1. Arizona coalition launches effort to get abortion rights on the ballot, By Rachel Roubein and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, The Washington Post, August 8, 2023, 5:00 AM
Major abortion rights groups are launching a bid Tuesday to enshrine abortion protections into the Arizona Constitution, setting off a high-stakes battle in a politically divided swing state that was once reliably Republican.
The effort represents the latest attempt by abortion rights groups to counteract bans in states across the country, and Arizona advocates said they believe the public is on their side. Abortion rights supporters scored major victories during last year’s midterm elections and have since begun ballot measure campaigns in a handful of Republican-led states, such as Ohio, Florida and Missouri.
…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/08/08/arizona-abortion-ballot/
__________________________________________________________
2. In Utah and Kansas, state courts flex power over new laws regulating abortion post-Roe, By Sam Metz and John Hanna, Associated Press, August 8, 2023, 1:20 AM
State courts in Utah and Kansas are set to hear arguments Tuesday in legal challenges to new laws on abortion as judges tussle with legislatures over how to regulate the medical procedure and its providers after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Those and other state courts have become key venues in the fight over abortion since last year, when the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the constitutional right to abortion and made the rules governing it a matter of state laws.
In Utah, the state Supreme Court is expected to weigh a lower court’s decision to put a law banning most abortions on hold more than a year ago.
In Kansas, providers are asking a district court judge to block a new restriction on how they dispense abortion medications as well as older rules governing what doctors must tell patients and a required 24-hour wait between the first in-person consultation and the procedure.
…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/08/08/utah-kansas-abortion-laws-roe-wade-challenges/496277a2-35ab-11ee-ac4e-e707870e43db_story.html
__________________________________________________________
3. A proposed constitutional change before Ohio voters could determine abortion rights in the state, By Julie Carr Smyth and Samantha Hendrickson, Associated Press, August 8, 2023, 7:09 AM
Ohio concludes a hastily called and highly charged special election Tuesday, a contest that could determine the fate of abortion rights in the state and fuel political playbooks nationally heading into 2024.
On the ballot is Issue 1, a proposal to raise the threshold for passing future changes to the state’s constitution from a simple majority to 60%. But more passionately in the sights of the proposal’s backers — including Republican officeholders — is a proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot that calls for enshrining access to reproductive care in the state’s foundational document.
The measure was clearly resonating with voters, who turned out in huge numbers during the early voting period, which ended Sunday. The number of advance ballots cast — a combination of mail and early in-person ballots — hit nearly 700,000, more than double the early vote during the state’s two previous midterm primary elections in 2022 and 2018.
…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/08/08/ohio-abortion-rights-constitutional-amendment-special-election/cf28a18c-35a0-11ee-ac4e-e707870e43db_story.html
__________________________________________________________
4. Cost of Missouri abortion-rights petition challenged in court again, By Summer Ballentine, Associated Press, August 7, 2023, 6:21 PM
Republican lawmakers and anti-abortion activists on Monday filed a court challenge against an initiative petition to legalize abortion.
In the lawsuit, Rep. Hannah Kelly, Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman and activist Kathy Forck argued that the cost estimate that will be provided to voters considering whether to adopt the constitutional amendment is too low.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs wrote in a court brief that the price tag should account for a potential loss of Medicaid funding, as well as the projected number of fewer people born because of abortions and subsequent lost tax revenue.
…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/08/07/abortion-missouri/c00e3ea8-3570-11ee-ac4e-e707870e43db_story.html
__________________________________________________________
5. U.S. bishops appeal to leaders to do more to ensure food security around the globe, By Zoe Romanowsky, Catholic News Agency, August 7, 2023, 3:40 PM
In a statement issued Aug 7, the chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on International Justice and Peace called on global leaders to do more to ensure food security for all.
Bishop David J. Malloy of Rockford, Illinois, cited numbers from the World Food Programme (WFP), the global humanitarian organization addressing food security, that estimated about 258 million people in 58 countries experienced crisis-level acute hunger in 2022.
“Russia’s recent decision no longer to allow Ukraine to export tons of grain means more people are likely to go hungry,” said Malloy, who along with Pope Francis is calling on world leaders “to look beyond narrow national interests, focus on the common good, and join in ensuring that critical food supplies can flow to those most in need.”
Malloy pointed out that prior to the Russian invasion, Ukraine was considered “Europe’s breadbasket” and was the origin for large amounts of wheat, corn, and barley as well as almost half of the world’s sunflower oil — all flowing through ports on the Black Sea. Those ports were blocked when Russia invaded Ukraine.
…
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255030/us-bishops-appeal-to-leaders-to-do-more-to-ensure-food-security-around-the-globe
__________________________________________________________TCA Media Monitoring provides a snapshot from national newspapers and major Catholic press outlets of coverage regarding significant Catholic Church news and current issues with which the Catholic Church is traditionally or prominently engaged. The opinions and views expressed in the articles do not necessarily reflect the views of The Catholic Association. |
