Conservative Justices Stir Trouble for Republican Politicians on Abortion

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2 weeks ago

April 18, 2024

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Abortion opponents have maneuvered in courthouses for years to end access to reproductive health care. In Arizona last week, a win for the anti-abortion camp caused political blowback for Republican candidates in the state and beyond. Use Our Content

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The reaction echoed the response to an Alabama Supreme Court decision over in vitro fertilization just two months before.

The election-year ruling by the Arizona Supreme Court allowing enforcement of a law from 1864 banning nearly all abortions startled Republican politicians, some of whom quickly turned to social media to denounce it.

The court decision was yet another development forcing many Republicans legislators and candidates to thread the needle: Maintain support among anti-abortion voters while not damaging their electoral prospects this fall. This shifting power dynamic between state judges and state lawmakers has turned into a high-stakes political gamble, at times causing daunting problems, on a range of reproductive health issues, for Republican candidates up and down the ballot.

When the U.S. Supreme Court said give it back to the states, OK, well now the microscope is on the states, said Jennifer Piatt, co-director of the Center for Public Health Law and Policy at Arizona State Universitys Sandra Day OConnor College of Law. We saw this in Alabama with the IVF decision, she said, and now were seeing it in Arizona.

Multiple Republicans have criticized the Arizona high courts decision on the 1864 law, which allows abortion only to save a pregnant womans life. This decision cannot stand. I categorically reject rolling back the clock to a time when slavery was still legal and where we could lock up women and doctors because of an abortion, state Rep. Matt Gress said in a video April 9. All four Arizona Supreme Court justices who said the long-dormant Arizona abortion ban could be enforced were appointed by former Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican who in 2016 expanded the number of state Supreme Court justices from five to seven and cemented the benchs conservative majority.

Yet in a post the day of the ruling on the social platform X, Ducey said the decision is not the outcome I would have preferred. Email Sign-Up

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The irony is that the decision came after years of efforts by Arizona Republicans to lock in a conservative majority on the court at the same time that the states politics were shifting more towards the middle, said Douglas Keith, senior counsel at the left-leaning Brennan Center for Justice.

All the while, anti-abortion groups have been pressuring Republicans to clearly define where they stand.

Whether running for office at the state or federal level, Arizona Republicans cannot adopt the losing ostrich strategy of burying their heads in the sand on the issue of abortion and allowing Democrats to define them, Kelsey Pritchard, a spokesperson for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said in an emailed statement. To win, Republicans must be clear on the pro-life protections they support, express compassion for women and unborn children, and contrast their position with the Democrat agenda.

Two months before the Arizona decision, the Alabama Supreme Court said frozen embryos from in vitro fertilization can be considered children under state law. The decision prompted clinics across the state to halt fertility treatments and caused a nationwide uproar over reproductive health rights. With Republicans feeling the heat, Alabama lawmakers scrambled to pass a law to shield IVF providers from prosecution and civil lawsuits for the damage to or death of an embryo during treatment.

But when it comes to courts, Arizona lawmakers are doubling down: state Supreme Court justices are appointed by the governor but generally face voters every six years in retention elections. That could soon change. A constitutional amendment referred by the Arizona Legislature that could appear on the November ballot would eliminate those regular elections triggering them only under limited circumstances and allow the justices to serve as long as they exhibit good behavior. Effectively it would grant justices lifetime appointments until age 70, when they must retire.

Even with the backlash against the Arizona courts abortion decision, Keith said, I suspect there arent Republicans in the state right now who are lamenting all these changes to entrench a conservative majority on the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, abortion rights groups are trying to get a voter-led state constitutional amendment on the ballot that would protect abortion access until fetal viability and allow abortions afterward to protect the life or health of the pregnant person.

State court decisions are causing headaches even at the very top of the Republican ticket. In an announcement in which he declined to endorse a national abortion ban, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on April 8 said he was proudly the person responsible for ending Roe v. Wade, which recognized a federal constitutional right to abortion before being overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022, and said the issue should be left to states. The states will determine by vote or legislation, or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land, he said. But just two days later he sought to distance himself from the Arizona decision. Trump also praised the Alabama Legislature for enacting the law aiming to preserve access to fertility treatments. The Republican Party should always be on the side of the miracle of life, he said.

Recent court decisions on reproductive health issues in Alabama, Arizona, and Florida will hardly be the last. The Iowa Supreme Court, which underwent a conservative overhaul in recent years, on April 11 heard arguments on the states near-total abortion ban. Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds signed it into law in 2023 but it has been blocked in court.

In Florida, there was disappointment all around after dueling state Supreme Court decisions this month that simultaneously paved the way for a near-total abortion ban and also allowed a ballot measure that would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution to proceed.

The Florida high courts decisions were simply unacceptable when five of the current seven sitting justices on the court were appointed by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, Andrew Shirvell, executive director of the anti-abortion group Florida Voice for the Unborn, said in a statement. Clearly, grassroots pro-life advocates have been misled by elements within the pro-life, pro-family establishment because Floridas highest court has now revealed itself to be a paper tiger when it comes to standing-up to the murderous abortion industry.

Tension between state judicial systems and conservative legislators seems destined to continue given judges growing power over reproductive health access, Piatt said, with people on both sides of the political aisle asking: Is this a court that is potentially going to give me politically what Im looking for?

Rachana Pradhan: rpradhan@kff.org, @rachanadpradhan Related Topics Courts States Abortion Alabama Arizona Florida Iowa Legislation Reproductive Health Women's Health Contact Us Submit a Story Tip

Entertainment

Melissa McCarthy responds to Barbra Streisand’s apology after Ozempic comment

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2 hours ago

May 1, 2024

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Melissa McCarthy responds to Barbra Streisand's apology after Ozempic comment

Hollywood star Melissa McCarthy has responded by saying, “I win the day”, after Barbra Streisand was criticised for asking her if she had taken a weight-loss drug.

Bridesmaids star McCarthy had posted an image of herself on Instagram at a charity gala alongside US director Adam Shankman on Monday.

Streisand, the legendary singer and actress, replied in a comment below: “Give him my regards, did you take Ozempic?”

The drug can only be prescribed for patients with Type 2 diabetes and is not licensed as a weight-loss treatment in the UK or US.

Streisand posted an apology on X for her original comment which was swiftly deleted after it sparked a backlash online.

In a short video shared on Instagram, hours after the apology, McCarthy said: “The takeaway: Barbra Streisand knows I exist, she reached out to me and she thought I looked good. I win the day.”

McCarthy was holding up a magazine with Streisand on the cover in the video, which was filmed at the premiere of the new Netflix movie Unfrosted, in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

The 53-year-old will appear in the film alongside Jerry Seinfield and Hugh Grant when it is released this month.

McCarthy was earlier asked by a photographer in Los Angeles what she thought of Streisand’s comments and replied: “I think Barbra is a treasure, and I love her.”

‘I forgot the world is reading’

Streisand, 82, had said in her apology earlier on Tuesday: “I went on Instagram to see the photos we’d posted of the beautiful flowers I’d received for my birthday.

“Below them was a photo of my friend Melissa McCarthy, who I sang with on my Encore album.

“She looked fantastic! I just wanted to pay her a compliment, I forgot the world is reading!”

In response to Streisand’s original comment referring to Ozempic, one social media user wrote: “Omg somebody please teach Barbra Streisand how to send a DM.”

Another wrote: “Omg…this comment from Barbra Streisand. Yes, it’s real, but she’s deleted it.”

Ozempic works by suppressing the appetite and lengthens the amount of time food stays in the stomach, leading to weight loss – at least for as long as you carry on taking it.

It has been banned as a treatment for obesity in the UK due to high demand for the drug causing a global shortage.

Numerous Hollywood stars are rumoured to have used Ozempic to lose weight – but just a handful of celebrities have admitted it publicly.

Stephen Fry was prescribed the drug in the US “years ago” and said earlier this year that side effects included vomiting up to five times a day.

Oprah Winfrey has said she has also taken weight-loss drugs, though she’s declined to specify which ones.

Entertainment

FKA Twigs reveals she has created an AI clone – but condemns unauthorised deepfakes

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2 hours ago

May 1, 2024

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FKA Twigs reveals she has created an AI clone - but condemns unauthorised deepfakes

FKA Twigs has revealed she has created an AI version of herself to engage with fans and help with promotion.

The British singer-songwriter and dancer gave details of the project as she addressed a US Senate intellectual property hearing regarding the No Fakes Act, which aims to crack down on unauthorised replicas.

FKA Twigs, whose real name is Tahliah Debrett Barnett, confirmed she had been developing her own AI – but condemned unauthorised deepfakes, saying they leave her feeling “raw and vulnerable”.

The hearing was held in Washington on Tuesday, just hours before the release of a UK report which found that most of the public want regulation to prevent deepfakes of big-name artists such as Dua Lipa and Taylor Swift.

Speaking at the US hearing, FKA Twigs said she had been developing a digital clone of herself over the past year, revealing that it can speak multiple languages.

“I’ve done this to be able to reach more of my fans and to be able to speak to them in the nuance of their language,” she said. “I’ve currently explored French, Korean and Japanese, which is really exciting for me. It means that even with my upcoming album I can really explain in depth what it’s about creatively.”

The 36-year-old said having an AI version of herself also allows her to “spend more time making art”.

She continued: “Often being a music artist, or any artist in this day and age, requires a lot of press and a lot of promo, a lot of one-liners.

“So it means if it’s something simple that doesn’t really require my heart, I can do a one-liner and give it to people to promote a piece of work and, you know, it’s harmless but ultimately I can spend more time making something that’s really meaningful for my fans.”

‘I am a human being, and we have to protect that’

Addressing unauthorised deepfakes, she told the hearing about songs and collaborations with other artists that exist online, which she had nothing to do with.

“The fact that somebody could take my voice, change lyrics, change messaging, maybe work with an artist that I didn’t want to work with, or maybe work with an artist that I wanted to work with and now the surprise is ruined, it really leaves me very raw and very vulnerable,” she said.

The star called for legislation to protect artists and added: “My spirit, my artist and my brand is my brand, and I’ve spent years developing it.

“And it’s mine, it doesn’t belong to anybody else to be used in a commercial sense, or cultural sense, or even just for a laugh. I am me, I am a human being, and we have to protect that.”

Unacknowledged AI music: Is it theft?

Meanwhile, a poll by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Music has found that 83% of UK adults agree that a music artist’s creative “personality” should be protected in law against AI copies.

The research involving more than 2,000 adults also found that 83% agree with the statement that if AI has been used to generate a song it must be clearly labelled, and 77% believe it amounts to theft when generated music fails to acknowledge the creator of the original.

APPG recommendations include the government introducing a UK AI Act, generated music being clearly labelled, the creation of a personality right to protect creators and artists from deepfakes, misappropriation and false endorsement, and setting up an international taskforce.

A government spokesperson said: “We are committed to helping artists and the creative industries work with the AI sector to harness the opportunities this technology provides, and ensure our music can continue to be enjoyed around the world.”

In April, more than 200 artists signed an open letter objecting to the “predatory” use of AI to “steal professional artists’ voices and likenesses”.

World

Ex-politician seen beating his wife to death in CCTV footage – sparking outrage in Kazakhstan

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2 hours ago

May 1, 2024

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Ex-politician seen beating his wife to death in CCTV footage - sparking outrage in Kazakhstan

The murder trial of a former senior politician in Kazakhstan who has been accused of beating his wife to death has attracted the attention of the nation, sparking calls for new legislation tackling domestic violence.

Shocking footage showing businessman Kuandyk Bishimbayev, Kazakhstan’s former economy minister, beating his wife at a family restaurant has been streamed online from the court.

The case has touched a nerve among the public as tens of thousands of people have signed petitions calling for new laws to hold those guilty of abuse to account.

Why is the case so high profile?

The trial of Bishimbayev, 44, is the first in the country to ever be streamed online – making it readily accessible to the 19 million people in Kazakhstan.

The former politician was already well known, having been jailed for bribery in 2018. He spent less than two years of his 10-year sentence in prison before he was pardoned.

Bishimbayev was charged with torturing and killing his wife after her death last November. For weeks, he maintained his innocence but admitted last month in court that he had beaten her and “unintentionally” caused her death.

Saltanat Nukenova, 31, was found dead in November in a restaurant owned by one of her husband’s relatives.

Disturbing CCTV footage shows the defendant, a father of four, dragging his wife by her hair, and then punching and kicking her.

Hours after it was recorded, she died of brain trauma.

Bishimbayev’s lawyers initially disputed medical evidence indicating Ms Nukenova died from repeated blows to the head.

They also portrayed her as prone to jealousy and violence, although no video from the restaurant’s security cameras that was played in court has shown her attacking Bishimbayev.

According to a 2018 study backed by UN Women, about 400 women die as a result of domestic violence in Kazakhstan every year, although many go unreported.

What reaction has the trial caused?

Tens of thousands of people in the country have signed a petition calling for harsher measures against perpetrators of domestic violence in the wake of Ms Nukenova’s tragic death.

The signatures resulted in senators approving a bill which toughens spousal abuse laws last month – dubbed “Saltanat’s Law”.

Aitbek Amangeldy, Ms Nukenova’s brother and a key prosecution witness, told the Associated Press he had no doubt his sister’s tragic fate has shifted attitudes about domestic violence.

“It changes people’s minds when they see directly what it looks like when a person is tortured.”