Thoughts on Supreme Court and water
It’s beginning to look like the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to overturn the nearly 50-years ago landmark abortion-rights decision Roe v. Wade.
This past Monday, May 2, Politico reported that Supreme Court justices has voted to strike down abortion protections provided under the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision and 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey ruling.
Politico obtained what it called a draft ruling written by Justice Samuel Alito that says, in part, “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start.”
“We hold that ‘Roe’ and ‘Casey’ must be overruled,” the document states. “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”
Politico noted that the document is still in draft form, and Supreme Court decisions can change based on the drafts of rulings. Kep in mind, the ruling will not be final until it is published, most likely within the next two months. But the document states the ruling was supported by four other Republican-appointed justices — Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
If the decision does become final, it would strike down one of the most controversial Supreme Court rulings of the past century. Roe v. Wade guarantees abortion rights throughout the U.S. until the fetus is viable, typically between 22 and 24 weeks. Overturning the decision would strip away federal protection of abortion rights, and leave it up to individual states to set abortion policy.
You can bet that California won’t take any steps to ban or limit access to abortion, and Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday he will address recent attacks on choice across the country and California’s “commitment to safeguarding reproductive freedom.”
According to reports, Newsom is planning on “creating safe havens for women across the country to pursue reproductive health care in the state.”
It’s a shame that Barry Goldwater, is not around today to slap some sense into these Trump-clone Republicans who have declared an (un)holy war on a woman’s right to decide what’s best for her when pregnant.
Goldwater was an American politician, statesman, businessman, United States Air Force officer, and author who was a five-term Senator from Arizona (1953—1965, 1969—1987) and the Republican Party nominee for president in 1964.
Goldwater was himself pro-choice (also pro-gay and supported gays in the military), and his wife, Peggy, had helped to found an Arizona chapter of Planned Parenthood.
Goldwater was a classic conservative, a man of impeccable integrity, and an independent thinker. Were he alive today he’d probably kick Donald Trumps’s ass from his penthouse suite on top of Trump Towers, all the way down to the lobby and then out into the street’s gutter.
Here’s a few of the things Goldwater said over the years about about abortion.
• “A woman has a right to an abortion. That’s a decision that’s up to the pregnant woman, not up to the pope or some do-gooders or the Religious Right.”
• “Abortion is not something the Republican Party should call for the abolition of, by legal means or by any other means.”
• “There is no way in the world that abortion is going to be abolished. It has been going on ever since man and woman lived together on this earth.”
• “Men (who are anti-abortion) should keep their asses out of doctor’s offices. That’s something between the pregnant woman and her doctor.”
As I said, Goldwater was a man of integrity and principle, and we have damn few around nowadays in these craven political times when we could benefit from someone like him the most.
Newsom proposes additional $2 Billion For Water Conservation
Governor Gavin Newsom is touting $5 billion in investments already committed to support drought response now and” build water resilience for the future,” and $22.5 million in additional funding for drought response, including $8.25 million to increase water conservation outreach and education. He is proposing $2 billion to spur clean energy projects across the state and bolster grid reliability. The budget includes funding to secure and expand water supplies; bolster drought contingency planning and multi-benefit land repurposing projects; support drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, with a focus on small and disadvantaged communities; advance Sustainable Groundwater Management Act implementation to improve water supply security and quality; and support wildlife and habitat restoration efforts, among other nature-based solutions.
“As this drought persists into a third year, we are experiencing drier and hotter weather than ever before,” said California Natural Resources Agency Secretary Wade Crowfoot. “These conditions diminish our water supplies but also threaten energy reliability. We are adapting to these unprecedented conditions and working to find flexibilities where possible to safeguard both water supplies and grid reliability.”
Newsom, through an executive order last month, called on local water utilities to move to, at a minimum, Level Two of their Water Shortage Contingency Plans, which require locally-appropriate actions that will conserve water across all sectors. The Executive Order also directed the State Water Resources Control Board to consider a ban on the watering of decorative grass at businesses and institutions.
As I’ve reported previously the Laytonville Water District has water conservation regulations that have been in effect for 7 years, so we already greatly exceed what’s called for in Newsom’s new order. In fact, our rule is more stringent than the state’s. Since 2015, our Water District’s rule prohibits outdoor watering from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., 7-days a week.