The key question the Supreme Court may answer in abortion case

+ how sea otters stay warm US Edition - Today's top story: Supreme Court signals shift on abortion – but will it strike down Roe or leave it to states to decide when 'personhood' occurs? [View in browser]( US Edition | 2 December 2021 [The Conversation]( Much of the nation is collectively holding its breath until the Supreme Court issues its decision in the most consequential abortion rights case since Roe v. Wade in 1973. On Wednesday, the high court justices heard oral argument in a case from Mississippi where the state’s only licensed abortion facility challenged a law banning abortion after 15 weeks as unconstitutional. As Supreme Court scholar Morgan Marietta writes in his story for us, “[the six conservative justices who hold the majority in the highest court seemed divided](. Would they overturn the core right to abortion entirely or would they allow abortion to be limited by the states to the early stages of pregnancy?” Marietta, who teaches political science at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, provides a pocket history of how Roe was decided in 1973, analyzes the ruling itself and then proposes that the current justices may choose a third direction for their ruling. Many readers will already understand the stakes of this case; Marietta’s story will help you understand the legal arguments and concepts underpinning what might happen next. Also today: - [74% of school shooters get their guns from home]( - [Biofuels do more environmental harm than good]( - [HIV prevention hurdles for Black gay men in the South]( Naomi Schalit Senior Editor, Politics + Society Will Justices give a green light to states to decide on abortion? Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images [Supreme Court signals shift on abortion – but will it strike down Roe or leave it to states to decide when ‘personhood’ occurs?]( Morgan Marietta, University of Massachusetts Lowell Arguments in a case that could fundamentally alter a woman’s right to abortion were heard at the Supreme Court. Justices’ questions suggest that Roe v. Wade is on shaky ground. Politics + Society - [Most school shooters get their guns from home – and during the pandemic, the number of firearms in households with teenagers went up]( Patrick Carter, University of Michigan; Marc A Zimmerman, University of Michigan; Rebeccah Sokol, Wayne State University A 15-year-old sophomore killed four students in a Michigan school attack. The gun he used was purchased by his father just four days earlier. - [Victims of domestic abuse find no haven in family courts]( Joan Meier, George Washington University Family courts’ hostility – both in the US and abroad – toward claims of paternal or spousal abuse has been widely reported. Now there’s an in-depth study that documents that hostility. Environment + Energy - [The US biofuel mandate helps farmers, but does little for energy security and harms the environment]( John DeCicco, University of Michigan The US has required motor fuels to contain 10% biofuels since 2005. As this program nears a key milestone in 2022, farm advocates want to expand it while critics want to pare it back or repeal it. Science + Technology - [Sea otters demonstrate that there is more to muscle than just movement – it can also bring the heat]( Traver Wright, Texas A&M University; Melinda Sheffield-Moore, Texas A&M University; Randall Davis, Texas A&M University New research finds that ‘leaky mitochondria’ help keep sea otters warm. Education - [Female faculty of color do extra diversity work for no extra reward – here’s how to fix that]( Joya Misra, University of Massachusetts Amherst; Alexandra Kuvaeva, University of Maryland; Audrey J. Jaeger, North Carolina State University; Dawn Culpepper, University of Maryland; KerryAnn O'Meara, University of Maryland If colleges want to address systemic racism within their institutions, they can start by crediting female faculty members of color for work that gets overlooked. A group of higher ed researchers explains how. - [School shootings are at a record high this year – but they can be prevented]( James Densley, Metropolitan State University ; Jillian Peterson, Hamline University School shootings are typically preceded by a series of warning signs. Are educators, police and policymakers paying enough attention? Health + Medicine - [Why COVID-19 must be included in safer sex messaging on college campuses]( Tamra Burns Loeb, University of California, Los Angeles; Gail Wyatt, University of California, Los Angeles; Michele R. Cooley-Strickland Schools have not adequately educated students about the increased risks of virus transmission when it comes to being sexually intimate. - [Use of HIV prevention treatments is very low among Southern Black gay men]( Oluwafemi Atanda Adeagbo, University of South Carolina; Xiaoming Li, University of South Carolina This finding suggests public health efforts will have to address the treatment barriers these men face – like poverty or homophobia – to meet the nation’s goal of ending the HIV epidemic by 2030. Trending on Site - [Will omicron – the new coronavirus variant of concern – be more contagious than delta? A virus evolution expert explains what researchers know and what they don’t]( Suresh V. Kuchipudi, Penn State It’s too early to say whether the newly identified omicron variant is going to overtake delta. But particular mutations in the new strain have researchers deeply concerned. - [Quitting your job or thinking about joining the ‘great resignation’? Here’s what an employment lawyer advises]( Elizabeth C. Tippett, University of Oregon A record number of Americans are quitting their jobs. But before you opt to join them, you should consider the risks and costs. - [What the public doesn’t get: Anti-CRT lawmakers are passing pro-CRT laws]( Jonathan Feingold, Boston University Critical race theory is often distorted by GOP politicians and pundits to stir up its Trump base. But CRT is needed more, not less, argues one legal scholar, to explain American racial disparities. - --------------------------------------------------------------- Today’s graphic [A bar graph showing the largest destinations for the money flowing from donor-advised funds from 2014 to 2018, in a research project's sample.]( From the story, [Giving Tuesday: Charitable gifts from donor-advised funds favor education and religion]( [The Conversation]( You’re receiving this newsletter from [The Conversation]( 303 Wyman Street, Suite 300 Waltham, MA 02451 [Forward to a friend]( • [Unsubscribe](