Planned Parenthood fills health care gaps after Indiana's Medicaid cuts
Indiana is the third-worst state in the nation when it comes to maternal mortality because the state is too focused on passing laws against abortion instead of funding programs that keep people alive.
Stewart calls Planned Parenthood 'an abortion clinic." However, abortions make up only 4% of the services they provide.
24% of services they provide involve contraception. Studies have shown that increasing access to contraception reduces abortion rates. Criminalizing abortion does not.
Another 54% of the services provided by Planned Parenthood are STI testing and treatment.
Planned Parenthood is an available and reachable option for those who no longer have coverage for these services following state and federal legislation limiting access to Medicaid.
While Stewart bemoans the ability of patients to access abortion care via telehealth, which one can only assume comes from his personal opinion of when life begins, he does not mention the demise of accessible and affordable health care for living breathing people.
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28 minutes ago
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Trump's party-splitting Epstein dilemma: Letters to the Editor — July 21, 2025
The Issue: President Trump's response to criticism of the Justice Department's Jeffrey Epstein findings. Take a breath, and consider these facts: The Biden administration had access to whatever Jeffrey Epstein documents existed for the entire time that it was in office (''Epstein hoax' not welcome in MAGA,' July 17). Don't you think that the team that invented 'lawfare' would have exposed anything reflecting negatively on President Trump or any Republicans? Epstein had a successful, high-level career in finance before anyone was aware of his sick perversion. He interacted with many well-known and well-heeled individuals in legitimate interactions. Given these facts, how could you release any names in Epstein's notes without context? If you met him with a group of people at a function, and he made a note of it, you'd be smeared by association. Thomas Smith Sarasota, Fla. Although I'm a lifelong Republican, I'm switching my voter registration, and I'll be supporting Democrats in the midterms; we all should. There's no excuse for not prosecuting pedophiles in the Epstein case, and there's even less excuse for attacking one's own supporters for thinking so. Harry Knopp Ripley, WV I honestly believe there is a major coverup. A high-profile inmate conveniently committed suicide and how convenient that all of a sudden there is no list. Prince Andrew was caught and booted out. Clinton was on the plane with Jeffrey Epstein several times and his prior actions speak volumes. Why don't they ask his partner, Ghislaine Maxwell? You're trying to say she doesn't know anything about who else was involved? I am just surprised Maxwell hasn't committed suicide while in jail. She has to have knowledge of this. Bring her before the Department of Justice. Robert Caprio Nutley, NJ The current controversy about releasing the Epstein files fails to consider the difficult choices related to First Amendment protections. While transparency is the current catchword, there are many instances where the public's right to know is secondary to a person's right to privacy and freedom from governmental interference. I want to assure your readers that I have many doubts about Epstein's death, and great curiosity about the alleged client list. But, at the same time, the fact that someone traveled with Epstein or stayed at his resort is not, in itself, a criminal act. On balance, I opt for not releasing any alleged list that may be in the possession of the DOJ. Sidney Baumgarten North Brunswick, NJ Usually, the easiest way to stop a rumor is to provide the public with access to the available information, unless there are issues with the information or names in it that could bias an audience or suggest guilt. Unfortunately, our president believes that the only truth is what he tells us, not what is factual. Alan Swartz Verona, NJ I bleed MAGA red, so I'm not sure who Miranda Devine is referring to when she writes that Trump's base wants the truth about Epstein ('MAGA base wants truth on Epstein,' July 17). I couldn't care less. Sure, I feel terrible for Epstein's victims and there are plenty of sick, depraved individuals out there who need to be arrested and thrown in jail. But Republicans have far greater things to worry about than a dead creep who hung out with Bill Clinton. If the Epstein scandal was so important to the Dems, why weren't they more transparent when they had the chance? Republicans need to stick together, support Trump and make sure as few Democrats as possible get elected to prevent them from wrecking our country. That's what the president's base wants. Michael D'Auria Bronxville The extremely wealthy have had privileges from the beginning of time. Kings, past presidents and dictators have mistresses without censure or open complaint; yet when a group of wealthy people cavort within their group it becomes a cause célèbre. Paul Alexander Ontario, Canada Want to weigh in on today's stories? Send your thoughts (along with your full name and city of residence) to letters@ Letters are subject to editing for clarity, length, accuracy, and style.
Yahoo
an hour ago
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When power picks the people: How redistricting in Texas works
Ordinary voters can be forgiven if their eyes don't well up over the possibility of a few Congress members losing their seats. Beginning Monday, the Legislature convenes a special session, and one of the agenda items is to tackle the unusual mid-decade redrawing of Texas' district boundaries — a move aimed at boosting Republican clout in Washington. It's true that much of the media coverage leading into the special session has centered on the horse-race aspect of perhaps one of the most political activities lawmakers engage in. The coverage tends to focus on which members might be drawn out of office, protected, or newly positioned to win reconfigured districts. As interesting as all that might be for political junkies and politicians whose necks are on the line, the real-world implications go deeper. Let's start with the basic school civics question: What difference does it make which politician goes to Washington to represent which part of Texas? The answer might sound more than a bit naive, though it shouldn't be. The federal government is intrusive, demanding, too opaque to most Americans and very, very expensive to operate. For every Texan — actually for every American — who's not actually working in the federal government, their most accountable point of contact in the nation's capital is their Congress member. Your aging parent needs help with Social Security or Medicare, call your congressman's office. Your graduating senior wants to go to West Point, the Naval Academy or any of the other service academies, a nomination from your congressman will go a long way. You're getting jacked around trying to apply for some sort of federal assistance, or you want to complain that any federal assistance is a black hole for wasted money, show up at the next town hall your member of Congress hosts. READ MORE: Why a walkout on GOP redistricting could be very risky for Texas Democrats Now, here's where the politics get even more political, and more than a little bit complicated. The makeup of congressional districts is not random. And even though Texas has 38 U.S. House members, each individual Texan has exactly one. U.S. senators are a different matter, so let's put a pin in that topic for now. Congressional districts, in a perfect world, are drawn once a decade to align with the latest figures from the U.S. Census. They are supposed to be made up of what are called "communities of interest." That should mean that families in the High Plains aren't matched up in a congressional district with residents of downtown condos in places like Austin, Houston or San Antonio. The districts are also supposed to be as geographically compact as possible, giving constituents at least some sense of community. And they're not supposed to be drawn so that communities of color are effectively shut out when it comes to representation. But the world is not perfect. And Texas' diversity — whether it be geographic, economic, commercial, climate, demographic or political — means that many of the lofty goals laid out in the previous paragraph have to be set aside or outright ignored. Now let's mix in population imperatives. A district covering vast expanses of cotton farms and cattle ranches has to have about the same number of actual people as one where most people live just a couple of feet, or just a couple of floors, from their neighbors. READ MORE: In wake of Texas floods, questions seek not blame but accountability Adding another layer of complexity, let's consider that in the 1970s, each of the 435 members of the U.S. House represented about 470,000 people. In the half-century since, the U.S. population has grown by approximately 130 million. However, the number of Congress members — 435 — has remained the same as it was when disco topped the charts. That means each member has roughly 785,000 constituents. So, all that means that getting the attention of your member of Congress is about twice as hard as it was for your grandparents when they were your age. Finally, here's the uncomfortable truth: you don't truly choose your representative — your Congress member, in effect, chooses you. And that's how redistricting actually works. The map drawers have highly sophisticated computer programs that tell them which neighborhoods tend to vote for one party or the other. The programs let them know the area's racial composition, about how much money families make, how those families spend that money, whether they have kids or whether they prefer pets, whether they're still working, whether they're looking for work, or whether they're retired. And some neighborhoods get randomly assigned to one district or another because they'll balance out the population but will have no real influence on election day. All that information gets dissected, bisected and digested, and members of Congress and wannabe members of Congress will decide which neighborhoods, not which individuals, are most likely to vote for them. So if you get swept into a district that's likely to elect someone of your political persuasion, good for you. If you're in the opposite camp, better luck when they do it all again in 2031. Or maybe sooner, depending on the mood of whoever's in charge at the time. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas redistricting is all about the politicians, it's never about you
an hour ago
Texas Republicans aim to redraw House districts at Trump's urging, but there's a risk
AUSTIN, Texas -- U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, a Texas Democrat who represents a slice of the Rio Grande Valley along the border with Mexico, won his last congressional election by just over 5,000 votes. That makes him a tempting target for Republicans, who are poised to redraw the state's congressional maps this coming week and devise five new winnable seats for the GOP that would help the party avoid losing House control in the 2026 elections. Adjusting the lines of Gonzalez's district to bring in a few thousand more Republican voters, while shifting some Democratic ones out, could flip his seat. Gonzalez said he is not worried. Those Democratic voters will have to end up in one of the Republican districts that flank Gonzalez's current one, making those districts more competitive — possibly enough so it could flip the seats to Democrats. 'Get ready for some pickup opportunities,' Gonzalez said, adding that his party is already recruiting challengers to Republicans whose districts they expect to be destabilized by the process. 'We're talking to some veterans, we're talking to some former law enforcement.' Texas has 38 seats in the House. Republicans now hold 25 and Democrats 12, with one seat vacant after Democrat Sylvester Turner, a former Houston mayor, died in March. Gonzalez's district — and what happens to the neighboring GOP-held ones — is at the crux of President Donald Trump's high-risk, high-reward push to get Texas Republicans to redraw their political map. Trump is seeking to avoid the traditional midterm letdown that most incumbent presidents endure and hold onto the House, which the GOP narrowly controls. Trump's push comes as there are numerous political danger signs for his presidency, both in the recent turmoil over his administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case and in new polling. Surveys from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research show most U.S. adults think his policies have not helped them and that his tax cut and spending bill will help the wealthy. The fear of accidentally creating unsafe seats is one reason Texas Republicans drew their lines cautiously in 2021, when the constitutionally mandated redistricting process kicked off in all 50 states. Mapmakers — in most states, it's the party that controls the legislature — must adjust congressional and state legislative lines after every 10-year census to ensure that districts have about the same number of residents. That is a golden opportunity for one party to rig the map against the other, a tactic known as gerrymandering. But there is a term, too, for so aggressively redrawing a map that it puts that party's own seats at risk: a 'dummymander.' The Texas GOP knows the risk. In the 2010s, the Republican-controlled Legislature drew political lines that helped pad the GOP's House majority. That lasted until 2018, when a backlash against Trump in his first term led Democrats to flip two seats in Texas that Republicans had thought safe. In 2021, with Republicans still comfortably in charge of the Texas Statehouse, the party was cautious, opting for a map that mainly shored up their incumbents rather than targeted Democrats. Still, plenty of Republicans believe their Texas counterparts can safely go on offense. 'Smart map-drawing can yield pickup opportunities while not putting our incumbents in jeopardy,' said Adam Kincaid, executive director of the National Republican Redistricting Trust, which helps coordinate mapmaking for the party nationally.. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott called a special session of the Legislature, which starts Monday, to comply with Trump's request to redraw the congressional maps and to address the flooding in Texas Hill Country that killed at least 135 people this month. Democratic state lawmakers are talking about staying away from the Capitol to deny the Legislature the minimum number needed to convene. Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton posted that any Democrats who did that should be arrested. Lawmakers can be fined up to $500 a day for breaking a quorum after the House changed its rules when Democrats initiated a walkout in 2021. Despite the new penalties, state Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, who led the walkout in 2021, left open the possibility of another. 'I don't think anybody should underestimate the will of Texas Democrats," he said. Texas is not the only Republican state engaged in mid-decade redistricting. After staving off a ballot measure to expand the power of a mapmaking commission last election, Ohio Republicans hope to redraw their congressional map from a 10-5 one favoring the GOP to one as lopsided as 13-2, in a state Trump won last year with 55% of the vote. Democrats have fewer options. More of the states the party controls do not allow elected partisans to draw maps and entrust independent commissions to draw fair lines. Some party leaders, such as California Gov. Gavin Newsom, are maneuvering to try to find ways around their commissions to counter Texas, but they have few options. The few Democrat-controlled states that do allow elected officials to draw the lines, such as Illinois, have already seen Democrats max out their advantages. Trump and his allies have been rallying Texas Republicans to ignore whatever fears they may and to go big. On Tuesday, the president posted on his social media site a reminder of his record in the state last November: 'Won by one and a half million Votes, and almost 14%. Also, won all of the Border Counties along Mexico, something which has never happened before. I keep hearing about Texas 'going Blue,' but it is just another Democrat LIE.' Texas has long been eyed as a state trending Democratic because of its growing nonwhite population. But those communities swung right last year and helped Trump expand his margin to 14 percentage points, a significant improvement on his 6-point win in 2020. Michael Li, a Texas native and longtime watcher of the state at the Brennan Center for Justice in New York, said there's no way to know whether that trend will continue in next year's elections or whether the state will return to its blue-trending ways. 'Anyone who can tell you what the politics of Texas looks like for the balance of the decade has a better crystal ball than I do,' Li said. One region of the state where Republican gains have been steady is the Rio Grande Valley, which runs from the Gulf of Mexico along much of the state's southern border. The heavily Hispanic region, where many Border Patrol officers live, has rallied around Trump's tough-on-immigration, populist message. As a result, Gonzalez and the area's other Democratic congressman, Henry Cuellar, have seen their reelection campaigns get steadily tighter. They are widely speculated to be the two top targets of the new map. The GOP is expected to look to the state's three biggest cities to find its other Democratic targets. If mapmakers scatter Democratic voters from districts in the Houston, Dallas and Austin areas, they could get to five additional seats. But in doing so, Republicans face a legal risk on top of their electoral one: that they break up districts required by the Voting Rights Act to have a critical amount of certain minority groups. The goal of the federal law is to enable those communities to elect representatives of their choosing. The Texas GOP already is facing a lawsuit from civil rights groups alleging its initial 2021 map did this. If this year's redistricting is too aggressive, it could trigger a second complaint. 'It's politically and legally risky,' Li said of the redistricting strategy. 'It's throwing caution to the winds.'
