Judge Deems Iowa's Fetal Heartbeat Law Unconstitutional

The tiniest shred of good news feels like sunlight bursting through the sky after a thousand-day-long winter.

Here’s all the shit we couldn’t cover today:

• An Iowa judge declared the state’s fetal heartbeat law, the most prohibitive anti-abortion restriction in the country, unconstitutional. The law barred providers from performing abortions after they can detect a fetal heartbeat, which can happen as early as six weeks into pregnancy. [USA Today]
• The Trump administration is allowing government-contracted child welfare agencies in South Carolina to discriminate against foster and adoptive parents on the basis of religion. [The Intercept]
• Mitch McConnell just blocked a bill that would reopen most of the government. We are going to be stuck in this shutdown for fucking ever. [The Hill]
• Donald Trump is planning to deliver the State of the Union on January 29. [Twitter/Ed O’Keefe]
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is not letting him deliver it on the floor of the House of Representatives until and unless the government shutdown ends. [Twitter/Kelly O’Donnell]
• Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen has delayed his Congressional testimony over safety concerns. [Twitter/Maggie Haberman]
• Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaido has declared himself interim president after protesters flooded the streets calling for President Nicolas Maduro’s removal. The Trump administration has recognized Guaido, as have Canada, Brazil, and Colombia. [AP]
• Don’t watch the Today Show interview with Covington High School teen Nick Sandmann. Instead, watch this one with Native American elder Nathan Phillips. [Colorlines]
• Here are some Covington Catholic students wearing blackface at a basketball game. [HuffPost]
• The White House has reached out to the racist Covington Catholic teens to express support. [CNN]
• Kamala Harris raised $1.5 million within one day of announcing her 2020 bid. [Slate]
• Indiana mayor named Pete Buttigieg, an unknown among an already-crowded ring, is making a 2020 bid too. [Politico]

Here are some tweets the president was allowed to publish:

This has been Barf Bag.