(WASHINGTON) — As he seeks to close the nation’s digital divide, President Joe Biden will announce on Monday new commitments from 20 internet service providers to expand discounted, high-speed internet access to tens of millions of low-income Americans under an existing federal program.
According to a senior administration official, 20 internet providers have agreed to either increase speeds or cut prices, and to offer enrollees of the Affordable Connectivity Program, or ACP, with high-speed internet plans for no more than $30 a month. The new participation from the private sector, in conjunction with the ACP subsidy covering up to $30 a month (or $75 a month on Tribal lands), essentially makes the program free.
“For example,” the White House said in a fact sheet, “as part of this initiative, Verizon lowered the price for its Fios service from $39.99/month to $30/month for a plan that delivers download and upload speeds of at least 200 Megabits per second, and Spectrum doubled the speed of the $30/month plan it makes available to ACP participants from 50 to 100 Megabits per second.”
More than $14 billion in funding for the subsidy program was included in the $1 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law which Biden signed into law last November. So far, more than 11 million households have already signed up to receive the benefit — but the White House has said 48 million households are eligible.
Participating companies unveiled Monday include AT&T, Verizon, Spectrum and Comcast, as well as several regional companies, which altogether cover more than 80% of the U.S. population, the White House said, or nearly 40% of households in the country.
“The Biden-Harris Administration is grateful for the efforts of these companies, and encourages additional internet service providers to join this effort to close the digital divide by offering high-speed, low-cost plans,” the White House said in a statement.
As he continues to push his infrastructure agenda, Biden has repeatedly recalled stories of families driving to McDonalds’ parking lots during the pandemic to connect to Wi-Fi.
“How many people did you see out in McDonald’s parking lots with their kids in their cars because they get access to the internet?” Biden said in a speech in Scranton, Pennsylvania last October.
Households with an income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, or with a family member participating in one of several federal programs, including Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Pell Grants, Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income, are eligible for the discount.
Americans can see if they qualify at Getinternet.gov.
The administration’s effort to lower internet costs for families comes ahead of a dire inflation report expected Tuesday, as Biden struggles to keep prices down for Americans ahead of the midterm election season.
*EDITOR’S NOTE: This picture was taken during a trip organized by the Russian military.* – Photo by ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military last month launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, attempting to capture the strategic port city of Mariupol and to secure a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
May 09, 8:10 am
Zelenskyy: ‘Very soon there will be 2 Victory Days in Ukraine’
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy released a video message from Kyiv early Monday to mark the World War II victory over Nazi Germany, telling his country that “very soon there will be two Victory Days in Ukraine.”
“Today, we celebrate the Day of Victory over Nazism. And we will not give anyone a single piece of our history,” Zelenskyy said. “We are proud of our ancestors who, together with other nations in the anti-Hitler coalition, defeated Nazism. And we will not allow anyone to annex this victory, we will not allow it to be appropriated.”
“On the Day of Victory over Nazism, we are fighting for a new victory,” he added. “The road to it is difficult, but we have no doubt that we will win.”
Zelenskyy’s remarks came just hours before Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a patriotic speech in Moscow’s Red Square on Monday morning during a military parade for Victory Day, a national holiday in Russia commemorating the Soviet Union’s defeat of the Nazis in 1945. Putin defended his invasion of neighboring Ukraine, telling Russian troops: “You are fighting for the motherland, for its future, so that no one forgets the lessons of the Second World War.”
May 09, 7:47 am
Putin defends Ukraine invasion while marking WWII victory
During a military parade in Moscow on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed his troops fighting in neighboring Ukraine but offered little insight into his next steps.
“You are fighting for the motherland, for its future, so that no one forgets the lessons of the Second World War,” Putin said in a patriotic speech for Victory Day, a national holiday in Russia commemorating the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.
Columns of Russian soldiers marched through Moscow’s Red Square, alongside tanks and other military vehicles boasting huge intercontinental ballistic missiles.
“Now here, on the Red Square, soldiers and officers from many regions of our vast homeland stand shoulder to shoulder, including those who came directly from Donbas, directly from the combat zone,” Putin said.
Although he showed no signs of backing down, the Russian leader did not make any declarations of war, peace or victory during his remarks on Monday. He drew parallels between Soviet soldiers battling Nazi troops and the Russian forces fighting now in Ukraine, as he has vowed to “de-Nazify” the former Soviet republic. He also spoke of the disputed Donbas region of eastern Ukraine as if it was already part of Russia.
“These days, you are fighting for our people in the Donbas. For the security of our homeland, Russia,” he said. “You are defending what fathers and grandfathers, great-grandfathers fought for.”
Putin accused Ukraine of seeking to attain nuclear weapons and planning a “punitive operation in the Donbas, for an invasion of our historical lands, including Crimea.” He also laid blame on the West for refusing to have “an honest dialogue” about Russia’s demands for formal guarantees that Ukraine will never join NATO and that the alliance will pull back its forces from countries in eastern Europe that joined after the Cold War.
“Thus, an absolutely unacceptable threat was systematically created for us and directly at our borders,” Putin added. “The danger was growing everyday.”
He claimed that attacking Ukraine “was a forced, timely and only right decision — the decision of a sovereign, strong, independent country.”
“Russia has given a preemptive rebuff to aggression,” he said.
May 09, 5:49 am
‘No reason to celebrate’ evacuations from besieged plant, commander says
As news spread of a successful evacuation operation from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, the deputy commander of the Azov battalion, Svyatoslav Palamar, said there was little reason to celebrate.
“Not enough is being done to try and evacuate wounded soldiers,” Palamar said, speaking at a press conference at the plant, which is surrounded by Russian forces.
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Saturday the first stage of the rescue operation had concluded and all civilians had been evacuated from the steel plant. Another 173 people were rescued Sunday from Azovstal and surrounding Mariupol, according to the local city council.
But Palamar said some civilians might still be trapped under the rubble of ruined shelters and that many bodies of deceased troops and civilians remain uncollected on the plant’s territory.
More than 25,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in Mariupol, according to Azov commanders. Half of all Russian bombardment and shelling in Ukraine was aimed at Mariupol, the battalion commanders said, adding that the city was shelled 150 times a day on average.
Russia has lost about 2,500 troops, with a further 500 wounded and over 60 destroyed tanks, in the city, Azov officials claimed. Yet the unblocking of Mariupol by military means remains difficult due to the lack of heavy weapons, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a joint press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Kyiv on Sunday.
Russia continued over the weekend to shell Ukrainian cities. Zelenskyy said Russians have “celebrated” the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation on May 8 by launching nine missile strikes against Odessa. Zelenskyy spoke at a press briefing in Kyiv held after his talks with visiting Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic. The Ukrainian President also met the head of the German parliament, Baerbel Bas, on Sunday. The two leaders spoke about how “German leadership in the European Union” can help Ukraine, Zelenskyy said in his nightly address on Sunday.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted Sunday that Berlin made a mistake by prohibiting Ukrainian symbols and flags at rallies during events on May 8-9.
“It’s deeply false to treat them equally with Russian symbols,” Kuleba wrote, adding that “taking the Ukrainian flag away from peaceful protestors is an attack on everyone who now defends Europe and Germany from Russian aggression with a flag in their hands.”
On Monday, as Ukraine celebrated the Day of Victory over Nazism in World War II, Zelenskyy said that the ongoing conflict was “not a war of two armies. This is a war of two worldviews.”
Russian missiles are trying to destroy Ukrainian philosophy, Zelenskyy said, because it “scares them.”
“We are free people who have their own path,” the president said. “Today we are waging war on this path and we will not give anyone a single piece of our land.”
-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres, Fidel Pavlenko, Irene Hnatiuk, Max Uzol and Uliana Lototska
May 08, 4:51 pm
Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau visits Ukraine, announces new support
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Ukraine on Sunday and toured devastated areas in and around Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
During a joint news conference, Trudeau pledged Canada’s continuing support for Ukraine and condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin for atrocities he alleged Russian forces are responsible for in Ukraine.
“It is clear that Vladimir Putin is responsible for heinous war crimes,” Trudeau said. “We will continue to do the work of being there for you with whatever we can, whatever you need.”
Trudeau announced that Canada is sending additional military support to Ukraine, including drone cameras, satellite imagery, small arms and ammunition.
The prime minister also said Canada will impose new sanctions on 40 Russian individuals he alleged are complicit in Putin’s war.
“And we’re bringing forward new sanctions on 40 Russian individuals and five entities, oligarchs and close associates of the regime in the defense sector, all of them complicit in Putin’s war,” Trudeau said.
Trudeau also announced that all trade tariffs on Ukrainian imports to Canada will be lifted for the next year and that Canada is donating CA$25 million, or about US$19.3 million, to the U.N. World Food Program, which is providing emergency food assistance to people in Ukraine.
Trudeau said that he and Larissa Galadza, Canada’s ambassador to Ukraine, raised the Canadian flag at the country’s embassy in Kyiv on Sunday to signal its reopening. He called the move an “important symbol not just of Canada’s steadfast friendship with Ukraine, but of the incredible resilience and heroism of the Ukrainian people, who ensured that this city did not fall.”
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
May 08, 3:46 pm
Pope Francis asks for daily prayer for peace in Ukraine
Pope Francis on Sunday prayed for peace in Ukraine, entrusting to the Virgin Mary the ”sufferings and tears of the Ukrainian people.”
”In front of the war’s madness, let us please continue to pray the rosary for peace every day,” the pope told thousands of people gathered in the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square for his weekly address and blessing.
For several Sundays in a row the pope has led prayers for peace in Ukraine and has condemned the Russian invasion of the country, calling the act of war “senseless” during an Easter Sunday Mass last month.
The pontiff also prayed for the victims of an apparent gas explosion on Friday at the Hotel Saratoga in Havana, Cuba. At least 26 people were killed in the blast at the popular hotel and around 70 people were injured.
May 08, 3:11 pm
U2’s Bono, The Edge perform surprise concert in Kyiv
U2’s frontman Bono and lead-guitarist The Edge surprised fans in Kyiv on Sunday by performing an impromptu concert in the Ukrainian capital’s central metro station.
The two Irish rockers delivered a nearly hour-long set at the Khreshchatyk Metro Station, Kyiv’s busiest metro station, as several dozen fans watched.
“The people of Ukraine are not just fighting for your own freedom, you’re fighting for all of us who love freedom,” Bono told the crowd between songs.
The musicians were joined on one of the station’s platforms by Taras Topolia, frontman of Ukrainian pop rock band Antytila. Topolia presented Bono with a piece of shrapnel he said was the remains of a missile that struck near the base in Kyiv where he is currently serving in the Ukrainian Army.
Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — The nationwide formula shortage is causing stress for many families, with some beginning to lean on the online community, from Instagram to eBay, to find supply.
The shortage is due to several factors, experts say, including supply chain issues, rising inflation and previous recalls of baby formula products.
As of April 24, 40% of popular formula brands may be sold out at stores nationwide, up from 31% in early April, according to Datasembly, a firm that tracks products stocked on store shelves. Six states in particular also saw up to or over 50% of baby formula sold out in stores, including Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas.
In response, some retailers are limiting the amount of formula customers can buy, leaving parents desperate to find the products their babies need.
(NEW YORK) — Marvel’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness kicked off the summer blockbuster season this weekend, raking in an estimated $185 million in its domestic debut. And with more blockbuster films expected over the next couple of weeks, more Americans may be headed to theaters soon — but it may cost them.
In an effort to offset inflation and losses stemming from the pandemic and streaming services, some movie theaters are hiking up prices.
ABC News’ Becky Worley appeared on Good Morning America Monday to break down what surge pricing could mean for moviegoers:
Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
(ORLANDO, Fla.) — A new roller coaster has been unveiled at Walt Disney World — Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.
The family-thrill attraction matches the “grandiosity” and fun of the hit Guardians of the Galaxy movies and involves new innovation from Walt Disney Imagineering with 360-degree rotation to show guests all the action.
It also features the first reverse-launch on a Disney roller coaster aboard and is one of the largest fully enclosed coasters in the world.
Riders can expect to crank up an awesome mixtape aboard a starblaster and blast off on an awesome intergalactic chase through time and space featuring the legendary cosmic outlaws — Rocket, Groot, Drax, Gamora and Star-Lord (a.k.a. Peter Quill).
The fully-enclosed and immersive ride is located in the park’s newly renamed World Discovery neighborhood — the first ‘other-world’ showcase pavilion at EPCOT.
The ride follows a story of Eson — a Celestial that has been watching Earth for eons and intends to use the Cosmic Generator to jump back in time and change the course of humanity.
Nova Prime Irani Rael commands her top officer, Centurion Tal Marik, to contact the Guardians of the Galaxy right away and ask for their assistance. As the Terrans evacuate the ship via Starjumper shuttles — small escape pods that launch from the Starcharter cruiser — the Guardians arrive to reprogram the Starjumpers so guests can help them track down Eson in an intergalactic chase.
The new attraction officially opens on May 27 at Epcot as part of the park’s multiyear transformation.
(NEW YORK) — As a leaked draft Supreme Court decision shows the court may be ready to overturn the abortion rights guaranteed under Roe v. Wade, state legislators in New York and California are looking to increase access to reproductive services, including to people coming from other states.
The draft majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was leaked to Politico earlier this week and confirmed as authentic by Chief Justice John Roberts, who ordered an investigation into its public release.
Roberts said in a statement the document “does not represent a decision by the Court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case.”
State legislators in California have proposed a package of bills to address what they expect to be an influx in people seeking access to abortion in the state if Roe is overturned. New York lawmakers have also proposed legislation that would help people pay for abortions, even allowing taxpayers to contribute donations.
U.S. Senate Democrats, who have widely criticized the court’s apparent decision, are planning a vote on a proposed bill, the Women’s Health Protection Act, next week which would codify Roe v. Wade, making it federal law. The bill would also outlaw all abortion legislation at the state level, including legislation that was in line with Roe. But it is unlikely to become law, despite passing in the House.
With the Supreme Court decision expected over the summer, lawmakers in Canada expressed concern over how the court’s apparent decision would limit access to abortion in Canada and the U.S.
“One of the concerning factors here is that there are many Canadian women who maybe don’t live near a major city in Canada, but will often access these services in the United States,” Karina Gould, Canada’s families, children and social development minister, told the CBC. “I’m very concerned about the leak yesterday. I’m very concerned about what this means, particularly for American women, but also for Canadian women.”
Gould said American women will be able to get abortions in Canada if Roe is overturned, in the interview.
“I don’t see why we would not,” said Gould “If they, people, come here and need access, certainly, that’s a service that would be provided.”
Those seeking abortions would also be able to get access in Mexico. Last year, Mexico’s Supreme Court rule to decriminalize abortion, deeming it unconstitutional to punish abortion.
Legislation proposed in New York
The New York State Senate has proposed a bill that would establish an access fund to pay for abortions and allows taxpayers to contribute to the fund on their state income tax returns. The bill is currently with the Senate Finance Committee.
Another proposed New York bill would require insurance policies providing maternity care coverage to provide coverage for abortions. The bill, currently with the Senate Insurance Committee, cited the federal government’s “hostility toward abortion” in its justification for the state’s need to enact such a law.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul, in a letter to Congress urging it to pass the WHPA, said the state can expect an “11 to 13% increase in out-of-state patients traveling to New York for abortion care,” if Roe is overturned.
Hochul said the state is preparing to provide access to abortion care for people from out of state.
“For New York State to fully step up and be able to accommodate everyone who needs care, we need significant federal support to bolster our provider network and accommodate these new patients. Following action to repeal the Hyde Amendment, Congress must make federal funding available to states like New York that expect an influx of patients from other states,” Hochul said.
Hochul also called for federal protections that would allow the U.S. Postal Service to ship abortion medication to all states and for the expansion of telehealth services to facilitate access to abortion.
“As many states work to close off avenues to safe abortion services within their borders, the demand for abortion-inducing medications through mail and delivery services is growing. The U.S. Postal Service is a critical partner to meet the current demand, and Congress must adequately fund the postal service to ensure patients can receive prescribed medical abortion medications, regardless of their zip code,” Hochul said.
In the letter, Hochul also called for the repeal of the Hyde Amendment, which she said has “prevented federal funds from being used for abortion services, including health insurance funds that support low-income Americans.”
New York is one of only 15 states to cover abortions with state Medicaid dollars and the state has passed a law that requires health plans to cover abortion services without cost-sharing, Hochul said.
The state has also allowed abortion telehealth services and has convened an Abortion Access Working Group, which will meet regularly with patients, providers and advocates to guide state abortion policy and respond to needs.
Legislation proposed in California
In anticipation of a Supreme Court decision that would overturn Roe v. Wade, the California State Legislature introduced a package of 13 bills in January in an effort to make California a “sanctuary or a refuge for individuals seeking abortions and reproductive health care,” California assemblywoman and chair of its women’s caucus, Cristina Garcia, told ABC News in an interview.
“We introduce a package of bills and I think the idea is: that a right without access is an empty promise,” Garcia said.
When crafting the bills, legislatures relied on a report from the Future of Abortion Council, a group made up of more than 40 organizations across the state, which gave recommendations to protect and expand access to abortion in California.
According to research from the Guttmacher Institute, overturning Roe, which would allow some states to ban abortions, would increase the number of women whose nearest provider would be in California from 46,000 to 1.4 million.
“That’s an over 1,000% increase for what we see here in California. And so we really need to shore up our access here to make sure we have enough providers that could perform these services,” Garcia said.
Among the aims of the package of bills, the legislature is trying protect the privacy of providers and patients coming in from out of state and widen the number of providers able to perform the procedure and where the procedure could be performed, Garcia said.
Legislatures are doing their best to move up the timeline for when these bills would pass, she said.
“While we were being proactive in January when we introduced the bills and we’re just letting them go through the regular process, we realized that we missed something in our planning. The fact that we expect something come June — July was like, oh, we should hurry up and add urgency, where appropriate, to our bills,” Garcia said.
One bill, which has already passed, eliminates copays, deductibles and any cost-sharing requirements for abortions for all state-licensed health care service plans or disability insurance policies issued after 2022. This would apply to covered spouses and dependents, and Medi-Cal beneficiaries.
The legislature on Friday placed urgency on a bill to protect patients and providers from civil actions and financial retaliation for abortion services that are legal in California. A second bill they are also looking to add urgency to would deny out-of-state subpoenas for patient information regarding reproductive health care granted in California.
“Our goal is to get that through and passed before the end of June, and then would go into effect July 1,” Garcia said.
The California Legislative Women’s Caucus is in the process of identifying which other bills should take priority in order attempt to pass them by the June 30 deadline, she said. Those bills, with urgency, would become law by July 1, according to Garcia.
Other bills could become law as soon as next year. For a bill to go into effect in the new year, it needs to pass the legislature by Aug. 31 and be signed by the governor by Sept. 30. Some of the bills in the package may have later starting dates, according to Garcia.
The package also aims to increase access to people in marginalized groups who have access problems, including Californians.
One of the proposed bills would make Los Angeles a safe haven for abortions, regardless of residency. The bill would also establish a Los Angeles County Abortion Access Safe Haven Pilot Program, with the goal of advancing reproductive healthcare, specifically abortions, according to the bill.
Another bill would use tax dollars to set up a website that would help connect people coming from out of state with groups providing support services for those seeking abortions. The services include airfare, lodging, ground transportation, gas money, meals, dependent childcare, doula support and translation services, to help a person access and obtain an abortion, according to the bill.
“The idea is to create a public-private partnership … so that people looking to come to the state could then be connected to the different groups are already providing that network of support: to help you with the travel, to help you to ensure that you’re at a good provider, [and] that you have lodging while you’re here,” Garcia said.
State legislators from Connecticut and Washington have also reached out to Garcia for advice on implementing similar protections in their states and Garcia has been connecting those legislators with different groups that they work with in California, she said.
Anti-abortion rights groups, such as Live Action, have criticized California’s laws, one of which they said would permit abortions through all nine months of pregnancy. This includes what Live Action’s president called “death by neglect” by failing to provide medical care during the perinatal period after a child is born.
“That should not be the right of California to do. They don’t have the right to endanger children in the womb that way,” said Lila Rose, the president and founder of Live Action.
Rose also criticized California’s governor for the state’s move to help pay for abortions.
“It’s really disgusting what [Governor] Gavin Newsom in California is doing announcing that California is actually going to pay for people to come to our state to have abortions, literally making it an abortion tourism state,” Rose said.
She added, “the solution or the response should be we need to work to help women and help children so that they can live as opposed to we’re going to encourage them to literally travel to kill their children or have their children be killed.”
Robert Cohen/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — The bombshell leak of a draft Supreme Court decision that could overturn Roe v. Wade was disheartening but not surprising to many abortion providers, who have been preparing for the possible end of legal abortion for years.
Whole Woman’s Health operates abortion clinics in Virginia, Maryland, Minnesota, Indiana and Texas. For Marva Sadler, the senior director of clinical services for the abortion provider, recent restrictions on abortion access in Texas offer a hint of what’s to come if Roe is overturned this year.
After Texas’ near-total ban on abortions, SB8, went into effect last year, the number of patients seeking abortions at Whole Woman’s Health’s Texas clinics declined by upward of 50%, Sadler said. Meanwhile, Texas patients have traveled as far as Virginia to obtain an abortion due to waits at closer clinics. Whole Woman’s Health’s Minnesota clinic has seen a 30% increase in the number of patients from Texas since SB8 went into effect, Sadler said.
“Unfortunately, Texas has given us great insight in exactly what we’ll see happening on a much bigger, larger scale,” Sadler told ABC News.
Preparing for an influx
The leak of the Supreme Court draft opinion is not a final decision in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which involves a ban on abortions in Mississippi after 15 weeks of pregnancy — before the fetal viability line established by Roe.
The Mississippi law remains under review by the Supreme Court, but 26 states are certain or likely to prohibit abortions if Roe is overturned, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health policy research organization.
That includes every state that borders Illinois. Planned Parenthood of Illinois expects between 20,000 to 30,000 more patients would travel to the state each year for abortion care if Roe falls.
“We really do anticipate that that’s going to happen,” Jennifer Welch, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Illinois, told ABC News. “And what we have been doing is preparing for a number of years for this eventuality.”
Preparations include expanding the sizes of its health centers, opening two new clinics on the Indiana and Wisconsin borders, launching telehealth services for medical abortions and working with partners like abortion funds and other affiliates “to make sure that there’s a navigation program in place so patients can get the care they need here in Illinois,” Welch said.
Whole Woman’s Health has been assessing the needs at its clinics for years, as abortion access has changed in the states it covers and their neighbors. The organization has already started the process of readjusting its staffing needs should Roe be overturned “to make sure that we are well aware of how far we can expand … and what we need to obtain to move forward,” Sadler said.
Responding to evolving needs
In the wake of SB8, which bans abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, Whole Woman’s Health has helped women get abortion care out of state if they are unable to in Texas. It launched its Abortion Wayfinder Program, which refers patients to a Whole Woman’s Health clinic in a haven state like Maryland, Minnesota or Virginia, as well as connects them to other ally organizations and funding support. So far, the program has helped over 85 women access or obtain abortion care outside of Texas, Sadler said.
“That program has grown so fast that we’ve not been able to keep up,” she said.
If Roe is overturned, Sadler anticipates its clinics will reassess the needs of the communities they serve in order to continue to provide reproductive health care, such as by continuing to help patients access abortion care outside of Texas.
“Texas will absolutely be one of the states where abortion will become illegal very shortly after and if Roe falls, and so we do have to be prepared and are prepared for what does that post-Roe atmosphere look like for our Texas clinics,” Sadler said. “We’re going to do whatever we possibly could do to see as many patients as we possibly can — where we can, while we can. And in the event that we cannot, then we’ll reassess what those patients in those communities need and how we can be of assistance to them.”
Expanding in safe havens
Some abortion clinics are anticipating opening new facilities in states that are less likely to enact sweeping bans should Roe be overturned.
Shannon Brewer, the director of Mississippi’s only abortion clinic, Jackson Women’s Health, told ABC News’ podcast “Start Here” last week that she’s seeking to open a new location in New Mexico.
“This is not something that is going to just affect Mississippi within the year. This is going to affect upwards of 25 to 26 states, which is half of the United States,” said Brewer.
Sadler said that opening more clinics is “absolutely part of the conversation” at Whole Woman’s Health.
“If women are going to have to make a mass exodus outside of the state to go to where they need to go, we definitely need to pay attention and are paying attention to where those safe havens are, what the current situation can hold and who can hold the influx and where the need may arise in the near future,” Sadler said.
Welch said Planned Parenthood of Illinois is considering opening a new location in southern Illinois.
“We need to know that we have a location that is safe and appropriate for our patients and our staff,” she said. “That would be a while down the road, so we’re so focused on the other ways that we can welcome 20[,000] to 30,000 additional patients into Illinois per year when the Supreme Court overrules Roe.”
‘We’re not leaving these communities’
Trust Women operates abortion clinics in Oklahoma City and Wichita, Kansas. Both have seen an influx of patients since SB8 went into effect; patient volume at the Oklahoma City clinic has doubled since September, with a majority of patients now coming from Texas, according to communications director Zack Gingrich-Gaylord.
The Texas ban has increased waits for care at both clinics. With the Oklahoma governor signing a six-week abortion ban similar to the one in Texas last week, the abortion provider expects delays at its Kansas clinic to get even worse.
Trust Women has been working to increase capacity at its Kansas facility by bringing on additional doctors and increasing the number of clinic days. It also is looking to bring over its Oklahoma staff in the wake of the state’s new restrictions.
If Roe falls, Oklahoma’s trigger law would ban abortion in the state, placing further demand on independent abortion clinics in Kansas, Gingrich-Gaylord told ABC News.
“As more states fall off and access becomes even more limited, then people will not be able to see doctors in clinics,” he said. “There are much better medicines and ways to self-manage abortion now and it’s very safe to do so. But even that still will be out of reach for some people.”
As abortion clinics await the Supreme Court’s decision, Trust Women is working to protect abortion rights in Kansas ahead of an upcoming ballot measure in the August primary that could overturn the constitutional protection for abortion access in the state.
“If Roe falls, Kansas will be the closest legal abortion provider for 7.7 million people across the region,” Gingrich-Gaylord said. “So Kansas’ constitutional protection for abortion matters.”
Though there are challenges to abortion access in Oklahoma and Kansas, Gingrich-Gaylord said Trust Women doesn’t have any plans to leave the states and open clinics elsewhere.
“Our plans are to remain in our communities,” he said. “We may adjust how we do some things, but we’re not leaving these communities and our clinics will stay open and provide some service going forward. We’re not going anywhere.”
*EDITOR’S NOTE: This picture was taken during a trip organized by the Russian military.* – Photo by ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military last month launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, attempting to capture the strategic port city of Mariupol and to secure a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
May 09, 5:49 am
‘No reason to celebrate’ evacuations from besieged plant, commander says
As news spread of a successful evacuation operation from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, the deputy commander of the Azov battalion, Svyatoslav Palamar, said there was little reason to celebrate.
“Not enough is being done to try and evacuate wounded soldiers,” Palamar said, speaking at a press conference at the plant, which is surrounded by Russian forces.
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Saturday the first stage of the rescue operation had concluded and all civilians had been evacuated from the steel plant. Another 173 people were rescued Sunday from Azovstal and surrounding Mariupol, according to the local city council.
But Palamar said some civilians might still be trapped under the rubble of ruined shelters and that many bodies of deceased troops and civilians remain uncollected on the plant’s territory.
More than 25,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in Mariupol, according to Azov commanders. Half of all Russian bombardment and shelling in Ukraine was aimed at Mariupol, the battalion commanders said, adding that the city was shelled 150 times a day on average.
Russia has lost about 2,500 troops, with a further 500 wounded and over 60 destroyed tanks, in the city, Azov officials claimed. Yet the unblocking of Mariupol by military means remains difficult due to the lack of heavy weapons, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a joint press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Kyiv on Sunday.
Russia continued over the weekend to shell Ukrainian cities. Zelenskyy said Russians have “celebrated” the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation on May 8 by launching nine missile strikes against Odessa. Zelenskyy spoke at a press briefing in Kyiv held after his talks with visiting Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic. The Ukrainian President also met the head of the German parliament, Baerbel Bas, on Sunday. The two leaders spoke about how “German leadership in the European Union” can help Ukraine, Zelenskyy said in his nightly address on Sunday.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted Sunday that Berlin made a mistake by prohibiting Ukrainian symbols and flags at rallies during events on May 8-9.
“It’s deeply false to treat them equally with Russian symbols,” Kuleba wrote, adding that “taking the Ukrainian flag away from peaceful protestors is an attack on everyone who now defends Europe and Germany from Russian aggression with a flag in their hands.”
On Monday, as Ukraine celebrated the Day of Victory over Nazism in World War II, Zelenskyy said that the ongoing conflict was “not a war of two armies. This is a war of two worldviews.”
Russian missiles are trying to destroy Ukrainian philosophy, Zelenskyy said, because it “scares them.”
“We are free people who have their own path,” the president said. “Today we are waging war on this path and we will not give anyone a single piece of our land.”
-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres, Fidel Pavlenko, Irene Hnatiuk, Max Uzol and Uliana Lototska
May 08, 4:51 pm
Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau visits Ukraine, announces new support
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Ukraine on Sunday and toured devastated areas in and around Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
During a joint news conference, Trudeau pledged Canada’s continuing support for Ukraine and condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin for atrocities he alleged Russian forces are responsible for in Ukraine.
“It is clear that Vladimir Putin is responsible for heinous war crimes,” Trudeau said. “We will continue to do the work of being there for you with whatever we can, whatever you need.”
Trudeau announced that Canada is sending additional military support to Ukraine, including drone cameras, satellite imagery, small arms and ammunition.
The prime minister also said Canada will impose new sanctions on 40 Russian individuals he alleged are complicit in Putin’s war.
“And we’re bringing forward new sanctions on 40 Russian individuals and five entities, oligarchs and close associates of the regime in the defense sector, all of them complicit in Putin’s war,” Trudeau said.
Trudeau also announced that all trade tariffs on Ukrainian imports to Canada will be lifted for the next year and that Canada is donating CA$25 million, or about US$19.3 million, to the U.N. World Food Program, which is providing emergency food assistance to people in Ukraine.
Trudeau said that he and Larissa Galadza, Canada’s ambassador to Ukraine, raised the Canadian flag at the country’s embassy in Kyiv on Sunday to signal its reopening. He called the move an “important symbol not just of Canada’s steadfast friendship with Ukraine, but of the incredible resilience and heroism of the Ukrainian people, who ensured that this city did not fall.”
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
May 08, 3:46 pm
Pope Francis asks for daily prayer for peace in Ukraine
Pope Francis on Sunday prayed for peace in Ukraine, entrusting to the Virgin Mary the ”sufferings and tears of the Ukrainian people.”
”In front of the war’s madness, let us please continue to pray the rosary for peace every day,” the pope told thousands of people gathered in the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square for his weekly address and blessing.
For several Sundays in a row the pope has led prayers for peace in Ukraine and has condemned the Russian invasion of the country, calling the act of war “senseless” during an Easter Sunday Mass last month.
The pontiff also prayed for the victims of an apparent gas explosion on Friday at the Hotel Saratoga in Havana, Cuba. At least 26 people were killed in the blast at the popular hotel and around 70 people were injured.
May 08, 3:11 pm
U2’s Bono, The Edge perform surprise concert in Kyiv
U2’s frontman Bono and lead-guitarist The Edge surprised fans in Kyiv on Sunday by performing an impromptu concert in the Ukrainian capital’s central metro station.
The two Irish rockers delivered a nearly hour-long set at the Khreshchatyk Metro Station, Kyiv’s busiest metro station, as several dozen fans watched.
“The people of Ukraine are not just fighting for your own freedom, you’re fighting for all of us who love freedom,” Bono told the crowd between songs.
The musicians were joined on one of the station’s platforms by Taras Topolia, frontman of Ukrainian pop rock band Antytila. Topolia presented Bono with a piece of shrapnel he said was the remains of a missile that struck near the base in Kyiv where he is currently serving in the Ukrainian Army.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has received the endorsement of two more major law enforcement groups, according to two letters obtained by ABC News.
The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the world’s largest group for police leaders, and the Women in Federal Law Enforcement Foundation (WIFLE), offered their support of Biden’s nominee, former U.S. attorney Steve Dettelbach, in letters to the Senate Judiciary Committee last week.
“[Dettelbach’s] years of experience as a United States Attorney have provided him the opportunity to work closely with law enforcement agencies and gain a unique understanding of the challenges and complexities agencies face in combating firearms violence, gang-related crime, and other threats to our communities,” IACP President Chief Dwight Henninger said in the association’s letter.
“We believe that Mr. Dettelbach’s experience, expertise, and record of success are evidence of his outstanding qualifications to serve as the next Director of the ATF.”
WIFLE’s President Catherine Sanz similarly praised Dettelbach’s previous experience as U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, where he served for seven years under the Obama Administration.
“He has used innovative anti-violence approaches and partnerships focusing on crime prevention as well as data driven approaches to target criminal organizations and violent offenders,” Sanz said. “He also engages with the communities to create a more coordinated and inclusive approach to law enforcement.”
In recent weeks, an increasing number of national law enforcement groups have thrown their support behind Dettelbach, who the White House hopes will become ATF’s first Senate-confirmed director in more than six years.
David Chipman, who served 25 years as an ATF agent before later becoming a vocal gun control advocate and senior policy advisor for the Giffords Foundation, was forced to withdraw his nomination last September following a major campaign opposing his nomination from gun groups like the National Rifle Association.
In addition to unanimous opposition from Republicans in the Senate, several moderate Democrats, in addition to independent Sen. Angus King, withheld announcing their support for Chipman’s nomination.
While WIFLE endorsed both Dettelbach’s nomination as well as Chipman’s, IACP was among several law enforcement groups that had notably withheld announcing their support for Chipman.
Mesa County, Colo., clerk and recorder Tina Peters – Photo by Hyoung Chang/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images
(DENVER) — When Josh Zygielbaum left the Marine Corps more than ten years ago, he thought he would never have to wear body armor again. But now Zygielbaum is back to wearing a bulletproof vest as a Colorado county clerk — one of the many extreme measures he says he’s been forced to take as the state has emerged as a battleground in the shadowy world of election conspiracies.
Considered by many experts to be a leader in election security due to its up-to-date voting machines, its policy of recording every vote on a paper ballot, and its rigorous post-election audits, Colorado has been described by some election experts as the “gold standard for elections.” Yet despite its strong reputation, the state has recently been targeted by election denial groups as a center for baseless accusations that election workers helped steal the 2020 election from Donald Trump.
As a result, election officials and poll workers in several Colorado counties have donned bulletproof vests and undergone active shooter training for their own safety.
Zygielbaum and other officials ABC News spoke with pointed to Tina Peters, an embattled county clerk in Mesa County, accusing her of being one of the leading figures fueling the false and baseless conspiracy theories that have put Colorado in the spotlight.
Peters, who announced in February that she is running for Colorado secretary of state, has been under investigation by the FBI since November for her alleged involvement in a security breach of the Mesa County election system, according to a statement by the Colorado attorney general. In March, she was indicted by a grand jury on 11 counts of election tampering and misconduct, after authorities say the election software she used for her county wound up in the hands of a consultant, and screenshots of the software appeared on right-wing websites.
“Using a grand jury to formalize politically-motivated accusations against candidates is tactic long employed by the Democrat Party,” Peters said in a statement posted on her campaign website. “Using legal muscle to indict political opponents during an election isn’t new strategy, but it’s easier to execute when you have a district attorney who despises President Trump and any constitutional conservative like myself who continues to demand all election evidence be made available to the public.”
For the past several months, Peters has been joined by attorney John Eastman, a key architect of former President Donald Trump’s legal effort to overturn the 2020 election, and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, a Trump confidant, at election denial events in the state.
“I came to Colorado today because you have here in Colorado the key to the whole nation,” Lindell said at a rally in April, “because you had a great county clerk, Tina Peters, (who) did her job.”
“For people that say we need to look forward — we’ve got to fix what happened in 2020,” Peters told the crowd.
In a similar event in February hosted by FEC United, a conservative group with a militia wing, attendees including Peters and Eastman cheered as self-described election denier Sean Smith said that he had evidence of criminal election conduct by Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold.
“You may know me as the number-one most dangerous election denier in Colorado,” Smith told the crowd.
The event spurred Griswold to make a report to the Colorado State Patrol after Smith said that “if you’re involved in election fraud, then you deserve to hang.”
“We are still seeing the effects of the 2020 election,” Griswold said in a statement to ABC News. “Extreme elected officials and right-wing political insiders continue to spread the Big Lie and election conspiracies.”
As voting officials gear up for the upcoming midterm elections, “the potential for violence that we face is very real,” Zygielbaum said.
Concerns about their staffers’ safety have spurred county officials to adopt a variety of safety protocols. Zygielbaum told ABC News that employees in his Adams County office have been asked not take the same route home on a daily basis.
He said his county has also partnered with the Department of Homeland Security to review their facilities, and is redesigning their elections office “so that voters and individuals who are not employees” cannot go inside the building. In addition, the county is working closely with law enforcement at the state, local and federal level, and has a direct line to the FBI and Terrorism Task Force.
Secretary Griswold confirmed to ABC News that her office arranged for counties to receive a physical threat assessment from DHS, as well as nearly $130,000 in grant funding to make security upgrades.
In the city of Denver, clerk Paul López says he had to move his office away from a first-floor window because it was a security risk.
“I think that folks who think they can intimidate election workers and try to stop us from being able to do our job are absolutely incorrect,” López told ABC News. “We will defend our democracy, and we will do it in a way that inspires people to come to the polls and not scare them away. “
In Chaffee County, county clerk Lori Mitchell has faced personal threats since 2020, with one incident over the summer traumatizing her to the point where she almost decided against running for reelection.
“I saw somebody lay their right hand over their left arm and pull what looked like a gun to me,” Mitchell told ABC News. “And so I ducked in my car.”
“It ended up being a squirt gun,” Mitchell said. “But it was still one of the most frightening days of my life.”
Now, Mitchell and other officials in her office speak with constituents through bulletproof glass. To prepare for the midterms, the county is working closely with law enforcement to enact additional measures to protect election workers.
“Colorado is one of the current epicenters of the Stop the Steal movement,” said Matt Crane, executive director of the Colorado County Clerks Association. “And so we are concerned and very worried about the influence and pressure being put on election officials. They are incredibly understaffed and overworked, and now they have to deal with the emotional toll that comes from knowing that you have to do things to protect yourself.”
According to Crane, the state has seen people “putting in open-records requests to get personal information of poll workers and election judges.”
Crane said that as the state prepares for the upcoming midterms, the attorney general and district attorneys have been working with law enforcement organizations to prepare for possible hostile situations against election officials.
Meanwhile, state lawmakers have passed a bill that would ban the open carry of guns at polling places and create new criminal penalties for people who threaten election workers.
A similar bill that is part of a legislative package to increase security for state and local officials was also advanced by a state legislative panel last month. That legislation also includes a bill aimed at cracking down on the attempted sabotage of voting equipment — described by officials as a direct response to allegations against Peters, the Mesa County clerk.
“No one should have to worry about the safety of themselves or their families when serving as an election administrator,” said Griswold.
“By protecting our election workers and officials, we safeguard our democracy,” she said. “We must do what we can to protect and retain our top-quality election administrators at the state, county and local level.”
