From the Associated Press
NEW YORK – Bringing together proponents of abortion rights in New York, Attorney General Leticia James has revealed that she had an abortion nearly two decades ago.
As a newly elected member of the Municipal Council, “I proudly joined Planned Parenthood. And I’m not apologizing to anyone, “the Democrat told a crowd of protesters filling a square in lower Manhattan.
College student Chloe Segelka said she grew up thinking abortion rights were a US issue, but a draft U.S. Supreme Court ruling, if approved, would allow states to decide for themselves whether to ban abortion.
“It is discouraging to see the hard work of our mothers, aunts and grandmothers thrown out the window,” said 21-year-old Tsegelka.
Judith Burnett, 73, said she remembered when Rowe’s decision was made, calling it a time when women were believed to make reproductive decisions for themselves.
“I don’t understand how good it was to make this election, this very, very personal choice for someone else,” Burnett said.
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KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE STORY OF ABORTION:
“Biden says if Rowe v. Wade is overturned, other rights could be next.”
“Chief Justice John Roberts is launching an investigation into the leak.”
“Several state bans on abortion will begin if Rowe is lifted.”
– The expiration of the draft opinion was a shock to the observers of the Supreme Court
– Senate Democrats are outraged, say they will lead the fight to the election campaign
Find all AP stories about abortion:
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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:
WASHINGTON – Vice President Kamala Harris is challenging a draft US Supreme Court ruling that will overturn federal abortion rights.
“How dare you,” she said Tuesday in a speech at the national conference of the Emily Political Action Committee. “How dare they try to deprive women of their rights and freedoms?”
The draft decision, which expired on Monday night, will overturn the Rowe v. Wade case of 1973, which legalizes abortion across the country.
“Women’s rights in America are under attack,” Harris said. “Today we know our goal, we know what we are facing.
“Let’s fight everything we have,” she said.
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LAREDO, Texas – U.S. Secretary of State Henry Cuelar of Texas, one of the last Democrats in Congress to oppose abortion, said Tuesday that a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that will overturn Rowe v. Wade goes too far and divides the country. .
The 17-year-old is in the midst of the toughest re-election battle of his career against progressive contender Jessica Cisneros. It was backed by abortion rights groups ahead of their primary run-off on May 24, which could be the first test of whether a leak from the court will boost voters, as many Democrats predict.
In a statement, Cuelar reiterated his opposition to abortion, but said the project was “not based on precedent and is not gradual”.
“As a Catholic, I do not support abortion, but we cannot have a total ban,” Cuelar said. “There must be exceptions in cases of rape, incest and danger to the mother’s life.
Cisneros fell behind Cuellar by about 1,000 votes in the March primary. She criticized him again on Tuesday for being the only Democrat in the House of Representatives who did not support a bill earlier this year to protect abortion rights.
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RENO, Nev. – Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, a Democrat who supports abortion rights, said Tuesday that the state’s residents are among those who will not be immediately affected by a Supreme Court ruling overturning Rowe v. Wade. This is because voters adopted a referendum in 1990 guaranteeing the right to legal abortion until the 24th week of pregnancy.
But Ford said he shared concerns expressed by President Joe Biden and others that other privacy rights could be jeopardized if judges follow suit, including same-sex marriage and birth control.
Former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt, an anti-abortion Republican who wants a Republican nomination to try to oust Democrat Senator Catherine Cortez-Masto in November, praised the draft opinion.
“If the expired decision reflects the final decision of the Supreme Court, it would be a historic victory for the sanctity of life and the principles of democratic self-determination,” he said in a statement.
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WASHINGTON – Hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Women of all backgrounds, from near and far, aged 24 to 84, traveled to protest an expired draft opinion that would reject Rowe’s remarkable ruling against Wade. In interviews, women cite various reasons for their appearance. For the younger protesters, they saw that their own reproductive rights were at stake. For the older protesters, it was a battle their grandchildren did not want to do again.
Thirty-nine-year-old Jessica Fendrick was driving an hour from Bel Air, Maryland, on Tuesday morning after reading the news.
“I can’t believe how many women I’ve met who have done this in their lives. And so I feel I owe it to them to be here because they’ve already done that, “she said. “And now we have to fight for them again.”
Fendrick said it was a shock to read the draft.
“I really thought the Supreme Court nominees had indicated that Rowe v. Wade was a precedent and that they would keep that promise they made under oath,” Fendrick said.
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TOPECA, Cannes. – Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat and a strong supporter of abortion rights in a Republican-dominated state, vowed on Tuesday to “continue to oppose any regressive legislation that interferes with individual rights or freedoms.”
Voters in Kansas will decide in the primary election in August whether to add language to the state constitution sought by abortion opponents, saying nothing in the charter provides for the right to abortion.
The voting initiative aims to overturn a 2019 Kansas Supreme Court ruling declaring access to abortion a “fundamental” right that enemies of abortion fear could lead the court to lift existing restrictions. But if Rowe v. Wade is repealed, the change will allow Republican-controlled lawmakers to ban abortions.
“Although I do not want to jump to conclusions based on an expired draft, I want to reiterate that I have always believed that every woman’s reproductive decisions should be left to her and her doctor,” Kelly said in a statement.
Kelly’s alleged Republican opponent in the gubernatorial race, Attorney General Derek Schmid, says that despite the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Kansas voters still have to pass the state vote initiative.
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AUSTIN, Texas – Carina Munoz, who works at a clinic in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, which specializes in women’s health services, said Tuesday she receives about 100-150 calls a day about abortion services.
She said at least half of the callers were from the United States and most were from Texas, which shares approximately 230 miles (370 kilometers) of the border with Tamaulipas, Mexico’s most northeastern state.
When called, she said she explained to clients that although Mexico’s Supreme Court has set a legal precedent by decriminalizing abortion in the case of Coahuila, a state that also shares a long border with Texas, abortion is not yet allowed in Tamaulipas.
She said clients in the United States treated by her clinic could only be seen for health and prenatal examinations, and that abortion seekers were advised to seek them where legal.
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WASHINGTON – Angry Senate Democrats have vowed to vote on legislation to protect access to abortion for millions of Americans.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday angrily condemned an expired Supreme Court ruling that would overturn Rowe’s remarkable ruling against Wade.
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia is adamant about refusing to end the filibuster, saying Tuesday that “the flibuster is the only defense we have for democracy.”
So without Republican support, Congress is essentially powerless to prevent access to abortion.
Schumer did not promise to change Senate rules to overcome Republican obstacles to saving the abortion law.
Key Republican Senator Lisa Markowski said that if the bill was delayed, “it would shake my credibility in court.”
Democrats have signaled they will fight during the election campaign this fall.
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SANTA FE, New Mexico – New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who signed a law last year lifting the state’s long-term ban on most abortion procedures, took to Twitter on Tuesday to vow to protect local access to abortion services.
Grisham, a Democrat who signed the law in anticipation of a new approach by the US Supreme Court, wrote that “The moment so many of us fear is before us.”
Voters in New Mexico in 2020 ousted several socially conservative Democratic lawmakers who backed the state’s 1969 ban.
New Mexico is already accepting many patients from neighboring states such as Texas, who have tightened restrictions on abortion procedures. Albuquerque is home to one of the few independent clinics in the country to perform third-trimester abortions.
Republicans in the legislative minority have vowed to review the state’s abortion laws, while pro-democracy activists have scheduled an evening women’s march in support of abortion rights before a federal court in the state capital of Santa Fe.
House Speaker Brian Eolf said on Twitter on Tuesday that “the trend in this country is dangerous. Today it is a loss of access to care; the next is contraception. “
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OVERLAND PARK, CAN. – Dr. Iman Alsaden, medical director of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, said that her organization already had an idea of what the landscape would look like after Rowe against Wade.
Abortion ban in Texas …
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