Abortion bans impact domestic violence, Biden in Saudi Arabia: 5 Things podcast

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: Pregnant people could face greater risk of domestic violence after abortion bans

Health inequities reporter Nada Hassanein explains. Plus, the House votes on two bills to protect abortion access, money reporter Elisabeth Buchwald breaks down June's Consumer Price Index amid record inflation, President Joe Biden begins a controversial trip to Saudi Arabia and autopsy findings will be released for Jayland Walker.

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Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson and this is 5 Things you need to know Friday, the 15th of July, 2022. Today, how pregnant people could face a greater risk of domestic violence after abortion bans. Plus, record inflation and more.

Here are some of the top headlines:

1. Russian missiles hit a city in central Ukraine yesterday killing at least 23 people and injuring more than a hundred. Ukraine is accusing Russia of deliberately targeting civilians in the attack in Vinnytsia.

2. Ivana Trump has died. The businesswoman and former President Donald Trump's ex-wife was 73.

3. And Brittney Griner faced a Russian court again earlier today. Her defense lawyers presented evidence that she received permission from Arizona health authorities to use cannabis for chronic pain.

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Experts say that pregnant people could face a greater risk of domestic violence after states have started to ban abortions. Environmental and health inequities reporter, Nada Hassanein, says that thousands could be threatened.

Nada Hassanein:

There are multiple reasons, but pregnant women who are rural, low income, women of color, face specific disparities when it comes to domestic violence. There have been studies that show higher rates of domestic violence among these groups of women. When it comes to pregnancy itself, studies have shown that pregnancy itself is a time in which domestic violence abuse itself actually increases.

Jacquelyn Campbell, who is the nursing department chair over at Johns Hopkins University, said that domestic violence shelters are already trying to come up with plans to help women who are facing abuse and trying to help them with logistics to get abortion care for those who need it. I know some domestic violence shelters, according to these experts, are trying to get ahead.

An estimated 20% of expecting women suffer violence during pregnancy, and studies have shown that when women have access to abortions, that the violence actually decreases. When they're denied an abortion, studies have shown that they remain tethered to an abusive partner. Also, domestic violence can turn deadly and homicide is actually the leading cause of death among pregnant women, and Black women especially bear a disproportionate burden of those deaths.

Taylor Wilson:

You can read more with a link in today's show description.

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The House today will vote on two bills that would protect abortion access in the wake of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade reversal. The Women's Health Protection Act of 2022 would enshrine Roe into federal law, while the Ensuring Access to Abortion Act would protect a patient's right to travel for legal abortions. The bills are expected to pass in the House, but much bigger questions remain about the Senate and its 50/50 split. A number of GOP controlled states have already moved to outlaw abortion and many of those controlled by Democrats have moved to champion access. Democrats have recently highlighted the case of a 10-year-old who had to cross state lines from Ohio to Indiana to get an abortion after being raped.

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Inflation hit another record high last month and June's consumer price index shows just how much Americans are spending on goods and services. Money reporter Elizabeth Buchwald and producer PJ Elliot have the details.

Elizabeth Buchwald:

In the June CPI report, inflation went up at an annual rate to 9.1%, at a monthly rate, 1.3%. Just to put that in perspective for a second, 1.3% on a monthly basis, that's where we were at an annual basis about three years ago. It's a pretty big jump to see that in just one month. It was pretty broad based, not just gasoline, although that was the major contributor to the overall increase, But we're seeing food, housing costs, just about everything rising.

PJ Elliot:

Let's just stick to the grocery store. What kind of rise can we expect to see there? What items are we going to pay more for?

Elizabeth Buchwald:

Yeah, some of the items that I highlighted in a piece where it looked at all the items that went up the most were butter, margarine, flour. Those things are due to, well, flour is due to the fact that supply has been constrained so much with the war in Ukraine. A lot of wheat comes from there and Russia, so that's really put a strain on how much wheat producers can make for the flour. Then with butter and margarine, the thing with butter is the cost of feeding cows has gone up so much that they're producing less milk per cow.

With that being said, being that milk is such a big component of butter, it's costing more to produce that and you've had this substitution effect where people are going more towards margarine. Now, that's built the price up of margarine a lot, even more than butter. It's those types of things, dairies and also hot dogs, we've seen prices go up there a lot. Interestingly, Costco says they're not going to be changing their $1.50 combo of the hot dog and soda. But we are seeing a little bit of relief with some meats, mainly pork-based meats. That's interesting because consumers have been hit pretty hard with that.

PJ Elliot:

Is there any good news that we could take away from this report?

Elizabeth Buchwald:

Depends who you ask. Some people see this report as a sign that inflation is going to get better because it's so bad right now, how much worse can it get. Well, people were saying that last month and it got worse. It's hard to make a case for the fact that it's going to get better, but there is a sense that the Fed will have to take action. They can't sit on the sidelines anymore like they were last year, that they'll have to potentially do a really big rate increase to get this under control. This shifts the Fed's focus even more to fighting inflation.

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Taylor Wilson:

President Joe Biden continues his Middle East trip today. Yesterday, he received the Israeli Presidential Medal of Honor and has spent much of the week reaffirming America's alliance with the country.

President Joe Biden:

America's commitment to Israel's security remains ironclad, today and in the future. That commitment is not about me or any other American president. It springs from a deep affinity and enduring connection between our peoples. And it is our responsibility as leaders to nurture that bond, to ensure that it grows stronger, deeper and broader as we navigate the challenges ahead. They will continue to be profound and they will change. As a leader, I can say without hesitation that being known as a friend of Israel and receiving this award today is among the greatest honors of my career.

Taylor Wilson:

Biden also said he supports an independent Palestinian nation, but said that won't happen anytime soon. Biden did visit a Palestinian hospital in East Jerusalem where he announced humanitarian assistance and will meet in Bethlehem with Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas. Biden's big test on the Mideast trip now turns to Saudi Arabia, where he'll arrive later today. The fiance of murdered Saudi critic, Jamal Khashoggi, Hatice Cengiz, called Biden's decision to visit Saudi Arabia heartbreaking.

Hatice Cengiz:

Biden will lose his moral authority by putting oil and expediency over principles and values. What I think that United States should not bow to a dictator that has been working against American interests and siding with Russia and manipulating oil prices and jailing Americans and others. It's very clear that Biden failed to uphold his promise and losing his credibility. American people will see that he's [inaudible]. It was a very, very big hope to me to believe Biden will do something for me and for Jamal. He starts being different now, he's doing the same, embracing dictators in the region right now. It's very disappointing for me.

Taylor Wilson:

You can follow along with Biden's trip at USATODAY.com.

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Autopsy findings will be released today for Jayland Walker. He was shot and killed by police last month in Akron, Ohio. They shot the 25-year-old Black man around 60 times after chases by car and foot. Today, a medical examiner will answer questions on the autopsy process, but not on other parts of the investigation into Walker's death. Hundreds of people mourned Walker's death this week. Bishop Timothy Clark.

Bishop Timothy Walker:

One of the things we cannot do is we must not normalize this, we cannot. We cannot make the deaths of our sons and daughters at such an early age the normal thing. There is nothing normal about this.

Taylor Wilson:

Meanwhile, a new United Nations group, the International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement, plans to investigate Walker's death. The group will make strong recommendations to federal and state governments after their investigation.

Thanks for listening to 5 Things. You can find us right here, wherever you're listening, seven mornings a week. Thanks to PJ Elliott for his great work on the show, and I'm back tomorrow with more of 5 Things from USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Abortion bans and domestic violence, Biden in Saudi Arabia: 5 Things podcast