Here’s what to expect as the Supreme Court enters the final stretch

CNN
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The Supreme Court is turning toward the final, frenzied weeks of its term, readying potential blockbuster decisions on abortion, guns and former President Donald Trump’s claims of absolute immunity.

The decisions will land rapidly at a tense time for the 6-3 conservative-liberal court – just before a historic presidential election that has been heavily influenced by its decision two years ago to overturn Roe v. Wade. Public opinion of the court remains at record lows. Conservative Justice Samuel Alito, meanwhile, is facing sharp blowback over two controversial flags raised at his homes in Virginia and New Jersey.

Here are some of the remaining cases to be decided before July.

Trump’s appeal for immunity from special counsel Jack Smith’s election subversion charges landed at the Supreme Court late in the term and instantly overshadowed most of the docket.

Trump argued that without immunity, presidents would be hamstrung in office, always fearful of being second guessed by a zealous prosecutor after leaving the White House. That position appeared to have some purchase on the conservative Supreme Court during oral arguments in April, though it didn’t appear Trump would be able to get Smith’s case tossed entirely.

The immunity case, appears likely to come down to whether Trump’s post-election actions were “official” – that is, steps he was taking as president – or whether they were “private,” which would not likely receive immunity.

An appeals court in Washington sided against Trump.

The Supreme Court will decide what happens when pregnant women show up to the hospital with medical emergencies in states that have strict bans on abortion. An Idaho law bars doctors from performing abortions unless the mother’s life is at risk, but it makes no exception if that she would suffer long-term health consequences.

The Biden administration argues a federal law requires hospitals to perform abortions if the health of a mother is at stake, and an appeals court agreed.

The decision in Moyle v. US will place abortion access on the forefront again this summer just as Americans begin tuning into the presidential election.

Another major abortion case deals with whether the US Food and Drug Administration overstepped its authority by expanding access to the abortion pill mifepristone, such as by allowing the drug to be dispensed without in-person clinical visits.

Access to mifepristone has become particularly important after the court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago and many states banned the procedure in clinical settings. Medication abortions account for nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the US, according to some estimates.

The appeal was filed by anti-abortion doctors who say their practices have been affected because they must treat women who had complications from the drug. The FDA and outside medical groups have stressed that mifepristone is safe. The doctors have faced scrutiny over whether they have been harmed in a way that gives them standing to sue.