The Texas abortion bill.

I’m Isaac Saul, and this is Tangle: an independent, ad-free, subscriber-supported politics newsletter that summarizes the best arguments from across the political spectrum — then “my take.”

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Today’s read: 13 minutes.

The Texas abortion law. Plus, a question about decriminalizing drugs.

Tomorrow.

You’ve been hearing a lot from me about Afghanistan. Tomorrow, in a subscribers only edition, we’ll be publishing a piece from Tamim Ansary, an Afghan-American author who submitted a really compelling piece to us about the last few weeks in Afghanistan. To receive it, you need to be a subscriber. You can do that here:

Quick hits.

1. Tropical storm Ida battered the northeast, and at least 9 people died in flooding in the New York region. (The floods)

2. A Colorado grand jury has indicted three police officers and two paramedics who were involved in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man who was placed in a carotid hold and then injected with ketamine while in police custody. (The story)

3. Covid-19-era federal jobless benefits are set to expire on September 6, and the Biden administration has told states to use emergency coronavirus funds if they want to provide additional benefits to their unemployed. (The end)

4. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) has been appointed vice chair of the committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack at the capitol. (The announcement)

5. A bankruptcy judge has approved a settlement to dissolve OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma. (The ruling)

What D.C. is talking about.

Texas. Yesterday, a divided Supreme Court allowed a new Texas law that bans abortions after six weeks to remain in place. It is the most restrictive abortion law passed in America since abortions became legal nearly 50 years ago. The bill prohibits abortions once medical professionals can say there is “a detectable fetal heartbeat,” but this detection includes embryonic cardiac activity that happens around six weeks — often before a woman knows she is pregnant (these bills are colloquially referred to as “heartbeat bills,” however, opponents of the bill have argued this language is misleading because an embryo isn’t deemed a fetus until the 11th week of pregnancy, and the detectable activity is not always an actual heartbeat). There are exemptions in the bill for medical emergencies but no exemption for rape or incest.

The court’s ruling