America’s new culture war

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A woman's control over her body looks set to become a political dividing line in next year's U.S. midterm elections. That poses a challenge to President Joe Biden's efforts to ease America's polarization after the conflicts of the Donald Trump administration. As Greg Stohr reports, 228 Republican members of Congress signed a brief sent to the Supreme Court yesterday urging the justices to uphold Mississippi's ban on terminations after 15 weeks of pregnancy and, "if necessary," to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that guaranteed women the right to an abortion. The filing means virtually the entire GOP caucus is now on record as opposing the Roe decision. A dozen Republican governors in a separate brief to the court argued that "the authority to regulate abortion should be returned to the states." That would mean near-total bans in practice in many conservative states, where opposition to abortion has long been an article of faith among Republican evangelical supporters. Trump's appointment of three Supreme Court justices, creating a 6-3 conservative majority, makes them optimistic they may get their way this time. The Court is likely to rule by June 2022 and a rejection of Roe would inject more ideological rancor into the November midterms. Republicans may see advantage in stoking the culture wars that raged under Trump to galvanize their religious base and provoke tensions within Biden's progressive wing, even at the risk of alienating moderates in their own party who regard abortion as a private choice. For Biden and the Democrats, eager to stress his sweeping infrastructure and spending programs, the risk is the campaign narrows to disputes over morality and faith that overshadow everything else. — Anthony Halpin

Supporters of legal access to abortion outside the Supreme Court on March 4, 2020.  Photographer: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images Click here for this week's most compelling political images and tell us how we're doing or what we're missing at balancepower@bloomberg.net.

Global Headlines

Just in: Beijing today pledged more effective fiscal support for the world's second-largest economy and tighter supervision of overseas share listings after a meeting of the Politburo chaired by President Xi Jinping.  Stymied ambitions | Russia's aspirations to win soft-power dividends around the world from its Covid-19 vaccine are being undermined by delays in delivering Sputnik V to foreign buyers clamoring for supplies. Countries are increasingly reporting supply problems with the second component in the two-shot inoculation. Frustrated allies | Biden's 11th-hour effort to extend a moratorium on evictions has drawn fire from some supporters for not acting sooner to prevent what they view as an imminent housing crisis. A surge in Covid-19 cases and the slow dispersal of federal emergency rental aid has lent urgency to the plight of Americans struggling to stay in their homes. Global hunger will surge by about a third this year, driven by income losses from the pandemic, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says. Its annual assessment of food security in 76 middle- and low-income nations estimates an additional 291 million people won't have enough to eat in 2021. Best of Bloomberg Opinion To Speak Louder, India Will Need a Bigger Stick: Mihir Sharma Biden Has a Chance to Abandon the Iran Nuclear Talks: Eli Lake Peru's President Starts Down Wrong Path: Clara Ferreira Marques Foreign labor | Singapore's success as a financial hub has long been tied to its openness to global talent. But as the city-state battles to recover from its worst recession, a backlash against overseas workers has again forced its way onto the political agenda, as Kwan Wei Kevin Tan explains, with opposition politicians stepping up scrutiny of jobs taken up by expats. Water woes | A drought that's leaving one of Brazil's most important river systems unnavigable is increasing the challenges and costs for the commodities powerhouse to get grains and iron ore out to global markets. Fabiana Batista and Mariana Durao explain the impact it's having on the world's top exporter of soybeans, coffee and sugar, and its neighbors. Safe passage | The Biden administration's first evacuation flight for more than 200 Afghans who aided American and NATO forces landed in the U.S. today, as America steps up efforts to relocate interpreters, other military assistants and their families ahead of a final troop withdrawal. Advocates estimate that 70,000 former coalition allies and their families are awaiting evacuation under the program. What to Watch A Hong Kong court sentenced the first person convicted under a national security law imposed by Beijing to nine years in prison, illustrating the high stakes for dozens of pro-democracy activists awaiting similar trials. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte restored a key military deal with the U.S., boosting Biden's efforts to counter China and strengthen ties with allies in the Asia-Pacific. Japan has expanded a state of emergency to areas surrounding Tokyo and extended it to the end of August, in the face of a record virus surge as it hosts the Olympics. Peru's new president, Pedro Castillo, swore in most of his new cabinet in a late-night ceremony yesterday but didn't name an economy minister, leaving the nation in a state of uncertainty. Pop quiz, readers (no cheating!). Which nation's president said he fired the prime minister and suspended parliament to restore order and retake the country from "thieves." Send your answers to balancepower@bloomberg.net And finally ... Sacred sites, endangered sawfish and mythical rainbow serpents are the latest challenges confronting commodities giant Australia. The mining industry has faced a backlash since the destruction last year by Rio Tinto Group of a 46,000-year-old Aboriginal rock shelter at Juukan Gorge, with indigenous communities fighting to protect their culture from resources extraction, James Thornhill reports. An indigenous rock painting of a Rainbow Serpent, an important figure in Aboriginal culture, in Mount Borradaile, Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. Source: Auscape/Universal Images Group Editorial/Getty Images

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