'A lesson in love'
| 'A lesson in love'  It's the biggest blow to abortion rights in decades.
A new Texas state law that effectively bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy represents a huge victory for the conservative movement.
Abortion has long been the most intense cultural war in US politics. Conservatives generally oppose it and have mobilized a long campaign to reshape the federal judiciary to make it illegal. Liberals usually support a woman's right to make her own choices about her body.
The new law, that went into effect Wednesday, blatantly contradicts the constitutional right to abortion established in the landmark 1973 Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade. But it's also written in a way that makes it hard to challenge.
Many women don't even know they are pregnant by six weeks. And the measure provides no exception for rape or incest, meaning sex crime victims could be forced to bear the children of their attackers.
The law allows private citizens — even outside Texas — to enforce the ban by suing anyone involved in providing an abortion and saddles them with the legal costs. The idea is to economically hobble doctors and medical staff, but could also hit family members and even someone who offered a ride to a clinic. And since government officials are not directly involved, it's much more difficult to bring a pre-enforcement challenge to the law to stop it.
This is all richly ironic. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who signed the law, has fiercely insisted that citizens and not the government should make individual health choices — but only when it comes to whether or not to wear a mask to stop Covid-19. And so much for Texans' legendary intolerance of outsiders messing with their state; the law allows any busybody from Alaska to Rhode Island to act as abortion police for Lone Star citizens.
Texas abortion clinics are already turning patients away. The Supreme Court could stay the law, but its failure to clarify the situation so far is the firmest sign yet that -- as expected -- the three justices nominated by ex-President Donald Trump have Roe v. Wade in their sights. The world and America A UN report says it's not just your imagination – climate disasters are happening more often.
 Sponsor Content by Atlas Coffee Club  Love coffee? This startup takes you on a coffee world tour 50+ countries grow coffee, but you'll only find a handful on the shelves. Atlas Coffee Club sends you on a world tour of rare, sustainably grown coffees -- each month a new discovery. From Burundi to Brazil... Get 50% off today.
 'A lesson in love' Western neo-Nazis and violent accelerationists -- who hope to provoke what they see as an inevitable race war, which would lead to a Whites-only state -- are praising the Taliban for its anti-Semitism, homophobia, and severe restrictions on women's freedom, according to SITE Intelligence Group, an American non-governmental organization that tracks online activity of White supremacist and jihadist organizations. Some are commending the Taliban's takeover in Afghanistan as "a lesson in love for the homeland, for freedom, and for religion," SITE said in its weekly bulletin. Lights out Things are tough in the Big Easy. More than a million customers across Louisiana have been in the dark since Hurricane Ida crashed ashore at the weekend. It could be weeks, if not months, before the lights come back on.
Losing power is a hazard of hurricane season. But prolonged blackouts cause immense hardship, especially in the searing Southern heat that makes life unbearable without air conditioning.
"If it's a week, it's unpleasant, but people can put up with it. If it's three to six weeks, that's a humanitarian crisis," said Michael Webber, a professor of energy resources at the University of Texas at Austin.
Without power, a city can't function. Water supplies don't work properly. The city's economy grinds to a halt. Hospitals are badly compromised, as are home health devices like oxygen concentrators and insulin pumps. Death rates rose in Puerto Rico after a Category 4 storm in 2017 left many residents with no power for 11 months.
The big issue in New Orleans is that all the city's high power lines were brought down by Ida. So there are no simple fixes. Universities are sending students home — but even relocating is difficult since there are long lines at gasoline stations. Many residents evacuated and may not be back for weeks.
Pity New Orleans, the same pain could be coming to a city near you soon. Climate change means bigger and more frequent monster storms, and even people outside hurricane zones will be affected. A recent US government report warns that more frequent droughts and changing rainfall patterns due to global warming could also hammer power grids, costing billions of dollars.
For a preview of the social and political discord whipped up by extreme power crises, look no further than the days-long outages caused when a rare winter snow storm smashed the aging electricity grid in Texas earlier this year, killing 47 people. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott was severely criticized for his handling of the catastrophe. In fact, his hard right turn on abortion and voting rights may be partly designed to cover up the winter's failures ahead of a reelection race next year.  Accelerated footage shows cars lined up in New Orleans for some of the only working gas pumps in the city. Thanks for reading. On Thursday, the House Homeland Security Committee will hold a virtual roundtable discussion with national security experts and academics about the September 11 attacks. View in browser | All CNN Newsletters
Want to easily manage your newsletter subscriptions?
Copyright © 2021 Cable News Network, Inc. A WarnerMedia Company, All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
Want to change how you receive these emails?
| ||||||||||
