Politics
Ahead of second Trump term, California vows 'ironclad' abortion access
SACRAMENTO — California lawmakers are rushing to introduce legislation that reaffirms the state’s role as a reproductive rights “haven” as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House and abortion rights advocates warn of an uncertain future.
Abortion remains legal in California, home to the strongest reproductive rights in the nation — unlike in some states, there is no required waiting period or counseling before the procedure, and minors can get abortions without parental involvement. In 2022, voters solidified abortion access in the state Constitution after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the federal right, limiting healthcare for millions of women.
But as Trump prepares to take the White House again, California’s Democratic leaders are adamant that not enough has been done to secure reproductive access in case of further federal rollbacks.
“The truth is, this is an urgent and dangerous situation,” California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said at a news conference in Sacramento on Monday, pointing to renewed legal challenges to the distribution of abortion pills. “The right-wing extremists continue to wage attack after attack on our bodily autonomy at the expense of the health or life of pregnant persons.”
Bonta, a Democrat, said new legislative proposals will make reproductive rights in California “ironclad.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s earlier focus on abortion rights after Trump’s first term — including ad campaigns in red states — have drawn criticism from California Republicans skeptical of his national political motives and praise from advocates who say it is better to be safe than sorry. He has signed dozens of bills firming up abortion access in recent years, but some of his plans have proved to be more flash than substance. A temporary law allowing doctors licensed in Arizona to provide abortions in California, for example, expired without any doctors using it.
“He makes the big pronouncements, but he’s not a very good executor of those policies,” said Assembly Republican leader James Gallagher of Yuba City. “It’s kind of become his M.O., to make a big splash and then nothing really ever comes of it.”
Democrats, however, see the need to shore up abortion access given the uncertainty of Trump’s plans. A bill introduced this week aims to ensure availability of mifepristone and misoprostol — the commonly used two-step medication abortion process — even if the Trump administration attempts to interfere.
At issue is how antiabortion government officials could revive and interpret the Comstock Act, a federal law that once banned the mailing of “obscene” materials related to abortions.
While Trump has said he has no plans to ban abortion nationwide, he has repeatedly flip-flopped on the issue and taken credit for appointing conservative Supreme Court justices who reversed the federal right to abortion with their decision in the landmark Dobbs case.
Reproductive health advocates are worried that under his second term, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration could limit access to abortion medication. To lead the FDA, Trump has tapped Dr. Marty Makary, who has echoed antiabortion messages on Fox News about fetal pain — something disputed by major medical organizations.
The California bill by Assemblymember Maggy Krell (D-Sacramento), a legislative newcomer and former Planned Parenthood attorney, aims to ensure that Californians continue to have access to medication abortion for the foreseeable future and protects “manufacturers, distributors, authorized healthcare providers and individuals” from any legal action for distributing or administering the pills.
“There are emerging threats to the availability of mifepristone and misoprostol, and California may not be able to guarantee a continued supply,” the bill states. “Previously, Governor Newsom implemented a plan to stockpile doses of misoprostol. While this effort was successful, the Legislature finds that the state needs to renew its stockpile to ensure that Californians can continue to exercise their constitutional rights.”
Last year, Newsom rushed to stockpile hundreds of thousands of abortion pills after a Texas judge ruled against the authorization of the medication.
“We will not cave to extremists who are trying to outlaw these critical abortion services. Medication abortion remains legal in California,” Newsom said then.
But, facing expiration dates, the state released the stockpile to the public before the U.S. Supreme Court decision that rejected the Texas court’s ruling.
In Washington, Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee chose to hold on to a similar stockpile in case Trump was elected again.
A spokesperson for Newsom said California “remains ready” to procure more pills if needed.
In another precautionary move last year, Newsom signed a law that allowed abortion providers in Arizona to temporarily practice in California. The action came after the Arizona Supreme Court reinstated an 1800s law that essentially banned all abortions.
No Arizona providers ended up using the program, which expired Dec. 1, according to the California Department of Consumer Affairs. Concerns settled in Arizona after Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs signed a bill that repealed the court decision, and voters last month passed a state constitutional amendment guaranteeing a right to abortion.
The California legislation “was designed to serve as a swift stop gap measure to preserve continued access to abortion care, if necessary, during this very precarious moment,” California Department of Consumer Affairs spokesperson Monica Vargas said in an email when The Times asked for data about the program’s use.
Newsom also signed a law last year that allowed medical residents from states with “hostile” laws to get abortion training in California. The state does not require the California Medical Board to track whether that program is being used as intended, a spokesperson said.
For Republican critics like Gallagher, those programs are instances of “political theater” meant more to draw attention to an issue than provide substantive policy. Newsom this week called a special legislative session in Sacramento to prepare for legal combat with Trump on issues such as abortion and immigration — a move heralded by liberals as smart preparation for an unpredictable president and criticized by conservatives as unnecessary panic.
“In California, abortion is constitutionally protected, and you have a president-elect who has said very clearly he will not support any national abortion ban,” Gallagher said. “This perceived threat that they’re trying to make into a political volley … it’s just Newsom drawing attention to himself.”
Some abortion advocates said that they’d rather have a nimble governor like Newsom and be cautious even if the emergency plans don’t always pan out.
“Now more than ever is the time for innovative policy solutions,” said Shannon Olivieri Hovis, a spokesperson for Essential Health Access. “And inevitably, it is going to be the case that not all solutions we put forth will be equally effective.”
Other bills introduced this week seeking to fill California’s reproductive health access gaps include a proposal to financially penalize cities and counties that block the building of abortion clinics, as has happened in Beverly Hills and Fontana.
Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Oakland) introduced a package of bills that would ensure hospitals enforce laws that require emergency rooms to provide abortion care; make it easier for Medi-Cal recipients to get birth control; and prevent birthing centers from closing.
About 40% of California counties don’t have abortion clinics, including rural areas where transportation can be a hurdle. In September, the state sued a Humboldt County Catholic hospital after a patient said she was denied an emergency abortion even as she feared for her life because of miscarriage risks.
“We have to be absolutely clear-eyed about the political and social moment we’re in right now … when we have a proven misogynist as a president,” said Mia Bonta, who is married to the attorney general, referring to Trump’s sexual abuse allegations and “your body, my choice” refrains that surged after his election.
“I think while California has done an amazing job, we still have a lot of work to do to shore up the infrastructure of support for people who are seeking healthcare and abortion access and protection of our reproductive and sexual freedoms.”
Politics
Iowa sues Biden administration to verify status of 2,000 registered voters who may be noncitizens
Iowa is suing the Biden administration over its alleged refusal to provide access to the citizenship status information of more than 2,000 registered voters whose status was questioned ahead of the 2024 election.
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird and Secretary of State Paul Pate filed the lawsuit on Tuesday, which claims U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) “would not hand over” its “list of noncitizens illegally registered to vote in Iowa.”
Federal authorities’ “failure meant that the State had to rely on the best — imperfect — data it had available to ensure that no Iowan’s vote was canceled by an illegal, noncitizen vote,” Pate and Bird said in a joint statement.
Along with USCIS, the lawsuit names the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas as defendants.
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Fox News Digital reached out to DHS for comment but did not immediately hear back.
The complaint details how state election officials checked voter rolls against a list of people who identified themselves as noncitizens with the state’s Department of Transportation. The vast majority of the 2,176 names had subsequently registered to vote or voted, meaning that some of those people could have become naturalized citizens in the lapsed time.
Pate told county elections officials during the state’s early voting to challenge the ballots cast by any of the individuals named on the list and have them cast a provisional ballot instead.
Pro-voting groups sued Pate over the move, though days later a judge ruled against them and allowed those named on Pate’s list to cast provisional ballots.
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At least 500 of the identified individuals proved their citizenship status and had their votes counted, the Des Moines Register reported, citing preliminary information collected from 97 of the state’s 99 counties.
Another 74 ballots were rejected, according to the Register, mostly because those people did not return to prove their citizenship status.
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Most of the people on Pate’s list did not vote in the 2024 election, according to the Register’s data from county auditors.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Politics
California raw milk producer says RFK Jr. has encouraged him to apply for FDA position
Mark McAfee, the California raw milk producer who has been at the center of several bird flu-related product recalls, says a transition team for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has encouraged him to apply for a position at the Food and Drug Administration.
McAfee, CEO of Fresno-based Raw Farm, LLC, told The Times that he has complied with the request and applied for the position of “FDA advisor on raw milk policy and standards development.”
The recent raw milk recalls were the result of positive tests for H5N1 bird flu among McAfee’s cows. His farms have since been quarantined, and the state has suspended all sales of raw milk and cream. Raw Farm has voluntarily issued recalls for all remaining milk and cream products in stores.
McAfee’s farm is also involved in at least 11 lawsuits stemming from a salmonella outbreak that sickened 171 people in California, and which occurred between October of last year and May of this year, according to Bill Marler, a Seattle-area food safety lawyer.
When asked about McAfee potentially being tapped for a federal food advisory role, Marler wrote in an email: “Clown Car.”
Last month, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he had chosen Kennedy to lead the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, which oversees the FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health and other agencies.
Kennedy has been a vocal advocate for raw milk, and has criticized FDA policy forbidding interstate sales of the product. According to McAfee, Kennedy is also a consumer and customer of Raw Farm milk.
McAfee said he has not officially been selected for the advisory role. Indeed, Kennedy’s own nomination as HHS director still requires confirmation by the U.S. Senate.
The Times has reached out to the Trump transition team and Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again teams for comment, but has not yet received a response.
McAfee is the largest producer of raw milk in the nation and maintains 1,800 dairy cows on two farms — one in Fresno, the other outside Hanford.
His raw milk products include whole milk, cream, kefir and cheese — all of which can be sold in stores in California, but not over state lines..
However, FDA regulations do not apply to his pet food product line, which can be sold outside California — albeit with warning labels noting that the products are not intended for human consumption.
McAfee is also president of the Raw Milk Institute, a raw milk educational and advocacy organization designed to aid dairy farmers interested in adopting standards and methods for raw milk production.
In an interview with The Times two weeks ago, McAfee said that as excited as he is for Kennedy to change the FDA’s policy on raw milk, such a move needs to be carried out with deliberate care.
“I’m dedicated to making sure that whatever happens, it is not chaotic, crazy, or just a free for all, but rather very constructive with farmer training and testing and high standards,” he said. “I’m very interested in committing myself to helping raw milk emerge as a constructive, high standards, healthy, wonderful, germinating, delicious food.”
He noted that in 2021, Montana lawmakers passed a “food freedom” law that legalized the unregulated sale of raw milk and raw milk products. Soon after, people started to get sick.
McAfee said he flew out to meet with raw milk dairy producers and helped them establish standards that incorporated training, testing and quality control.
For instance, he noted one dairy farmer was cleaning his milk buckets with chlorine, which McAfee said does not address fats and biofilms.
“It was filthy,” he said.
Instead, he showed the farmers how to clean their equipment with hot water and soap.
“You have to have standards,” he said.
McAfee’s milk is highly regulated by the state of California, which performs frequent testing for food-illness pests such as campylobacter, cryptosporidium, E. coli, listeria, brucella, and salmonella and other bacterial illnesses in his milk.
He said unlike conventional dairies where the milk is pasteurized after it’s been collected, he is required to test the cows for pathogens, and said he only milks disease-free cows.
He has an on-farm laboratory where he tests for listeria, campylobacter, E. coli 0157H7 and salmonella in his bulk tanks and cows.
He said his cows are meticulously cleaned before they are milked. And the milk is immediately shunted into a rapid chiller that drops the milk’s temperature from 100 degrees Fahrenheit to 35 degrees Fahrenheit in about two minutes, he said.
Then the milk stays at that temperature until delivered to stores.
Even so, experts say bacteria can still contaminate milk — even when procured from a sparkling-clean udder. The FDA, CDC and other health agencies say the public should drink only pasteurized milk.
Since 2006, Raw Farm — formerly known as Organic Pastures Dairy Company — has been involved in 13 recalls, including the three bird flu related ones from last month.
The other recalls were the result of bacterial contamination, including E. coli, listeria, campylobacteria and salmonella. In some cases, people became severely ill with hemolytic uremic syndrome — or kidney failure.
There was also a recent outbreak of salmonella poisoning from Raw Farm raw milk, which involved at least 171 people “the majority of which were children,” noted a report on the outbreak by the state’s Center for Infectious Diseases.
McAfee said if he were selected for an advisory role at the FDA, he’d consider creating a certification program, such as those in place for organic farming that involve farmer education and training, for raw milk production.
He also said he’d look into changing food liability laws, “where you can’t go get a million dollars for somebody that gets diarrhea for a week.”
McAfee said the government should consider raw milk and other whole food insurance programs, like the USDA’s crop insurance program which provides for farmers whose fields and crops have been impacted by drought, flooding or fire — or the more recent milk insurance program which provides money for dairy farmers whose herds have been infected with bird flu.
“I would recommend strongly that all whole foods — including maybe greens, eggs, carrots, by God, poor carrots — have food liability insurance… so people can get that food, because right now, insurance or companies saying, ‘Oh, you’re on the naughty list so no more insurance for you.’” he said. “And so you’re going to have stores with less and less of these whole foods that are critical to actually getting people healthy again.”
Politics
GOP rebels go to war over Biden’s mammoth $98B disaster aid request
FIRST ON FOX: The ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus is calling on Republican leaders to reject President Biden’s $98.4 billion disaster aid request.
In an official position staked out by the GOP group on Wednesday evening, lawmakers are demanding a slimmed-down package covering what is “absolutely necessary,” to be offset with spending cuts elsewhere.
“Congress should not pass a whopping $100 billion unpaid disaster supplemental funding bill — that Democrats will use to cement their own unrelated priorities — in the waning days of Democrat control in Washington right before Republicans take control of the White House and both Chambers,” the House Freedom Caucus statement read.
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“The House should consider only what is absolutely necessary right now to provide critical relief to hurricane victims and farmers, and pay for it with offsets from wasteful spending elsewhere in the government, then wait for President Trump to take office to better manage disaster relief.”
It comes as both House and Senate lawmakers negotiate over how large the disaster aid package should be, and whether it should be attached to an end-of-year federal funding bill that’s critical to avoiding a partial government shutdown during the holiday season.
More than 100 people were killed in North Carolina alone when Helene barreled into the Southeastern U.S. in late September.
Hurricane Milton, another deadly storm, hit Florida and Georgia roughly a week later.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told “Your World” host Neil Cavuto that a $100 billion disaster aid package may be necessary.
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“I believe that we need that disaster supplemental at about $100 billion. There’s nearly an estimate of $50 billion in North Carolina alone,” Tillis said. “It’s going to take years to recover and we shouldn’t be playing games with people’s lives.”
But some fiscal conservatives have balked at the prospect of granting the mammoth-sized federal request without cutting costs elsewhere.
They’ve argued that granting the Democratic administration’s request for such a hefty package would be a reckless move that would further balloon the national debt.
“I’m not going to vote for $100 billion unpaid for. Zero chance,” Freedom Caucus Policy Chair Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital last month.
Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., who is not a member of the Freedom Caucus and whose district was hit hard by Helene, told Fox News Digital that he was in touch with House leaders about a disaster aid bill but said details were still being crafted.
Meanwhile Congressional leaders are expected to negotiate on a continuing resolution (CR), a short-term extension of the current government funding levels, by the Dec. 20 partial shutdown deadline.
“We’re looking at a couple of different options,” Edwards said on Wednesday morning. “It may be attached to the CR, it may run parallel to the CR, but it’s very much being constructed right now.”
Asked about Biden’s requested total, he said, “It’s still being built. We’ve got pretty much the bones established, we’re just trying to determine proportionately, how much money we spend in each of the various areas.”
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who discussed disaster aid and government funding with the House Freedom Caucus on Tuesday evening, gave little insight into his plans during his weekly press conference.
“It’s serious, serious damage. But the initial request was $116.5 billion. And what we’re doing right now is the important, methodical job that the House has, to go through really line by line and assess those requests and make sure that they all are actually tied to disaster and not superfluous items and issues that are included,” Johnson said.
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