Five Things To Amplify From the States This Week 3/27/24
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Hi there – Here are five stories from the states that we would appreciate your help in amplifying, including Democrat Marilyn Lands flipping a Republican-held state House seat in Alabama by running on protecting reproductive rights from MAGA Republicans’ attacks and the stakes for abortion being front and center in Arizona this November. Also this week, President Biden and Vice President Harris traveled to Raleigh to lay out their plan to make health care more affordable and accessible, and in Florida, the vice president announced new actions to tackle the gun violence epidemic. At the same time, Trump and MAGA Republicans’ plan to cut Social Security and ban abortion nationwide made more headlines across the country.
Marilyn Lands, Democrat who ran on reproductive rights, flips Alabama House seat Key Point: “Democratic candidate Marilyn Lands, who campaigned on ending Alabama’s near-total abortion ban and protecting access to contraception and in vitro fertilization, won a special election Tuesday for a Huntsville-area state House seat. … Lands, like Democrats in the state and nationwide, ran on protecting reproductive rights. In a previous interview, she discussed having an abortion in the past, and said she wanted to protect medical treatment that was available 20 years ago. Lands said reproductive rights became a priority in her campaign after the Alabama Supreme Court’s Feb. 16 ruling on in vitro fertilization, which declared frozen embryos are children and led to at least three clinics halting IVF treatment.”Tweet This Article
In Raleigh, Biden and Harris celebrate their administration’s record of expanding healthcare access Key Point: “President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Raleigh on Tuesday to highlight their administration’s efforts to expand access to affordable healthcare, as Democrats aim to contrast their approach with that of Republicans on the issue. This month, Democrats are celebrating the 14th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, along with the 21 million individuals who enrolled in coverage under its plan this year — marking the highest enrollment since the law’s enactment in 2010. … Biden seized upon this milestone to criticize Republicans, highlighting their persistent efforts over the past decade to repeal either portions or the entirety of the law. ‘They’ve tried to repeal it 50 times and we’ve stopped them every time,’ he said.”
At site of Parkland school shooting, Harris announces new tool to curb gun violence Key Point: “At the still blood-stained site of the worst school shooting in Florida history, Vice President Kamala Harris announced a new measure on Saturday to curb gun violence. Walking alongside the families of victims, Harris toured the hallways where Nikolas Cruz shot and killed 14 students and three faculty members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. During the visit, Harris, who is the leader of the White House’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention, announced the launch of the National Extreme Risk Protection Order Resource Center.” Tweet This Article4. Phoenix New Times: ‘Connect the dots’: Abortion at heart of 2024 elections in Arizona Key Point: “The Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 brought about a chaotic struggle in Arizona, as well as the U.S., in which Democrats are working to guarantee abortion rights and Republicans want to thwart laws establishing reproductive freedom. … The Democratic National Committee has made reproductive freedom a focus of its advertising in Arizona and other battleground states. It launched a bilingual billboard campaign in late February that recalled that presumptive Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump bragged he was ‘able to kill Roe v. Wade.’ The DNC ads also tried to link Trump to the Feb. 16 ruling from the Alabama Supreme Court that embryos created through in vitro fertilization should be considered children. Trump has criticized the ruling and voiced support for IVF, but supports a national ban on abortion after 15 weeks.”Tweet This Article
House GOP budget plan would raise Social Security retirement age, ban abortion Key Point: “A group of more than 170 U.S. House Republicans released a new budget proposal that would raise the Social Security retirement age, restructure Medicare, ban abortion and threaten fertility treatments. The budget plan was released Wednesday by the Republican Study Committee, whose members comprise more than three-quarters of the House Republican caucus, many of whom are allies of former President Donald Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican nominee for president. … More than 600,000 Iowans rely on Social Security and Medicare benefits. President Joe Biden has repeatedly vowed to protect the programs from cuts, instead proposing in his recent White House budget to cover the future shortfall by raising taxes on upper earners.” |
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