‘Women are losing their lives’: The US state where abortion rights could sway the vote
Irma, the receptionist at Acacia Women’s Center in Phoenix, Arizona, is repeating a spiel she gives dozens of times a week to different women before their appointments.
“We are going to do the procedure so you need to prepare,” she says, “arrive early, wear little to no make-up so that we can check the colour in your face.”
“There are protesters here, but mainly on a Saturday,” she tells the women.
Abortion is no longer simply a personal medical matter. Across this country, reproductive rights is a burning election issue.
Especially in the battleground state of Arizona, where abortion is literally on the ballot.
Signs inside and outside the clinic urge people to “vote yes to prop 139”. It’s a special measure which, if passed, would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution.
The down-ballot measure was added at the demand of Arizona voters after two years of reproductive rights hanging in the balance.
The overturning of Roe v Wade, which gave women the constitutional right to choose, awoke a dormant law in Arizona from 1864.
The civil war era ruling banned all abortions even in the case of rape or incest. It has since been repealed but the fear over the rowing back of women’s rights remains.
Irma welcomes people to the Acacia Women’s Center in Arizona
“It’s horrific and women are losing their lives because of these bans,” said Kristin Gambardella, “we need to fight for them.”
Last year, at 17 weeks pregnant, Ms Gambardella, who is from Tucson, Arizona, was told by a doctor her unborn child had foetal abnormalities.
“Our baby, it was guaranteed she would live a short life and it would be full of pain and surgeries,” she said.
Already a mother to a son, born in 2021, this had been a desperately wanted pregnancy, but Ms Gambardella and her husband, Dave, made the heartbreaking decision to get an abortion.
Kristin Gambardella and her husband Dave
However, the law in Arizona now bans abortion after 15 weeks, even in cases of foetal abnormalities.
The couple drove seven hours across state lines to New Mexico to have the procedure.
“On the last night of my pregnancy, I fell asleep in a strange short-term rental in New Mexico, trying to cherish my last moments with my baby,” she said,
“I should have been with my family, giving our baby girl love and mourning our loss. I was angry with my state but that anger has turned into action.”
Ms Gambardella is determined to tell her story in the hope that people in Arizona will be moved to support abortion access.
She worries that, if elected, Donald Trump would pursue a national abortion ban, although he has insisted that isn’t part of his platform.
“I’m in disbelief that it’s 2024 and this is at stake,” Ms Gambardella said.
“I didn’t have the opportunity to take my own health care in my own state. The idea of being pregnant under a Donald Trump presidency, which is what it would be for me at this stage, is terrifying.”
Read more
Obama ‘has a problem’ with black men who support Trump
Man with shotgun stopped at checkpoint near Trump rally
Trump secretly sent Putin COVID machines, book claims
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, right, on a visit to Arizona in June. Pic: Reuters
The Democratic Party is using abortion rights as a rallying cry.
In a state like Arizona, where polling shows the race for the presidency is on a knife edge, reproductive rights could hold the sway.
I joined Democratic state representative Quanta Crews as she canvassed in a suburb of Phoenix.
The sun was setting on a blisteringly hot day and children were playing in front gardens as she went door to door.
“I’m here to talk to you about abortion access,” she says, “just making sure you know early voting has started”.
Ms Crews is a black woman and a Methodist minister but has been campaigning to protect abortion access.
“When I talk to the voters about the 1864 abortion ban I share with them that in 1864, I would have been considered not a person,” she said.
“That makes it real for them because this is very dangerous. We can’t afford to go back.”
Hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members have been deported by the White House to a supermax prison in El Salvador, even as a US judge blocked the removals.
US District Judge James E Boasberg issued an order on Saturday temporarily blocking the Trump administration deportations, but lawyers told him there were already two planes with immigrants in the air – one headed for El Salvador, the other for Honduras.
Mr Boasberg verbally ordered the planes be turned around, but the directive was not included in his written order.
Salvadoran police officers escorting alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. Pic: El Salvador’s Presidency Press Office/Reuters
Pic: El Salvador’s Presidency Press Office/Reuters
Pic: El Salvador’s Presidency Press Office/Reuters
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Sunday: “The administration did not ‘refuse to comply’ with a court order.
“The order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist TdA (Tren de Aragua gang) aliens had already been removed from US territory.”
In a court filing Sunday, the Department of Justice, which has appealed Mr Boasberg’s decision, said it would not use the Trump proclamation he blocked for further deportations if his decision is not overturned.
President Donald Trump sidestepped a question over whether his administration violated a court order while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday evening.
But he added: “I can tell you this. These were bad people.”
Pic: El Salvador’s Presidency Press Office/Reuters
Police officers cut the hair of alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua recently deported by the U.S. government. Pic: El Salvador’s Presidency Press Office/Reuters
Pic: El Salvador’s Presidency Press Office/Reuters
Asked about invoking presidential powers used in times of war, Mr Trump said: “This is a time of war.”
He also described the influx of criminal migrants as “an invasion”.
“Oopsie…Too late,” Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, who agreed to house about 300 immigrants for a year at a cost of $6m in his country’s prisons, posted on X above an article about Mr Boasberg’s ruling.
The immigrants were deported after Mr Trump’s declaration of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which has been used only three times in US history – during the War of 1812 and the First and Second World Wars.
Read more from Sky News:
Trump launches strikes over Red Sea ship attacks
US expels South African ambassador
Tren de Aragua originated in an infamously lawless prison in the central state of Aragua and accompanied an exodus of millions of Venezuelans, the overwhelming majority of whom were seeking better living conditions after their nation’s economy came undone during the past decade.
The Trump administration has not identified the immigrants deported, provided any evidence they are in fact members of Tren de Aragua or that they committed any crimes in the US.
It also sent two top members of the Salvadoran MS-13 gang to El Salvador who had been arrested in the US.
👉 Follow Trump 100 on your podcast app 👈
Video released by El Salvador’s government showed the shackled men – who had their heads shaved – being transported to prison in a large convoy of buses guarded by police and military vehicles and at least one helicopter.
The immigrants were taken to the notorious CECOT facility.
The bar on deportations stands for up to 14 days and the immigrants will remain in federal custody during that time.
Mr Boasberg has scheduled a hearing Friday to hear additional arguments in the case.
A delivery driver who needed skin grafts after being burned when a hot tea from Starbucks spilled into his lap has been awarded $50m (£38.6m) in damages.
Michael Garcia suffered third-degree burns to his genitals, groin and inner thighs and has permanent and life-changing disfigurement after collecting the drink at a California drive-through, according to his legal team.
His negligence lawsuit blamed the injuries on Starbucks, claiming an employee did not wedge the scalding-hot tea firmly enough into a takeaway tray.
Video footage shows Mr Garcia being handed a tray of three drinks at the serving window in Los Angeles and appearing to struggle as he drives his vehicle away.
Incident happened at a Starbucks drive-through in California. Pic: Trial Lawyers for Justice
A Los Angeles County jury found in favour of Mr Garcia after he launched legal action over the incident on 8 February 2020.
He was working as a Postmates delivery driver at the time, according to Sky’s US partner network NBC News.
His lawyer Nick Rowley said his client’s “life has been forever changed”.
“This jury verdict is a critical step in holding Starbucks accountable for flagrant disregard for customer safety and failure to accept responsibility,” he added.
Starbucks said it sympathised with Mr Garcia, but plans to lodge an appeal.
In a statement, the global coffeehouse chain said: “We disagree with the jury’s decision that we were at fault for this incident and believe the damages awarded to be excessive.”
The firm added it was “committed to the highest safety standards” in handling hot drinks.
Read more from Sky News:
British woman missing in Thailand after boat fire
First image of Pope Francis since he fell ill
US restaurants have faced lawsuits before over customer burns.
In one famous 1990s case, a New Mexico jury awarded a woman nearly $3m (£2.3m) in damages for burns she suffered while trying to pry the lid off a cup of coffee at a McDonald’s drive-through.
A judge later reduced the award and the case was settled for an undisclosed sum under $600,000 (£463,600).
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports12 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway