‘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 It has since been repealed but the fear over the rowing back of women’s rights remains.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.”
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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.”
US
Donald Trump plans to hit Canada with new tariff – while warning of blanket hike for other countries
Donald Trump has said he plans to hit Canada with a 35% tariff on imported goods, as he warned of a blanket 15 or 20% hike for most other countries.
In a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, the US president wrote: “I must mention that the flow of Fentanyl is hardly the only challenge we have with Canada, which has many Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers.”
Mr Trump’s tariffs were allegedly an effort to get Canada to crack down on fentanyl smuggling, and the US president has expressed frustration with Canada’s trade deficit with the US.
In a statement Mr Carney said: “Throughout the current trade negotiations with the United States, the Canadian government has steadfastly defended our workers and businesses. We will continue to do so as we work towards the revised deadline of August 1.”
He added: “Canada has made vital progress to stop the scourge of fentanyl in North America. We are committed to continuing to work with the United States to save lives and protect communities in both our countries.”
Mr Trump has sent a series of tariff letters to 23 countries so far, including one putting a 50% tariff on Brazil in part for the ongoing trial of its former president Jair Bolsonaro for trying to stay in office after he lost the election in 2022.
Mr Trump was similarly indicted for his efforts to overturn his election loss in 2020.
The higher rates would go into effect on 1 August.
Shortly after Mr Trump unveiled his “Liberation Day” tariffs on 2 April, there was a huge sell-off on the financial markets. The US president later announced a 90-day negotiating period, during which a 10% baseline tariff would be charged on most imported goods.
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But in an interview with Sky News’s partner network NBC News, Mr Trump said he plans to impose higher blanket tariffs on most US trade partners.
“We’re just going to say all of the remaining countries are going to pay, whether it’s 20% or 15%. We’ll work that out now,” he said.
He added: “I think the tariffs have been very well-received. The stock market hit a new high today.”
The US and UK signed a trade deal in June, with the US president calling it “a fair deal for both” and saying it will “produce a lot of jobs, a lot of income”.
Sir Keir Starmer said the document “implements” the deal to cut tariffs on cars and aerospace, adding: “So this is a very good day for both of our countries – a real sign of strength.”
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The US president also teased a “major statement” he will make on Russia over its war with Ukraine.
“I’m disappointed in Russia, but we’ll see what happens over the next couple of weeks,” he said.
“I think I’ll have a major statement to make on Russia on Monday.”
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It comes as Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said a new round of talks between Moscow and Washington on bilateral problems could take place before the end of the summer.
A Palestinian activist who was detained for over three months in a US immigration jail after protesting against Israel is suing Donald Trump’s administration for $20m (£15m) in damages.
Lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil have filed a claim against the administration alleging he was falsely imprisoned, maliciously prosecuted and smeared as an antisemite as the government sought to deport him over his role in campus protests.
The 30-year-old graduate student at Columbia University told Sky News’s lead world presenter Yalda Hakim being detained by ICE agents in March “felt like kidnapping”.
He described “plain-clothed agents and unmarked cars” taking him “from one place to another, expecting you just to follow orders and shackled all the time”, which he said was “really scary”.
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Mahmoud Khalil reunites with family after release
Mr Khalil said he was not presented with an arrest warrant and wasn’t told where he was being taken.
He said the detention centre he was taken to was “as far from humane as it could be” and “a place where you have no rights whatsoever”.
“You share a dorm with over 70 men with no privacy, with lights on all the time, with really terrible food. You’re basically being dehumanised at every opportunity. It’s a black hole,” he added.
Mr Khalil said he would also accept an official apology from the Trump administration.
The Trump administration celebrated Mr Khalil’s arrest, promising to deport him and others whose protests against Israel it declared were “pro-terrorist, antisemitic, anti-American activity”.
Mr Khalil said after around 36 hours in captivity he was allowed to speak to his wife, who was pregnant at the time.
“These were very scary hours, I did not know what was happening on the outside. I did not know that my wife was safe,” he said.
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‘Absolutely absurd allegations’
Mr Khalil said administration officials had made “absolutely absurd allegations” by saying he as involved in antisemitic activities and supporting Hamas.
“They are weaponising antisemitism, weaponising anti-terrorism in order to stifle speech,” he said. “What I was engaged in is simply opposing a genocide, opposing war crimes, opposing Columbia University’s complicity in the war on Gaza.”
A State Department spokesperson said its actions toward Mr Khalil were fully supported by the law.
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Asked about missing the birth of his son while he was in prison, Mr Khalil said: “I don’t think there’s any word that can describe the agony and the sadness that I went through, to be deprived from such a divine moment, from a moment that my wife and I had always dreamed about.”
Meanwhile, the deportation case against Mr Khalil is continuing to wind its way through the immigration court system.
Donald Trump has praised the Liberian president’s command of English – the West African country’s official language.
The US president reacted with visible surprise to Joseph Boakai’s English-speaking skills during a White House meeting with leaders from the region on Wednesday.
After the Liberian president finished his brief remarks, Mr Trump told him he speaks “such good English” and asked: “Where did you learn to speak so beautifully?”
Mr Trump seemed surprised when Mr Boakai laughed and responded he learned in Liberia.
The US president said: “It’s beautiful English.
“I have people at this table who can’t speak nearly as well.”
Mr Boakai did not tell Mr Trump that English is the official language of Liberia.
The country was founded in 1822 with the aim of relocating freed African slaves and freeborn black citizens from the US.
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Mr Trump promised the leaders of Liberia, Senegal, Gabon, Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau a pivot from aid to trade at the surprise meeting.
He described the countries as “all very vibrant places with very valuable land, great minerals, and great oil deposits, and wonderful people”.
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Later asked by a reporter if he’ll visit the continent, Mr Trump said, “At some point, I would like to go to Africa.”
But he added that he’d “have to see what the schedule looks like”.
Trump’s predecessor, President Joe Biden, promised to go to Africa in 2023, but only fulfilled the commitment by visiting Angola in December 2024, just weeks before he left office.
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