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Editorial: Abortion was on ballots across the country in this election. The results are encouraging

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Editorial: Abortion was on ballots across the country in this election. The results are encouraging

Ever since the Supreme Court took away the constitutional right to abortion in 2022, the people have been taking it back state by state.

Before last week’s election, voters in six states had either enshrined abortion rights in their state constitutions or defeated ballot measures that would have restricted them.

On Tuesday, that number more than doubled. In seven of the 10 states where abortion rights measures were on the ballot, they prevailed. From the most liberal of those states (New York) to the most conservative (Missouri), and regardless of how they voted in the presidential race, voters asserted the right to control their own bodies. Even in Florida, where an abortion rights measure failed, it won a more decisive majority than Donald Trump. (More about that later.)

Ballot measures in New York, Maryland, Colorado and Montana enshrined abortion rights (and, in New York, other equal rights protections) in the constitutions of states where they are already substantially protected by law. Abortion is legal to the point of fetal viability in Montana, for example, but lawmakers there have repeatedly tried to restrict it.

These measures may be unnecessary in liberal states where abortion remains legal — and let’s hope they are. But every state that codifies abortion rights in its constitution reinforces them against the whims of elected officials. California voters passed a constitutional amendment bolstering the state’s already strong abortion protections in 2022.

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The most important victories Tuesday were for measures in Arizona, which outlawed abortion after 15 weeks, and Missouri, where abortion was illegal with no exceptions for incest or rape. Missouri legislators have hardly missed an opportunity to attack abortion rights: One legislator floated a measure to make it illegal to help someone leave the state for an abortion.

Both of those states now have constitutionally guaranteed rights to abortion up to the point of viability. Although legal or legislative efforts will be necessary to lift their now unconstitutional bans, it’s astonishing progress for those states and the people who live in them.

These election results should send a powerful message to state and federal elected officials and the incoming Trump administration: Americans will not tolerate the trampling of their reproductive rights in blue, purple or red states. Federal officials should keep that in mind as conservative state attorneys general consider trying to block abortion medication from being provided by mail.

Three abortion rights measures did fail last week, all of them in states that could have desperately used constitutional amendments to ensure abortion access.

In Florida, which bans abortion beyond six weeks — a point when most women don’t even know they’re pregnant — Amendment 4 would have constitutionally guaranteed a right to an abortion up to the point of fetal viability, which is roughly 24 weeks. The initiative earned a healthy majority of 57.2% but fell 3 points short of the state’s undemocratic 60% threshold for approval of constitutional amendments. Trump carried the state with a smaller majority, 56.1%.

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A failed measure in South Dakota, where abortion is banned, would have allowed the procedure up to 12 weeks, which is considered restrictive in other states. Major reproductive rights groups such as the regional Planned Parenthood organization did not believe the measure would adequately restore abortion rights and refused to support it.

And in Nebraska, where abortion is banned after 12 weeks with some exceptions, the presence of two measures on the ballot made for some confusion. The one that failed, Initiative 439, would have guaranteed a right to abortion up to viability and was supported by advocates of abortion access. The one that passed, Initiative 434, bans most abortions after 12 weeks. Under this measure, abortion could remain legal up to 12 weeks, but the Legislature has leeway to further restrict abortion rights, up to a complete ban.

Advocates have more work to do to convince voters in states with abortion bans and restrictions that there is an electoral path to restore reproductive rights. “Every state that has a citizens’ initiative constitutional process and restrictions on abortion is a place where we will be looking,” said Kelly Hall, the executive director of the Fairness Project, which worked on the ballot measures in Missouri and elsewhere this election season.

In states that don’t allow citizens’ initiatives, progress will be more challenging. But people in all kinds of states, liberal and conservative, have shown that they want to protect their right to control their own bodies.

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Biden supports bringing adversarial nations into new UN cyber crime alliance

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Biden supports bringing adversarial nations into new UN cyber crime alliance

The Biden administration will support a U.N. treaty this week that will create a new cybercrime convention that includes China and Russia — which has not sat well with some lawmakers and critics. 

Since 2001, the global governance around cybercrime has largely been coordinated by the Budapest Convention, a product of the Council of Europe that includes 76 countries. It does not include Russia or China. However, under the U.N.’s new cybercrime convention, these two adversarial nations will be welcomed into the global cybercrime governance fold.  

The move, confirmed by top officials familiar with the issue, has been met with concern from those who fear that a new global alliance on cybersecurity involving two of the nation’s most adversarial nations could spell trouble.

CYBER-ATTACKS AGAINST AMERICANS AT ALL TIME HIGH OVER PAST TWO YEARS

Delegates attend the U.N. Security Council meeting on the current North Korean military escalation in Russia and Ukraine at the United Nations Headquarters on Oct. 30, 2024 in New York City.

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“We recognize that defending human rights and core principles of internet freedom is not easy,” a group of Democratic lawmakers on the Hill wrote last week to top officials in the Biden administration, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, Jake Sullivan. “Russia, China and other regimes opposed to democratic freedoms are always working to create international legitimacy for their actions and worldview … Unfortunately, these efforts – while laudable – are insufficient to fix fundamental flaws in the convention.”

IRAN TRIED TO INFLUENCE ELECTION BY SENDING STOLEN MATERIAL FROM TRUMP CAMPAIGN TO BIDEN’S CAMP

The decision to support the new treaty came after months of deliberations between the Biden administration and others, including hundreds of nongovernmental entities involved in human rights and other relevant issues. According to a senior administration official, the U.S. “decided to remain with consensus,” arguing the U.S.’s sway on global “rights-respecting” cybersecurity policy will be greater under the new convention.

Putin Xi BRICS

Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, Oct. 22, 2024. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool via REUTERS)

To help address concerns that have been raised about the convention, the Biden administration plans to develop a risk management plan and will engage with nongovernmental stakeholders to help refine it. 

A “consensus proceeding” took place Monday, and the resolution was approved without a vote. According to Politico, it is expected to be adopted by the General Assembly later this year. 

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A person tries to log into a laptop.

A person tries to log into a laptop.

Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump announced on Monday that he would be nominating New York GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik to be the next U.N. ambassador in his administration.

The White House declined to comment on the record for this story.

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Chloe Fineman confirms that 'rude' Elon Musk was the 'SNL' host who made her cry

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Chloe Fineman confirms that 'rude' Elon Musk was the 'SNL' host who made her cry

Comedian Chloe Fineman says Space X owner Elon Musk made her cry when he hosted “Saturday Night Live” in 2021.

Fineman recalled working with the tech billionaire in a since-deleted TikTok, months after fellow cast member and writer Bowen Yang alluded to the behind-the-scenes drama during an appearance on Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live!” Yang cryptically revealed in August that a host brought several staffers to tears because “he hated the ideas” they had. Speculation abounded and Fineman confirmed her part in it Monday.

The “SNL” star broke her silence after blowing up the Tesla chief executive’s “butt hurt” reaction to “SNL” alumnus Dana Carvey’s impression of him in Saturday’s post-election episode. (Carvey returned to Studio 8H as a bouncy, fist-pumping version of the “Dark MAGA”-boasting Musk in the cold open, claiming he would run the country after former President Trump’s re-election last week. Fineman said that world’s richest man and Trump loyalist is “clearly watching the show” despite his barrage of “rude” criticism on his X platform.

“I’m gonna come out and say at long last that I’m the cast member that he made cry, and he’s the host that made someone cry,” Fineman said in her video. “Maybe there’s others.”

“Guess what, you made I, Chloe Fineman, burst into tears,” she continued, “because I stayed up all night writing this sketch. I was so excited. I came in, I asked if you had any questions and you stared at me like you were firing me from Tesla and were like ‘It’s not funny.’”

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The “Megalopolis” and “Despicable Me 4” star said she waited for Musk to say he was just kidding, but he did not. Then she accused him of “pawing” through her script and — while mimicking his South African accent — claimed he didn’t laugh at the sketch a single time. She did not name the sketch; however, she and Musk appeared together in “The Ooli Show” sketch of the May 2021 episode on which she received a writing credit. Fineman played an Icelandic talk-show host and Musk played her smitten producer.

She conceded that the sketch that made it into the episode “was fine” and that she “actually had a really good time” doing it. She also admitted that Musk was “really funny in it.

“But, you know, have a little manners here, sir,” she concluded.

Although Fineman deleted the video, it was saved and re-posted on X where Musk replied to it Monday and explained his assessment of the work.

“Frankly, it was only on the Thursday before the Saturday that ANY of the sketches generated laughs,” Musk said. “I was worried. I was like damn my SNL appearance is going to be so f— unfunny that it will make a crackhead sober!! But then it worked out in the end”

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Musk did not apologize or mention making any cast members cry.

Representatives for Fineman and “Saturday Night Live” did not immediately respond Tuesday to The Times’ requests for comment.

Before Fineman posted her TikTok, Musk ranted about the most recent episode on X.

“Dana Carvey just sounds like Dana Carvey,” Musk tweeted in response to a clip from the cold open, adding in another tweet that, “They are so mad that @realDonaldTrump won.”

He also claimed that the long-running, Emmy-winning sketch series “has been dying slowly for years, as they become increasingly out of touch with reality.” Musk, who is expected to be an influential voice in Trump’s incoming administration, also accused the show of a “last-ditch effort to cheat the equal airtime requirements” when Vice President Kamala Harris appeared in the Nov. 2 episode, before the election, claiming that it “only helped sink her campaign further.”

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Trump tells world leader election gives him a 'very big mandate'

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Trump tells world leader election gives him a 'very big mandate'

President-elect Donald Trump said his election victory “gives me a very big mandate to do things properly” in a newly released video by Indonesia’s president. 

Prabowo Subianto could be heard congratulating Trump, adding, “Wherever you are, I am willing to fly to, to congratulate you personally sir.” 

“We had a great election in the U.S…. Amazing what happened, we had tremendous success. The most successful in over 100 years they say. It’s a great honor and so it gives me a very big mandate to do things properly,” Trump told him at one point in the conversation. 

Subianto also told Trump, “We were all shocked when they tried to assassinate you, but we are very happy that the almighty protected you sir.” 

TRUMP EXPECTED TO NAME SEN. MARCO RUBIO AS SECRETARY OF STATE 

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Indonesia President Prabowo Subianto released a video of his conversation with President-elect Donald Trump.

“Yes, I got very lucky. I just happened to be in the right place in the right direction otherwise I wouldn’t be talking to you right now,” Trump responded. “I got quite lucky actually, somebody was protecting me I guess.” 

Subianto, a former Indonesian military general and defense minister, was sworn in as the country’s eighth president on Oct. 20. 

TRUMP LIKELY TO MAKE SEVERAL BORDER SECURITY MOVES ON FIRST DAY, SAYS EXPERT 

Donald Trump in a bluue suit and red tie pumps his fist in the air and looks up

Former President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he arrives to speak at a campaign event at Nassau Coliseum on Sept.18 in Uniondale, N.Y.  (AP/Alex Brandon)

“Whenever you are around you let me know and I’d like to also get to your country sometime, it’s incredible, the job that you are doing is incredible,” Trump told Subianto during the call. “You’re a very respected person and I give you credit for that, it’s not easy.” 

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“Please send the people of Indonesia my regards,” he added. 

Prabowo Subianto and Xi Jinping

Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto shake hands during a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, on Saturday, Nov. 9.  (Florence Lo/Pool Photo via AP)

 

In a statement on X alongside the video, Subianto said, “I am looking forward to enhance the collaboration between our two great nations and to more productive discussions in the future.”

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