After a conservative majority of the Arizona Supreme Court ruled April 9 to uphold an antiquated near-total abortion ban from 1864, the shockwaves on both sides of the political aisle were immediate and obvious. Democrats decried the court’s decision, vowing to redouble efforts to pass an amendment to the state’s constitution. If passed, the Arizona Abortion Access Act would effectively negate the court’s ruling and guarantee abortion access to all Arizona citizens. Republicans faced a far...
One woman miscarried in the restroom lobby of a Texas emergency room as front desk staff refused to admit her. Another woman learned that her fetus had no heartbeat at a Florida hospital, the day after a security guard turned her away from the facility. And in North Carolina, a woman gave birth in a car after an emergency room couldn't offer an ultrasound. The baby later died. Complaints that pregnant women were turned away from U.S. emergency rooms spiked in 2022 after the U.S. Supreme Court...
It's an old story, but it never gets old: Democrats just whooped Republicans in fundraising—again. This week on "The Downballot" podcast, we're running through some of the most eye-popping numbers Democrats hauled in during the first quarter of the year (Sherrod Brown! Jon Tester! Colin Allred!) and the comparatively weak performances we're seeing from Republicans almost across the board. The GOP hopes to make up the gap by relying on self-funders, but a campaign without a strong fundraising...
‘They’re going to be holding many principals or teachers accountable,’ governor says by Michael Moline, Florida Phoenix The DeSantis administration plans to punish teachers and principals deemed to be exploiting public school book challenges to, in the governor’s view, “weaponize” Florida’s parental rights laws. DeSantis leveled that charge Monday during a news conference in Pensacola. On Tuesday, he raised it again during a second news conference in Jacksonville, where he signed...
by Kelcie Moseley-Morris, Idaho Capital Sun Following a legislative session with no action taken to clarify or amend Idaho’s near-total abortion ban, some residents have formed a political group called Idahoans United for Women and Families to explore options for a possible 2026 ballot initiative that would restore and protect access to reproductive care statewide, including abortion. Idaho has a near-total ban on abortion with narrow exceptions for rape and incest during the first...
On a brisk day at a restaurant outside Chicago, Deb Robertson sat with her teenage grandson to talk about her death. She’ll probably miss his high school graduation. She declined the extended warranty on her car. Sometimes she wonders who will be at her funeral. Those things don’t frighten her much. The 65-year-old didn’t cry when she learned two months ago that the cancerous tumors in her liver were spreading, portending a tormented death. But later, she received a call. A bill moving...
Our celebration of Jazz Appreciation Month 2024 honors musicians who were born in April while highlighting the contributions made to jazz by Duke Ellington. This week, let’s pay tribute to trombonist, composer, and arranger Locksley Wellington “Slide” Hampton, who was born on April 21, 1932, in Pennsylvania. In case you missed it, check out our JAM kickoff and Duke Ellington retrospective here: Black Music Sunday: It's Jazz Appreciation Month! ”Black Music Sunday” is a weekly series...
Abbreviated Pundit Roundup is a long-running series published every morning that collects essential political discussion and analysis around the internet. We begin today with Annie Karni of The New York Times writing that House Speaker Mike Johnson now has a status within the Republican Party equivalent to former Vice President Mike Pence due to the House passage of funding for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan yesterday. When Mr. Pence refused former President Donald J. Trump’s demands that he...
It seemed for a while that House troll Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was alone in wanting her motion to vacate (MTV). While Speaker in Name Only Mike Johnson was okay when it was only Marjorie calling