Lawmakers in Okla. approve bill banning almost all abortions
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma lawmakers on Thursday approved a bill prohibiting all abortions with few exceptions, and providers said they would stop performing the procedure as soon as the governor signs the bill.
Two of the state’s four abortion clinics already stopped providing abortions after the governor signed a six-week ban this month, and an attorney for the two other independent clinics said they will no longer offer services once the bill is signed.
“This bill could go into effect at any time, and once it does, any person can sue the clinic, the doctors, anyone else who is involved in providing an abortion in Oklahoma,” said Rabia Muqaddam, an attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Oklahoma clinics in legal challenges against several proposed new anti-abortion laws.
The bills are part of an aggressive push in Republican-led states across the country to scale back abortion rights. It comes on the heels of a leaked draft opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court that suggests justices are considering weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nearly 50 years ago.
The bill by would prohibit all abortions, except to save the life of a pregnant woman or if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest that has been reported to law enforcement.
“Is our goal to defend the right to life or isn’t it?” state Rep. Wendi Stearman, the author of the bill, asked her colleagues before it passed on a 73-16 vote mostly along party lines.
The bill is one of at least three anti-abortion bills sent this year to Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, who has indicated he’ll sign it.
Another Texas-style abortion bill that prohibits the procedure after cardiac activity can be detected in the embryo, which experts say is about six weeks, already has taken effect and has already dramatically curtailed the practice in Oklahoma.
Another bill set to take effect this summer would make it a felony to perform an abortion, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. That bill contains no exceptions for rape or incest.
Russia probe testimony: The star prosecution witness in the trial of a Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer testified Thursday that he was “100 percent confident” that the attorney told him he was not acting on behalf of a particular client when he presented information meant to cast suspicions on Donald Trump and possible links to Russia.
The lawyer, Michael Sussmann, is accused of lying to the FBI about the fact that he was representing Clinton’s 2016 campaign interests and that of another client — although the campaign says it never authorized Sussmann to meet with the bureau.
Sussmann’s lawyers deny he lied and sought Thursday to undermine the testimony of the government’s key witness, James Baker, by suggesting his memory of the September 2016 meeting with Sussmann was foggy and that his accounts of it had shifted over time.
Baker was the FBI’S general counsel in September 2016 when Sussmann, a friend who did legal work for the Clinton campaign, scheduled a meeting to give him computer data that Sussmann said showed a potential
secret communications channel between a Russia-based bank and the Trump Organization.
Sussmann is accused of lying to Baker during that meeting by saying he was not presenting the computer data on behalf of a particular client. In fact, prosecutors allege, he was representing the interests during that meeting of the Clinton campaign and another client, a technology executive who had provided him with the data.
Twitter is stepping up its fight against misinformation with a new policy cracking down on posts that spread potentially dangerous false stories. The change is part of a broader effort to promote accurate information during times of conflict or crisis.
Starting Thursday, the platform will no longer automatically recommend or emphasize posts that make misleading claims about the Russian invasion of Ukraine,
New Twitter policy:
including material that mischaracterizes conditions in conflict zones or makes falseallegationsofwarcrimes or atrocities against civilians.
Under its new “crisis misinformation policy,” Twitter will also add warning labels to debunked claims about ongoing humanitarian crises, the company said. Users won’t be able to like, forward or respond to posts that violate the new rules.
The changes make Twitter the latest social platform to grapple with the misinformation, propaganda and rumors that have proliferated since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
Ex-chancellor rebuked:
German lawmakers agreed Thursday to strip former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of his office and staff after he maintained and defended his long-standing ties with Russia and its energy sector despite the invasion of Ukraine.
The move was expected
after lawmakers with the governing coalition — which is led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats, Schroeder’s party — on Wednesday proposed linking some of the privileges former chancellors enjoy to actual duties, rather than their status as ex-leaders.
To reduce the chances of a legal challenge, the proposal didn’t explicitly mention Schroeder’s ties to Russian companies or to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The ex-chancellor still will be entitled to bodyguards and a pension.
Schroeder, 78, led Germany from 1998 to 2005.
Salmonella outbreak:
European health officials say 266 confirmed cases and 58 suspected cases of an outbreak of salmonella infection linked to chocolate Easter eggs have been reported throughout Europe and in North America, the vast majority in children.
Cases have been reported
in 14 European countries, Canada and the United States.
The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control suspects a Belgian factory that closed in April.
Filipino sailor honored: U.S. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro announced Thursday that a future destroyer will be named the USS Telesforo Trinidad in honor of a Filipino sailor who rescued two crew members when their ship caught fire more than 100 years ago.
Fireman Telesforo De La Cruz Trinidad is the only Filipino in the U.S. Navy to be awarded the Medal of Honor. He received the honor for his actions in 1915, at a time when it could be awarded for noncombat valor.
Trinidad, who died in 1968 at age 77, was aboard the USS San Diego when boilers exploded, killing nine. He was among the more than 250,000 Filipino soldiers who served in World War II.