Biden says Texas abortion law creates a "vigilante system"
CBSN
President Biden on Friday criticized the new Texas abortion law for creating "a sort of vigilante system" because its abortion ban is to be enforced by citizens who can sue anyone who may have aided an abortion. The president said the Justice Department is examining whether it can limit the action of citizens enforcing the state law.
The Supreme Court earlier this week declined to halt Texas' new law banning abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, around six weeks, and allowing private citizens to sue people they believe have aided in the process of an abortion that takes place more than six weeks into a woman's pregnancy. Private citizens who successfully sue over violations of the law are to be awarded at least $10,000. Democrats are decrying the 5-4 Supreme Court decision. "I have been and continue to be a strong supporter of Roe v. Wade, number one," the president told reporters Friday when he was asked about his message to women in Texas. "And the most pernicious thing about the Texas law, it sort of creates a vigilante system where people get rewards to go out to — anyway."The Consumer Federal Protection Bureau last week launched an inquiry into what the agency is calling "junk fees in mortgage closing costs." These additional fees, involving home appraisal, title insurance and other services, have spiked in recent years and can add thousands of dollars to the final cost of buying a home.
Retired Maj. Gen. William Anders, the former Apollo 8 astronaut who took the iconic "Earthrise" photo showing the planet as a shadowed blue marble from space in 1968, was killed Friday when the plane he was piloting alone plummeted into the waters off the San Juan Islands in Washington state. He was 90.