Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Tuesday a new state fund for supporting abortion providers, in anticipation of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.

She directed the State Department of Health to put $25 million into a fund to expand capacity and ensure access, as well as $10 million for reproductive health centers to acquire security grants to keep providers safe.

"We have seen the threats and actually the action of anti-abortion violence, and the climate is getting more extreme every single day," Hochul asserted. "It's only going to get worse as this decision is rendered in the next few weeks, and need to be ready, and we will be ready here in the state of New York."

Hochul called on the federal government to codify Roe v. Wade, and also repeal the Hyde Amendment, which prevents federal funding from going to abortions.

The state Attorney General and lawmakers in the New York state Legislature have announced the Reproductive Freedom and Equity Program, a bill to provide financial resources to abortion providers and support the influx of individuals who are and will be coming to New York to access abortions.

If Roe v. Wade is overturned, 26 states will ban or are likely to ban abortion, and about 40 million women live in those states.

Sen. Cordell Cleare, D-New York City, who sponsored the bill, emphasized access to abortion is a fundamental part of women's health care.

"Any rollback or constraint of any health care right is fundamentally unjust," Cleare argued. "We know it will have particular harm on women of color, those of modest means and those already suffering disparities under our current system. We cannot, and we will not, let it stand."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 9% of abortions performed in New York in 2019 were for people from other states -- about 7,000 individuals -- and the number could grow four times or more.

Illinois is the only other state in the nation serving as many out-of-state abortion patients.

Former President Donald Trump claims abortion will be "a very small issue" for voters this November but New Hampshire Democrats disagree.

Two years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, abortion remains accessible in the state up to 24 weeks with exceptions, although the GOP-led Senate blocked an effort to legally protect those rights earlier this year.

Kathleen Sullivan, former chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, is convinced voters will not forget.

"It's an issue in our governor's race, an issue in our legislative races," Sullivan observed. "It's going to continue to be a major issue in New Hampshire and, I think, across the country."

Trump said he supports the rights of states to make their own policies. A recent poll of New Hampshire voters finds abortion ranks third in importance behind the economy and immigration.

Abortion-rights amendments will be on the ballot in at least six states this election. Signatures have been submitted for ballot measures in at least four more. Already, voters in six other states have overwhelmingly backed abortion rights since Roe v. Wade was overturned, including conservative-leaning Kansas.

Sullivan said her party's nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris and her strong support of reproductive rights has reignited Democrats' enthusiasm for the race.

"It was like a tonic, I think, everybody just got very excited," Sullivan noted. "There's just a real burst of energy among not only young people, but all voters for the Harris-Waltz ticket."

Sullivan added there has been an increase in small-dollar donations to the state party and volunteers. Trump held a slight lead over President Joe Biden in New Hampshire prior to his decision to leave the race. In some polls, Harris now leads Trump by at least four points.

A Wyoming district judge is expected to decide a case over a state law which would ban abortions with few exceptions.

The "Life is a Human Right Act" claims abortion is not health care but it could contradict a constitutional amendment Wyoming voters passed in 2012, largely in opposition to Obama's Affordable Care Act, which reads: "Each competent adult shall have the right to make his or her own health care decisions."

Marcie Kindred, field organizer and communications director for the group Wyoming United for Freedom, said Wyomingites have long valued limited government.

"We have always been a traditional live and let live state," Kindred explained. "These complex, deeply personal health care decisions belong only to women, their doctors, their families and their chosen faith."

The state supreme court declined to hear the case in April. The same district judge deciding this case will also decide on Gov. Gordon's first-in-the-country measure to ban abortion pills.

Wyoming United for Freedom was formed at the end of last year, Kindred noted, when other abortion advocacy groups were overwhelmed with work following the overturning of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Constitution of the United States does not confer a right to abortion.

Abortion access will not be on the Wyoming ballot this November but Kindred pointed out the group is preparing for action in several scenarios, including if the judge decides the constitution protects the right to abortion.

"We will still need to organize to defend against attacks on reproductive freedom from our legislature," Kindred stressed. "And make sure that we are electing people that will protect those rights."

In Wyoming, citizens can initiate amendments to state statutes but only the legislature has the power to introduce measures to change the state's constitution. Opponents of abortion rights want to see the Dobbs case upheld.


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Vice President Kamala Harris focused on reproductive rights at a campaign event in Michigan Wednesday.

Her remarks come as President Joe Biden has fallen behind former President Donald Trump in the state, according to the latest polls. In front of a crowd of hundreds, Harris stressed abortion rights are at risk if Republicans win in November. She said Biden has vowed to veto any attempts to ban abortion nationwide.

"We believe in freedom. Freedom from the government telling us what to do about matters of heart and home," Harris explained. "We believe in the right of people to make basic decisions, like when and if they will start a family and how."

Meanwhile, Trump's pick for vice president, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, has supported national abortion bans and opposed exceptions for rape and incest. Democrats are hoping the distinction will lead them to a victory this year in the key battleground state of Michigan. It was a critical issue for voters in 2022, when Gov. Gretchen Whitmer won her reelection race easily and both chambers of the state legislature flipped to Democrats for the first time in decades.

In her speech, Harris condemned political violence following the recent attempted shooting of Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania political rally. She also praised the gun safety measures Michigan lawmakers passed in recent years, including universal background checks and safe storage requirements. She added politicians in Washington, D.C., should favor similar laws.

"The solutions don't really require that much creativity," Harris asserted. "What they do require is people in the United States Congress to have courage to act and do what we know is the right thing to do and not cower, based on special interests and powerful lobbyists."

One Michigan Democrat in Congress, Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Grand Rapids, has called on Biden to drop out of the presidential race over concerns about his age and cognitive ability. Harris would likely be a top replacement choice in the race against Trump.


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