First Thing: supreme court abortion ruling sure to inflame America’s divisions

Only 25% of Americans now have confidence in the institution. Plus, shipwreck of US destroyer Sammy B' discovered

• Don't already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up here

Good morning.

Millions of women lost their constitutional right to abortion on Friday after America's highest court overturned a near 50-year-old ruling and other precedents enshrining that right, leaving only 25% of Americans with confidence in the institution.

What are leading Democrats saying? They have burned whatever legitimacy they may still have had," Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren said of the supreme court. They just took the last of it and set a torch to it."

What else are politicians saying? Several senators who recently approved justices responsible for this decision said they felt deceived. These politicians pointed to prior statements from Trump appointees Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch; both male judges had claimed they would not overturn Roe. I feel misled," Susan Collins said.

Are there any options to overturn the decision? Options to challenge the court ruling are limited. Legal scholar Lawrence Tribe said: We're in for a long, tangled, chaotic and, in terms of human suffering, horribly costly struggle."

Why does the request from Brooks stand out? It's because he explicitly outlines two groups for whom he was seeking preemptive pardons, opening a window into his thinking and potentially revealing for what conduct he worried that they might have been guilty of a crime.