Arizona
Arizona’s abortion ban is the biggest story in US. How media covered the ‘alarming news’
Arizona leaders react to Abortion ban ruling
Arizona leaders react to Abortion ban ruling
If there was any doubt that Arizona will play a major role in the 2024 election — and that what goes on in the state will be covered as big stories by national media — breaking news on Tuesday, April 9 dispelled it.
The Arizona Supreme Court upheld a 160-year-old law banning nearly all abortions in the state. News alerts went out immediately from all sorts of media sites. The decision was the lead story on the home pages of the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Hill and more. The Arizona Republic’s website, azcentral, used huge headlines of the sort reserved only for the biggest stories.
Which it is. And local and national coverage reflected that.
News coverage of Arizona’s abortion ban focused on politics
“It’s huge,” Brianna Keilar, co-host of “CNN News Central,” put it.
The coverage, whether on cable TV news shows or on newspaper and magazine websites, focused largely on two things.
First, 1864 was a long time ago — several commentators noted that slavery was still legal when the law went into effect, that women were not allowed to vote and that Arizona was not yet a state. Jake Tapper began his show saying, “Arizona going back to the Civil War-era for their abortion laws,” using a description heard a lot Tuesday, along with “19th Century” and, again in Tapper’s case, “kind of ancient.”
Second, and this is how the bulk of the coverage was framed, the decision has enormous political repercussions. Certainly, the practical application of the law and how it will (or won’t) be enforced, was covered, as well, but often in a political context. What will it mean in November?
For instance, this is how the Wall Street Journal began its story: “Arizona’s highest court on Tuesday revived a 160-year-old ban on abortion, a decision that ratchets up the political stakes in a state that could decide the 2024 presidential race.”
Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, opened her daily briefing with the decision: “I want to start by addressing some devastating and alarming news from the Arizona Supreme Court.”
And Joyce Vance, a law professor and MSNBC contributor, posted on X, “Terrible news for Arizona women. Probably good news for Democratic candidates in the state including a vulnerable Senate seat.”
That race got plenty of mention, as well. Both Ruben Gallego, the presumptive Democratic candidate for a U.S. Senate seat in Arizona, and Kari Lake, the presumptive Republican candidate, quickly issued statements opposing the ruling.
Lake’s opposition stands in contrast to an earlier comment in which she called the 1864 ban “a great law that is already on the books.”
Tuesday was a big news day, but Arizona was the story
Of course, that was then, this is now; Donald Trump and other Republican candidates have seen the political fallout from the U.S. Supreme Court striking down Roe v. Wade, and have tried to adjust their stances accordingly.
Or, as Keilar said on CNN of Lake’s statement, “It seems like she’s looking at this, saying, ‘Wow, this may have just cost me this election if this stands.”
It actually took TV news a little time to get to the Arizona story. The parents of a Michigan teenager who killed four students in a 2021 school shooting were sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison shortly before the Arizona Supreme Court announced its decision. Tuesday was a busy news day all around, with an appeals court judge denying a request from Trump to delay his criminal hush money trial, scheduled to begin Monday, April 15, in which the former president faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with a $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Fox News didn’t devote a lot of time to the story, but most other outlets eventually did, even though so much else was going on. All roads lead to November eventually, it seems.
And through Arizona.
Star power: How national media turned Kari Lake into Trumpism’s ‘leading lady’
Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. X: @goodyk. Subscribe to the weekly movies newsletter.
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GLOBE, AZ (AZFamily) — Arizona lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have sent a letter to President Donald Trump, urging him to swiftly approve Gov. Katie Hobbs’ request for a major disaster declaration for Gila and Mohave counties.
The move brings hope to communities like Globe, which are grappling with the aftermath of destructive and deadly floods in September and October.
Globe Mayor Al Gameros expressed his appreciation for the bipartisan effort.
“It’s amazing that letter was written in this shorter period of time,” Gameros said. “I’m glad that it’s a bipartisan letter. I’m glad that it’s urging the president to immediately sign this and not delay it, because it is important to our rural community.”
Included in the correspondence is a newly released damage assessment compiled by FEMA, the state, and local leaders.
The assessment of the two counties details significant destruction, including that 312 homes were damaged, with 64 destroyed, 89 suffering major damage, and 159 receiving minor damage. The total estimated loss in dollars is $33,579,081.
Gameros noted the challenges communities face in securing aid.
“We (other mayors) tried to learn, at the same time, learning what the complexity of filing for reimbursement,” he said.
He explained that while the state will reimburse towns up to 75% of costs, federal approval could mean up to 90% is paid back.
Now, Gameros is anxiously awaiting the Trump administration’s decision, hoping that if the disaster declaration is approved, the process won’t be slow.
“That would really put a hurt in our community as far as us being able to move forward,” he said.
In the meantime, he said they have restaurants open in Globe and urges Arizonans to pay them a visit.
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Kansas football QB Jalon Daniels reflects on loss against Arizona
Check out everything Kansas football quarterback Jalon Daniels had to say Saturday following a loss on the road against Arizona in Big 12 play.
LAWRENCE — Kansas football lost 24-20 on the road this past weekend against Arizona.
The Big 12 Conference defeat saw the Jayhawks (5-5, 3-4 in Big 12) come up short on what could have been the day it became bowl eligible this season. Coach Lance Leipold and company gave up a late lead against the Wildcats and suffered a disappointing defeat. Bowl eligibility is still possible, as KU navigates an open week, but with the loss, reaching that point has become all the more challenging.
Before Kansas’ season resumes Nov. 22 on the road against Iowa State, here are some bowl projections for the Jayhawks:
This projection places Kansas in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl, scheduled for December 26 in Dallas, Texas. It would put the Jayhawks up against Boise State (6-3, 4-1 in Mountain West Conference). Boise State most recently lost against Fresno State, but is still in contention to play for its conference title.
These projections place Kansas in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl, scheduled for December 30 in Shreveport, Louisiana. One has KU facing Kennesaw State (7-2, 5-0 in Conference USA), while the other has KU facing Louisiana Tech (5-4, 3-3 in Conference USA). Kennesaw State beat Louisiana Tech earlier this season.
This projection places Kansas in the Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl, which is set for Dec. 23 in Frisco, Texas. It would put the Jayhawks up against California (6-4, 3-3 in Atlantic Coast Conference). California is coming off of a win against now-No. 21 Louisville.
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
Tribe seeks to conserve the Colorado River and secure water rights
The Colorado River Indian Tribes aim to conserve the Colorado River flowing through their land, yet they still lack certain water rights.
Joel Angel Juarez, Arizona Republic
The Colorado River Indian Tribes have formally accorded personhood status to the Colorado River, creating a powerful new mechanism to protect the eponymous river that makes life possible in their arid homelands.
The resolution was approved by the CRIT Tribal Council on Nov. 6 in Parker.
The nearly 4,300-member tribe has long been alarmed at the state of its life-giving waterway, CRIT Chairwoman Amelia Flores wrote in a statement shared with The Arizona Republic.
“The Colorado River is in jeopardy,” she said. The tribe, which holds the largest quantity of senior water rights in the state, regards the river as a living being, so the resolution codifies that belief and the tribe’s commitment to protecting its needs and ability to provide water for future generations.
CRIT’s leadership conducted a rigorous process, including consultations with its membership, to formulate the resolution.
Personhood status opens a door to legal actions
During the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting, Earth Elder Coordinator Mindahi Crescencio Bastida Munoz said the state of the natural world is in “such a systemic crisis that we need to rethink our position in the world as human beings.” Munoz also questioned why corporations have more rights than rivers, mountains or oceans.
Granting personhood to natural resources, such as rivers, allows people or parties to take legal action to protect them. For example, forum participants said a person could sue a company or entity that pollutes a river because the river has the right to be pollution-free.
CRIT is now authorized to include the river’s needs in transactions involving its water, Flores said in her statement, supporting the river’s long-term health, restoring habitats, designating flows for the river delta or building new wetlands.
The Colorado is now the third river with such legal protections in North America. The Yurok Tribe was the first to grant personhood to the Klamath River in 2019, which “establishes the Rights of the Klamath River to exist, flourish, and naturally evolve; to have a clean and healthy environment free from pollutants; to have a stable climate free from human-caused climate change impacts; and to be free from contamination by genetically engineered organisms.”
The Magpie River in Quebec was granted “legal personality” in 2021 by a joint resolution of the Conseil des Innu de Ekuanitshit, a Canadian First Nation and the Minganie Regional County Municipality, the local county government.
Other rivers, most notably the Whanganui River in New Zealand, have received personhood protections, which are enabling local Indigenous communities to begin the long process of restoring natural flows and habitats. Representatives from CRIT and other Southwestern tribes have met with Maori peoples to share ideas and concepts on how best to protect water and waterways.
“The river is a part of who we are and who we will always be,” Flores said. “The Colorado River Indian Tribes.”
Debra Krol reports on Indigenous communities at the confluence of climate, culture and commerce in Arizona and the Intermountain West. Reach Krol at debra.krol@azcentral.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @debkrol and on Bluesky at @debkrol.bsky.social.
Coverage of tribal water issues in the Colorado River Basin is supported by the Water Desk.
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