newsinsightplus.com
- 160yearold
- 2023Florida
- April 13, 2024
- 0 Comments
BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaArizona abortion ban: Kamala Harris blames TrumpPublished13 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsUS abortion debateImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Democrats are working to tie strict abortion bans to Donald TrumpBy Holly Honderichin WashingtonVice-President Kamala Harris lambasted Donald Trump over abortion restrictions as she held a campaign rally in Tucson, Arizona on Friday. The state was pushed to the front of the US abortion battle this week after the state’s Supreme Court upheld a 1864 law banning almost all abortions.”Donald Trump did this,” Ms Harris said.Her remarks added to recent attacks from the Biden campaign tying Mr Trump to abortion bans nationwide.Mr Trump campaigned in 2016 on appointing justices who would overturn Roe v Wade. He put three conservatives on the court, all of whom voted to overturn Roe in June 2022 and rescinded the nationwide right to abortion. An estimated 18 million women of reproductive age now do not have access to the procedure in their state of residence, according to the pro-choice research group the Guttmacher Institute. “We all must understand who is to blame,” Ms Harris said on Friday. “Donald Trump is the architect of this healthcare crisis.” She claimed that “a second Trump term would be even worse… he will sign a national abortion ban.”A spokesman for the Trump campaign denied supporting a national ban, saying he “could not have been more clear. These are decisions for people of each state to make”.Chants of ‘shame’ as Arizona lawmakers spar over abortionTrump backlash spotlights an abortion balancing actArizona’s 160-year-old law has given Ms Harris and her fellow Democrats another chance to focus their 2024 election efforts on abortion, a strategy that has proven effective in local and state races. Abortion access remains broadly popular among the American public.Mr Trump has sought to distance himself from Arizona’s ban, calling on state politicians to repeal the law. Speaking from his West Palm Beach residence on Friday afternoon, Mr Trump said the 1864 law was “going to be changed by the government”. But he also took credit for “breaking” Roe. “We did something that nobody thought was possible, we gave it back to the states, and the states are working very brilliantly,” he said. “It’s working the way it’s supposed to,” he said.Kari Lake, the presumptive Republican nominee for an open Arizona Senate seat and a close ally of Mr Trump, has also publicly renounced the law, and on Thursday called the ban “out of line” with state voters. Ms Lake previously praised the ban, calling it a “great law”. It is still unclear when and how the 1864 ban will be enforced. The Arizona Supreme Court put the ruling on hold for at least 14 days while a lower court considered added arguments about the law’s constitutionality. The state’s Democrat attorney general, Kris Mayes, has said she would not prosecute anyone performing or obtaining abortions. Initial attempts by Democrats to repeal the law in the state legislature were thwarted by senior Republicans. Arizona’s voters may also have a chance to reverse the law themselves with a likely ballot initiative that, if passed in November, would protect abortion rights until 24 weeks of pregnancy. Pro-choice activists in the state say they have already met the signature threshold required to put the question to voters this autumn.This video can not be playedTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.Media caption, Hear from Arizonans on both sides of the abortion debateRelated TopicsAbortionKamala HarrisDonald TrumpUS abortion debateUnited StatesArizonaMore on this storyTrump backlash spotlights an abortion balancing actPublished19 September 2023Florida takes centre stage in US abortion battlePublished3 April19th Century law fires up anti-abortion pushPublished26 MarchTop StoriesLive. Six dead and baby in surgery after multiple stabbings at Sydney mall, police say’I saw him running with the knife’: Witnesses tell of Sydney stabbing horrorPublished50 minutes agoAre Rayner’s troubles a sign of what’s to come for Labour?Published3 hours agoFeaturesThe children living between starvation and deathDifficult hunt for 12 impartial jurors to sit on historic Trump trialFacing disaster – the Forest fans at HillsboroughAttributionSportHow Zendaya perfected ‘method dressing’Sun, smoke and sport: Photos of the weekHow a North Korean missile researcher became a South Korean MPThe migrant story shining a light on Gulf states’ exploitationSuicide is on the rise for young Americans. Why?’I survived the ferry disaster – but lost 17 of my family’Elsewhere on the BBC’She was the right side of cheeky’Dua Lipa makes a surprise visit to her old schoolAttributioniPlayerFrom the largest ship to disasters on deck…A closer look at times when cruise ships have caused commotionAttributioniPlayerThese adorable mice love Sir David AttenboroughThey bond over Planet Earth III and mountains of poo!AttributioniPlayerRobin Williams: from iconic shots to private snapsTen defining pictures throw a unique lens onto an extraordinary lifeAttributioniPlayerMost Read1Why did all the Little Chefs disappear?2’I saw him running with the knife’: Witnesses tell of Sydney stabbing horror3Are Rayner’s troubles a sign of what’s to come for Labour?4How Zendaya perfected ‘method dressing’5The honeytrap mystery is even stranger than we thought6Bates looking at Post Office private prosecutions7Ukraine could face defeat in 2024. Here’s how that might look8’I was told it might be better if my baby died’9Truss thought ‘why me, why now?’ after Queen’s death10BBC Russian journalist branded ‘foreign agent’
[ad_1] Donald Trump has distanced himself from a revived 1864 law that would ban most abortions.
![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaLet individual states decide abortion rights, Trump saysPublished25 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsUS abortion debateImage source, Getty ImagesBy James FitzGerald & Sam CabralBBC NewsDonald Trump has said decisions about abortion rights should be left to the states, releasing a statement on the contentious election issue on Monday.Many in his Republican Party had wanted him to back a nationwide ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.But Mr Trump said policies should be set by individual states – as they have been since the Supreme Court overturned the Roe v Wade decision in 2022.Since then, preserving abortion rights has become a top issue for many voters.Some states have been tightening restrictions on abortion, while others have moved to widen access. President Joe Biden, responding to Mr Trump’s statement, said his rival in November’s election was worried voters would punish him on the issue at the polls.In his video, Mr Trump declared: “My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint; the states will determine by vote or legislation, or perhaps both.”Mr Trump also said he was “proudly the person responsible” for the change brought about by the US Supreme Court two years ago, when it overturned the longstanding Roe v Wade decision that a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy was protected by the US constitution.In 2016, Mr Trump campaigned on appointing justices who would overturn Roe v Wade – and went on to put three conservatives on the court during his presidency.In his statement, he acknowledged this would create a piecemeal situation: “Many states will be different. Many will have a different number of weeks or some will have more conservative than others. But he said it came down to “the will of the people”, adding: “You must follow your heart or in many cases, your religion or your faith.” Mr Trump added that he was in favour of exceptions when rape or incest were involved, or the life of the mother was in danger. Four ways the end of Roe v Wade has changed AmericaFlorida takes centre stage in US abortion battle19th Century law fires up anti-abortion pushHe also reiterated he was in favour of fertility treatments including in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), a reference to the Alabama supreme court ruling that opened a new front in the battle over reproductive rights.The former president also falsely claimed that national Democratic leaders have a “radical” abortion position that includes “execution after birth”.Mr Trump, who is all but certain to be the Republican presidential candidate, acknowledged that the abortion issue has caused major problems for his party in elections held since 2022. Voters angry at the Supreme Court decision have showed up at the polls to support Democratic candidates, as well as ballot measures intended to preserve access to abortion. Democrats have seized on the issue as a way to help re-elect Mr Biden in November.On Monday the president sent out a lengthy response to the Trump statement, saying his rival was “scrambling”.”Having created the chaos of overturning Roe, he’s trying to say, ‘Oh, never mind. Don’t punish me for that. I just want to win,'” Mr Biden wrote.He also alleged that Mr Trump would sign off on a federal abortion ban proposed by congressional Republicans if he returned to the White House.Mr Biden has made universal access to abortion a central campaign issue and pledged that he will work to create a federal law based on the Roe decision.Conservative reaction to Mr Trump’s message was largely negative, with the conservative Susan B Anthony Pro-Life America group saying it was “deeply disappointed”.Some took issue with him not saying at what number of weeks he supports a ban – despite previously signalling support for a 15-week limit – and many also said abortion policy should be set by the federal government.South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, a key Trump ally who has proposed a 15-week abortion ban, said he “respectfully [disagrees]” that abortion should be decided by individual states.”The pro-life movement has always been about the wellbeing of the unborn child – not geography,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).The head of the Students for Life of America reaffirmed her support for Mr Trump but said the group would keep pushing.”We clearly have some work to do to educate President Trump in the many ways that abortion has been made federal,” Kristan Hawkins wrote on X.While conservative states have moved to limit abortion access over the last two years, other states have passed laws to enshrine abortion rights in law. Last week, Florida became the latest state to chart its own course – setting up perhaps the highest-stakes political showdown on the issue so far. First, the state’s supreme court upheld the state’s right to prohibit abortion, giving the green light for a six-week ban to take effect on 1 May. This amounts to a near-total ban, given that many women do not realise they are pregnant at six weeks.But the court is also allowing Floridians to vote in November on whether abortion rights should be protected in the state constitution.Mr Trump, who resides in Florida, won the state in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections – but the Biden campaign says the abortion debate has made the state “winnable” in November.Related TopicsAbortionFloridaIVFDonald TrumpUS abortion debateMore on this storyFlorida voters to have say on six-week abortion banPublished6 days agoTop StoriesLive. Crowds in Mexico and Texas see partial solar eclipseLive. Qatar cautiously optimistic as Israel and Hamas continue ceasefire talksWatch: Gaza footage shows collapsed buildings and homes in ruin. VideoWatch: Gaza footage shows collapsed buildings and homes in ruinPublished8 hours agoFeaturesWhen and where in the UK can you see Monday’s solar eclipse?’The NHS paid for my mum to go private. She died’Gazans return to devastation in Khan YounisMyanmar’s army massacred Rohingyas. Now it wants their helpBiggest WrestleMania yet? Fans stunned as The Rock and The Undertaker return to ringAmy Winehouse film: ‘Paparazzi are the villains’ not BlakeBBC visits ruins of kibbutz Nir Oz, abandoned after Hamas attack. VideoBBC visits ruins of kibbutz Nir Oz, abandoned after Hamas attackHow much is the state pension worth now?When is Eid al-Fitr and how do Muslims celebrate it?Elsewhere on the BBCFinding the funny in the week’s big storiesIan Hislop, Paul Merton and a who’s who of hosts welcome a gaggle of guest panellistsAttributioniPlayerBlowing the lid on a baffling online scamPolly Weston’s determined to get to the bottom of the con involving a £138 dehumidifierAttributionSoundsWhat went disastrously wrong at Pontins?An investigation into the state of three holiday parks before their sudden closure…AttributioniPlayerThe opera-loving sisters who ‘stumbled’ into heroismHelena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War TwoAttributionSoundsMost Read1Human remains found in Croydon park are identified2Bradford stabbing victim named as manhunt continues3Marvel star Majors avoids jail and gets probation4Two men jailed for footballer’s nightclub murder5When and where in the UK can you see Monday’s solar eclipse?6How I was targeted in the Westminster honeytrap7What’s behind Russian frenzy to blame Ukraine for concert attack?8Long Covid blood clues could prompt future trials9Fans hail ‘best WrestleMania’ as WWE icons return10Jail people for Post Office scandal, says minister](https://newsinsightplus.com/wp-content/uploads/https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/branded_news/1478/production/_133104250_gettyimages-2133977364.jpg)
![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaAnti-abortion activists plan backdoor strategy to US banPublished1 hour agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsUS abortion debateImage source, Getty ImagesBy Holly Honderichin WashingtonUS anti-abortion activists, including allies of Donald Trump, have a strategy to ban abortion nationwide – one that bypasses Congress and the American people. It’s a plan that hinges on Mr Trump’s re-election in November and the use of a little-known 19th Century law.At this year’s annual “Pro-Life Summit” on 20 January, guests listened to a keynote speech from Marjorie Dannenfelser, head of Susan B Anthony Pro-Life America, one of the country’s most influential anti-abortion groups. Ms Dannenfelser is widely credited with convincing Donald Trump to appoint three anti-abortion justices to the Supreme Court during his presidential term. In June 2022, those appointees helped overturn Roe v Wade, rescinding the nationwide right to abortion. It was a generational victory for the anti-abortion movement. The runway had opened, activists said at the time, to an abortion-free future. But in the nearly two years since, their campaign has stalled in crucial ways. The American public has shown consistent support for abortion access, even in conservative states. And the movement’s ultimate goal – a federal abortion ban – has remained out of reach, a near-impossibility in a divided Congress that can unite behind few legislative priorities. The political reality has not escaped anti-abortion campaigners. Addressing her audience in the grand ballroom of a Washington DC hotel a rapt crowd of the movement’s most devoted followers – Ms Dannenfelser spent nearly half of her speech urging the audience not to lose hope. “It hasn’t been missed on any of us, right? That it has been hard,” she said. “We all know.”But anti-abortion activists may have a trump card. Conservative leaders, including allies of Mr Trump, have mapped out a new path to outlaw abortion. The plan could work, experts say, if the former president returns to the White House.”There could be a de facto nationwide ban that Trump could try to enforce on day one if he wins,” said Mary Ziegler, a law professor at the University of California, Davis, and a leading expert on the US abortion debate. “It’s the Comstock Act.” Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Anti-abortion activists have struggled to advance their cause in the nearly two years since Roe was overturnedA 150-year-old lawThe Comstock Act, championed by anti-vice crusader Anthony Comstock and passed in 1873, made it a federal crime to send or receive any material deemed “obscene, lewd or lascivious”. The statute makes specific mention of birth control and abortion, barring any materials designed or intended for “the prevention of conception or procuring of abortion”.Over the next century, various court rulings clarified the law’s meaning, gradually narrowing its scope. In 1971, Congress removed most of Comstock’s restrictions on contraceptives and two years later, through Roe, the Supreme Court established a constitutional right to abortion. By then, the act was seen as a largely unenforceable relic, and remained dormant for 50 years. But now, within right-wing circles, the Comstock Act is being revived. Without Roe in place to guarantee access to abortion, the logic is straightforward. According to a broad reading of the law, the mailing of any materials related to abortion – through the United States Postal Service and through private carriers like UPS and FedEx – would be illegal. By preventing any of the medications or tools necessary for the procedure from reaching hospitals and clinics, Comstock would act as an effective block on abortions, getting around the need for Congress to pass any new legislation.”It is sweepingly broad language,” said Rachel Rebouché, dean and law professor at Temple University Law school, and a leading scholar in reproductive health law. “If it was applied literally, it [Comstock] could be a ban on an abortion in an indirect way, because everything gets mailed to outfit abortion clinics.”The conservative strategyAnti-abortion activists and leading conservative groups have started preparing for this approach, crafting legal arguments and political strategies that reinterpret Comstock as an enforceable abortion ban.Josh Craddock, a lawyer and scholar with the conservative James Wilson Institute, has written extensively against the legality of abortion. He said fellow anti-abortion activists had coalesced around Comstock, describing it as “one of the most promising ways to help advance the cause of life in America right now”.”It doesn’t depend on Congress to act, or the Supreme Court to rule, there’s already federal law that protects unborn life,” he said. “That’s very black and white.” Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Abortion has continued to divide the American electorate, though the majority supports access to the procedureComstock will be raised before the Supreme Court this week as part of arguments from a group of anti-abortion activists and doctors who want federal approval of the abortion drug mifepristone to be withdrawn. And it has been invoked specifically in the conservative Heritage Foundation’s playbook for the next Republican administration, dubbed Project 2025. After the Supreme Court overturned Roe, there is no longer any block on enforcing this statute, the Foundation said of Comstock. “The Department of Justice in the next conservative Administration should therefore announce its intent to enforce federal law against providers and distributors of such pills,” it concluded, referring to abortion pills.Project 2025’s abortion section was crafted by former Trump administration official Roger Severino, who declined the BBC’s request for comment through a representative. And the project as a whole includes most major anti-abortion groups on its advisory board, including Ms Dannenfelser’s SBA Pro-Life America and Students for Life, run by Kristan Hawkins. Can it work?Anti-abortion activists are excited by the legal theory behind the Comstock strategy. Implementing it in practice will depend on a federal government being willing to enforce the law after decades on the shelf.But experts insist this is feasible, even likely, with Mr Trump in the White House. “All it takes is an administrative decision from the Department of Justice that they are going to go after people for violating Comstock,” said David Cohen, a law professor at Drexel University and an expert on abortion law. “The friction involved is very low, other than winning an election.”Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Anti-abortion activists say they expect Mr Trump to deliver once again on their agendaIf Comstock was enforced in this way, it would almost certainly lead to a rush of legal challenges and possibly end up in front of the Supreme Court. The effect of a federal ban would be both expansive and deeply unpopular. About 69% of voters think that abortion should be legal throughout the first three months of pregnancy – the period when most abortions occur – according to a recent Gallup poll. A political liabilityThat’s why, some critics say, anti-abortion activists have tried to keep their Comstock strategy quiet. “They [Republicans] know this is unpopular,” said Ryan Stitzlein, vice-president of government relations at the pro-choice group Reproductive Freedom for All, formerly called NARAL. “So they have to find ways to obfuscate or hide the ball.” In New Mexico, where Comstock has been invoked in efforts to create abortion-free “sanctuary cities”, activists have referred mostly to its statute number – 18 USC 1461 and 1462.It’s the same with Project 2025. Though the law is quoted directly, the word “Comstock” doesn’t appear a single time in the 920-page document. Only the statute numbers are cited. Jonathan Mitchell, an anti-abortion lawyer who has championed the Comstock strategy, told the New York Times last month he thought anti-abortion groups “should keep their mouths shut as much as possible until the election”.And Mr Mitchell, who has represented Mr Trump in the past, reportedly said he hoped the former president didn’t know about Comstock either “because I just don’t want him to shoot off his mouth”. Mr Mitchell did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment. All eyes on the White HouseIf Mr Trump does return to the White House next year, his support for Comstock will be necessary for any major enforcement of the law. He has made no public mention so far of the statute, and his views on abortion more broadly remain fuzzy. Mr Trump once declared himself “the most pro-life president ever”. More recently, apparently frustrated by Republican election losses linked to abortion bans, he has become publicly critical of tight restrictions, calling on “both sides” to compromise on legislation. “It could be state, or it could be federal,” Mr Trump said in an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press in September. “I don’t, frankly, care.” Then, last week, Mr Trump suggested he would support a federal ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother.”The number of weeks, now, people are agreeing on 15, and I’m thinking in terms of that,” he said on the “Sid & Friends in the Morning” radio show on WABC.Experts told the BBC that if re-elected, Mr Trump would likely approach abortion policy the same way he did in his first term: by deferring to activists in his orbit. “The business model in the past has been that Trump doesn’t particularly care, but that he assigns responsibility to people who do, who are very conservative,” said the University of California’s Mary Ziegler. And those who are promoting Comstock now are not fringe characters, she said, but former Trump administration officials and other allies of the former president. In the Heritage Foundation’s own telling, the first Trump administration “relied heavily” on its policy agenda in 2017, “embracing nearly two-thirds of Heritage’s proposals within just one year in office”.”It doesn’t mean that Trump is going to go for it. But it does mean that the people who are saying he will have credibility,” Ms Ziegler said. “These are very much Trump-world insiders who have his ear.” Related TopicsAbortionUS abortion debateUnited StatesMore on this storyAnti-abortion movement stalls as election year loomsPublished19 JanuaryFour ways the end of Roe v Wade has changed AmericaPublished24 June 2023US Supreme Court to consider abortion pill casePublished13 December 2023Top StoriesUN Security Council passes Gaza ceasefire resolutionPublished5 hours agoBowen: Biden has decided strong words are not enoughPublished2 hours agoUK hits out at Chinese-backed cyber-attacksPublished48 minutes agoFeaturesThe Papers: MPs say China is a ‘threat’ and the ‘Kate effect’ At Gate 96 – the new crossing into Gaza where aid struggles to get inWhat can the UK do about China cyber-attacks? AudioWhat can the UK do about China cyber-attacks?AttributionSoundsDebunking the false Moscow attack claimsMoscow survivor: ‘They shot indiscriminately’ VideoMoscow survivor: ‘They shot indiscriminately’Say one thing, do another? The government’s record net migration riseThe hunt for physics’ mysterious ‘ghost’ particlesA guide to Trump’s four criminal casesOn board HMS Diamond as it faces Houthi missilesElsewhere on the BBCOne of the most talented bands never to make it…Why did trailblazers Microdisney fail to achieve the commercial success they deserved?AttributioniPlayerA satirical sideswipe at news and current affairsSteve Punt and Hugh Dennis present the week via topical stand-up and sketchesAttributionSoundsCan they take on an elite boarding school?Five black inner-city teens must leave their old worlds behind…AttributioniPlayerCaffeine: Dangers and benefitsFind out what effects this drug can have on dementia and cardiovascular diseaseAttributionSoundsMost Read1Kate Garraway: I have huge debts from husband’s care2MPs say China is a ‘threat’ and the ‘Kate effect’3Probation mistake ‘signed my daughter’s death warrant’4Law enforcement raids Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’s properties5UN Security Council passes Gaza ceasefire resolution6Bowen: Biden has decided strong words are not enough7Gove failed to register football tickets on time8Millions of Americans caught up in Chinese hacking plot – US9Sacha Baron Cohen hits back over Rebel Wilson book10UK hits out at Chinese-backed cyber-attacks](https://newsinsightplus.com/wp-content/uploads/https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/branded_news/E725/production/_132937195_gettyimages-1259013674.jpg)
