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Tag: neighbors

  • Dem governors pledge to protect abortion as neighbors add restrictions

    Dem governors pledge to protect abortion as neighbors add restrictions

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    The Illinois governor on Thursday called on the federal government to not only enact a federal law legalizing abortion nationwide but also to assist people who have to travel from their home states for access to abortion.

    The prospects for such a law at the federal level appear dim. President Joe Biden has asked Congress to pass a law reestablishing abortion rights nationwide, a proposal with virtually zero chance of making any progress on Capitol Hill. The president did sign an executive order in August that directed the Department of Health and Human Services to consider ways to expand coverage for patients traveling out of state for reproductive health care.

    Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said Thursday at POLITICO’s event that he “wouldn’t back down” when it comes to reproductive freedom, as his state has similarly become a haven for abortion access in the South. Cooper has promised to block anti-abortion measures proposed by the Republican-led legislature, which has aimed to enact restrictions that go beyond the state’s current 20-week ban on abortion.

    When asked about whether he thinks a national abortion ban, a policy item pushed by some Republicans, is possible, Cooper said “we’re just not going to let that happen.”

    “We have become a critical access point in the Southeast and we need to hold the line to protect women’s health,” Cooper said. “Get politicians out of the exam room with women and their doctors.”

    Cooper said he believes the majority of people in his state support abortion rights. He added that the Supreme Court’s reversal of the right to abortion access previously guaranteed in Roe v. Wade sets a new precedent.

    “This court has already stripped a right that has been in place for five decades. My real concern is what’s going to happen in the Supreme Court for other kinds of constitutional rights that we have,” Cooper said. “They obviously left the door open here.”

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    #Dem #governors #pledge #protect #abortion #neighbors #add #restrictions
    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • Biden administration is caught between California and its neighbors in Colorado River fight

    Biden administration is caught between California and its neighbors in Colorado River fight

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    “The states are not going to reach an agreement. We are just too far apart,” said Rep. Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.), who represents the Phoenix area. “Now is the time that we need this administration to come up with a solution to this dilemma, and we need it now.”

    California is insisting on its legal claims under a compact dating back to 1922 as the river faces unprecedented strain because of climate change and population growth in the Southwest. The standoff thrusts the Biden administration into the position of deciding how to resolve competing claims on water shared among 40 million people from Wyoming to Mexico.

    The Interior Department, which asked the states to come up with a joint plan to reduce use by roughly 30 percent, is expected to impose cuts as early as this summer.

    On one side are six states, including Arizona and Nevada, where growing cities such as Las Vegas and Phoenix are in an existential battle to avoid exhausting their supplies from the Colorado River. On the other is California, where farmers could go to the courts to protect their water rights.

    Decisions taken by California in this most sensitive of battles could one day hurt Gov. Gavin Newsom if he runs for president and needs political support in Nevada and Arizona, two battleground states.

    A bipartisan group of Western representatives, excluding officials from California, urged President Joe Biden to support the proposal offered by the six states in a letter Wednesday morning.

    California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot, a Newsom appointee, as well as the state’s two senators have criticized the six-state plan, saying it would disproportionately burden California cities and farmers.

    Western senators are planning to meet to discuss the issue Thursday.

    The Interior Department is keeping up talks with states and tribes and wants “as much support and consensus as possible,” said a spokesperson on Wednesday.

    The proposal from the six states would impose additional cuts to every user, including California and Mexico.

    Their plan relies on a new tool to preserve some water for Arizona and Nevada users by accounting for evaporation and leaks along the river as it flows downstream to California.

    That infuriated California’s farmers, who see the concept as a way to cut into their legal claims to the water.

    Instead, California’s proposal would alter operations at the river’s two main dams, forcing states to take modest cuts to which they’ve already agreed. If that’s not enough it would then force cuts using the priority system, effectively drying out central Arizona cities and tribes before the Golden State takes additional mandatory cuts.

    “We agree there needs to be reduced use in the Lower Basin, but that can’t be done by just completely ignoring and sidestepping federal law,” said J.B. Hamby, the chair of the Colorado River Board of California and an Imperial Irrigation District director.

    California, he said, already volunteered additional reductions back in October to ease the burden on other states.

    The Interior Department said it plans to release a draft analysis of the options it is considering this spring. It could step in as soon as this summer to slash deliveries.

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    #Biden #administration #caught #California #neighbors #Colorado #River #fight
    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )