are shot or injured, and the work that's being done to understand how to stop them before they happen.
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  Mark Follman: There is in every one of these cases, always a trail of warning signs of behavioral warning signs and circumstances that the field was studying over the years. And that's because this is planned violence.
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  That's Mark Follman. He's got a book out called "Trigger Points," where he looks into the role behavioral threat assessments can play in schools and workplaces.
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  Mark Follman: So most cases begin with an ordinary person sounding the alarm. It's effectively a tip to people who are in a position to do something about it on a threat assessment team. A co-worker in a workplace setting or a peer, a classmate, or a teacher in a school setting noticing things in a person that are disturbing or worrisome and maybe not understanding what it is, but having a feeling that something is wrong and speaking up about it, reaching out.
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  Follman spent some time with a threat assessment team in Oregon. A high school junior made comments about bringing his dad's gun to school, and a classmate reported it. The team looked into his case and found that he'd made similar comments and was withdrawing from class and after school activities.
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  Mark Hollman: And so they used what they call their wraparound strategy, offering him counseling support, some individual educational support, guiding him to some extracurricular activities that spoke to his interests. And I was able to track this case over many months and to see the effect and the way that his behavior began to change, becoming less concerning. And over time, he did fairly well. So it was one example of several cases I looked at there where you could see in pretty compelling terms, here was a kid who was in serious crisis, who was… appeared to be planning violence, who was steered away from that through this process.
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  Follman tells "Fresh Air," it sometimes feels like mass shooting are inevitable and that the political debate around guns is stuck. But there are interventions that can prevent violence, new approaches that people from both parties can get behind.
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  If you're giving your baby formula, you've probably had times during the pandemic where you ran into empty grocery shelves. But in many places, things are getting worse. Right now, formula shortages are hitting a critical point, to where the White House is getting involved. National data shows out-of-stock rates hitting 40%.
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  Taylor Miller: Never did I think I would ever be rationing formula.
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  Texas mom Taylor Miller told "CBS News" that she hits store after store trying to find what her 4-month-old daughter Magnolia needs.
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  [CRYING BABY]
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  Taylor Miller: We'll literally waste a whole tank of gas in a day trying to find formula and maybe only find one can.
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  Pandemic supply-chain issues have consistently made formula harder to find. And things got worse when one of the big manufacturers, Abbott Labs, recalled formula in February. The Biden administration says the FDA is "working around the clock" on the problem, helping manufacturers to grow production and improve supply lines.
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  "The Wall Street Journal" has a few tips for parents who aren't finding enough formula for their babies. If stores are out, check with your pediatrician. They sometimes have samples that could fill the need until stores are stocked again. Also, be open to switching brands. Babies who don't have health issues can usually handle something different. If you can, check the label to see if you can get one with similar ingredients. That'll reduce the risk of upset stomachs. And don't try to stretch your powdered formula supply by adding cow's milk or water. A doctor tells the "Journal," that can be dangerous for babies.
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  Would you believe me if I told you, for lots of "Jeopardy" contestants, one of the hardest parts of going on the show is coming up with a fluffy, frivolous "fun fact" about themselves? You know the part I'm talking about, right? After the first commercial break, the host leaves the lectern, takes a little stroll over to the players, and gets them to tell us something about themselves.
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  This is from Clare McNear's latest reporting in "The Ringer." She's the go-to for all insider "Jeopardy" news. I actually spoke with her a few months back on our weekend interview show "In Conversation," about all the wild winning streaks in the past year. In this latest article, McNear writes about how the streaks come with a surprising downside for the players, the longer you stay, the deeper you have to dig to come up with a fun story to share. This part of the show has a way of going viral online, because it's just so strange, and when Alex Trebek was the host, it showed his really biting sense of humor
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  Unidentified Speaker: I think it's very fun. It's called nerdcore hip-hop.
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  Alex Trebek: Nerdcore hip-hop.
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  Unidentified Speaker: Yeah, it's people who identify as nerdy, rapping about the things they love: video games, science fiction, having a hard time meeting romantic partners, you know. It's really catchy and fun.
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  Trebek: Losers, in other words.
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  [CROWD LAUGHING]
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  Unidentified Speaker: Well…
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  Ken Jennings has said at some point in 74-long winning streak, he just started making stuff up. But McNear spoke to a past winner who said, even though it is grueling, it creates this little break in the game where you realize, sure everyone here is super smart, but they're also real people.
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  You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And when you're in the app, keep listening to hear narrated articles from our News+ partners. We'll talk with you again tomorrow.
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