Page 3 - aruba-today-20240912

A3
U.S. NEWS Thursday 12 sepTember 2024
Election officials ask for more federal money but say voting is

secure in their states

By ALI SWENSON equipped with important
Associated Press safeguards.
NEW YORK (AP) — Top But “none of this is free,” he
election officials from two said, and there is still “zero
presidential swing states sustained and dependable
on Wednesday pleaded federal funding for this criti-
for more federal money cal infrastructure.”
for election infrastructure, “Do the same for highways
even as they express confi- and dams and railroads
dence in their preparations and see what happens,”
for November’s vote. Fontes said. “We implore
Michigan Secretary of you, please consider, if
State Jocelyn Benson and this is such a big deal and
Arizona Secretary of State if it is so important that we
Adrian Fontes, both Demo- continue to have free, fair
crats, said during a House and secure elections, fund
Administration Committee them.” The Republican
hearing that they need chair of the committee,
continued funding to im- Rep. Bryan Steil of Wiscon-
prove election security, re- sin, responded to the fund-
place aging machines, hire ing calls by promoting the
personnel and upgrade SAVE Act, a proof-of-citi-
voter registration systems. zenship mandate for voters
But they and the four oth- Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, speaks during an interview with the that is being pushed by Re-
er state election officials Associated Press in Arizona, Monday, March 4, 2024. Associated Press publicans and that previ-
at the hearing said they ously passed the GOP-con-
have been stretching their voters. The election process anyone involved in what which oversees federal trolled House. Republicans
resources to do everything also has been coming un- he called “rampant cheat- elections, that Arizona has are trying to push through
possible to help eligible vot- der intense scrutiny around ing” in this year’s election. taken a number of steps the bill as part of wider leg-
ers participate this fall and the country, fueled by Re- The disinformation has to improve voter confi- islation aimed at avoiding
keep ineligible voters out publican presidential nomi- prompted threats that dence and enhance elec- a partial government shut-
of the process. The appeal nee Donald Trump’s false have forced election ad- tion security this year, from down this fall. Steil said to
for more federal money claims of widespread fraud ministrators to beef up se- hosting tabletop exercises Benson that the legislation
comes as voting is about in the 2020 election, his curity, as well as attacks to- to deploying a statewide would give election ad-
to begin in this year’s presi- warnings without evidence ward election workers that ballot-tracking system. It ministrators free access to
dential election and as the that noncitizens will illegally at times have required a also is deploying technol- a federal database to help
first absentee ballots were vote this year and his omi- law enforcement response. ogy workers to ensure that them check for noncitizen
starting to be mailed to nous pledge to prosecute Fontes told the committee, county election offices are voters on the rolls.q

More women had their tubes tied after

Roe v. Wade was overturned

By LAURA UNGAR the Dobbs decision in searchers published in April
AP Science Writer late June 2022, tubal liga- in JAMA Health Forum that
More women chose to tions remained stable in all found an abrupt increase
have their tubes tied after three groups of states. But in tubal ligations among
Roe v. Wade was over- in the latter half of 2022, women 18-30 years old and
turned in 2022, a new study the procedure rose in all vasectomies among men
shows, and the biggest in- three groups. Researchers in that age group.
creases were in states that also looked at sustained “It looks like the data they
ban abortion. change in the numbers used were able to break
A research letter published over time, finding that tub- things down by state, which
Wednesday in JAMA ex- al ligations rose by 3% each is nice and something we
amined insurance claims month in banned states. were unable to do with the
data from 2021 and 2022 It’s “not entirely surprising” data we used,” said Jac-
for around 4.8 million wom- given the changes to abor- queline Ellison, an author of A group gathers to protest abortion restrictions at the State
en who got tubal ligations, tion laws, said Xiao Xu, lead the April study who works at Capitol in Austin, Texas, Tuesday, May 21, 2019.
which are surgeries to close author of the research let- the University of Pittsburgh’s Associated Press
the fallopian tubes so the ter and associate professor School of Public Health. worried about contracep- most abortions after 12
patient can no longer get of reproductive sciences Dr. Clayton Alfonso re- tives failing and becoming weeks of pregnancy in
pregnant. The data came at Columbia University’s called seeing a rise in tub- pregnant unexpectedly, 2023.
from 36 states and Wash- Vagelos College of Physi- al ligations in his OB-GYN said Alfonso, who wasn’t Alfonso said the the num-
ington, D.C., and research- cians and Surgeons. practice at Duke University involved in either study. Pa- ber of patients seeking
ers categorized these plac- The research letter adds to in North Carolina, “espe- tients told him they would tubal ligations has fallen a
es as “banned,” “limited” other findings about a rise cially closer to the Dobbs rather be sterilized in case bit, which he suspects hap-
or “protected,” based on in sterilization procedures decision.” they weren’t able to get an pened when people be-
their abortion policies. after Roe was overturned, Patients who didn’t want abortion. came more certain about
In the 18 months before including a study from re- more or any children were North Carolina banned local laws.q