News from around the nation.

Senator Chris Van Hollen announces he will fight to become Senate Majority Leader, Alabama IVF patients face uncertainty despite legal protections, New York communities have sights set on a poverty-fighting pilot project.

Transcript

The Public News Service Friday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

The first challenger to Chuck Schumer jumped into the Senate Democrats' leadership race.

The New York Times notes Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland announced Thursday he would challenge Senator Chuck Schumer of New York for majority leader.

It comes as Democratic senators and activists have called for an alternative to Schumer, a moderate whom they regard as too tied to party establishment to lead a newly energized party forward in the next Congress.

Making the announcement on MSNOW, Van Hollen said, it was to ensure that Democrats answered the call of the American people in the midterm elections, which he said was to bring down costs and end the war against Iran.

Meantime, Alabama has one of the nation's most sweeping fetal personhood laws.

According to KFF Health News, at least 24 states have adopted some form of fetal personhood language.

In 2024, Alabama's Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos could be considered children, prompting several fertility clinics to suspend IVF services.

Lawmakers quickly passed legislation shielding providers from civil and criminal liability.

Julie Cohen of the Jewish Fertility Foundation lives in Alabama and built her family through IVF.

She says the ruling had immediate consequences.

And I even reached out to my fertility clinic where my doctor that had helped me for my family worked.

And they said at this time, we don't have plans to close.

But I want to say within 24 hours, I woke up to a social media post from my clinic saying that all services have been immediately halted and paused.

I'm Tramiel Gomes.

This story produced with original reporting from Cheryl Weinstock for KFF Health News.

And several New York communities could benefit from new state funding if a key plan advances.

The Child and Family Wellbeing Fund is a proposed $30 million five-year pilot program that would provide money to 10 neighborhoods statewide with the most child protective services calls.

Data show low-income families are disproportionately reported to CPS for neglect or deprivation of necessities, and most separated families can't afford everyday essentials.

Sophie Fashana with the Children's Defense Fund New York explains why these areas need additional state funding.

As much as the government say they're giving money, there's disinvestment in these communities.

So families are often targeted by the child welfare and the policing system due to systems in poverty.

And so it's not reaching these families that we're talking about.

If adopted, she hopes the program becomes permanent since it can benefit families by helping them afford food and clothing for kids.

I'm Edwin J. Viera.

Next, Tennessee lawmakers and community leaders are gathering to turn community concerns into legislation after the midterms.

Caucus Chairman Jesse Chisholm says the goal is to bring community voices.

We're trying to make sure people have more access, but also we want to make sure the government is doing its job to make sure that we have a healthy state.

The Tennessee Black Legislative Summit begins today with a special focus on health care, education, economic development, public safety, and on voting rights.

This is Public News Service.

Access to healthy food is becoming a major focus in efforts to improve life expectancy in Indiana.

More now from our Joe Ulory.

Attention now turns to whether the incoming Congress can address rising costs facing Hoosier families and farmers.

Michael Happ with the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy says voters nationwide were concerned about the cost of everyday necessities.

All these costs, people are paying them, whether it's health care, whether it's grocery bills, whether it's electricity, all those things were on the ballot.

I don't know that you can really point to one thing and say this is what swayed things, but all of these factors combined make life more expensive for folks in rural communities.

Democrats take control of both chambers in January, giving Ford and the rest of Indiana's congressional delegation a new political landscape as they confront food prices, health care costs, and agricultural policy.

And as folks in Mississippi continue to deal with inflation, tariffs on essential baby products are adding additional cost to necessities for infant care.

A recent trade agreement between the U.S. and China relaxed tariffs on legally required car seats, toys, and high chairs, but items like cribs and strollers were left off the list.

Allison Jacobson with Baby Safety Alliance says more should be done to help customers.

Families should have access to safe, compliant baby products at prices they can afford.

They shouldn't have to worry and make any sort of compensation for having safe products.

The trade framework doesn't specify what the new tariffs will be or when they'll start.

Jacobson says they're an unnecessary burden on American parents with newborn or young children during what should be a joyful time.

I'm Frida Ross reporting.

Finally, economic pressures facing small communities are reshaping what rural voters expect from their elected leaders.

Rising production costs and pressure on agricultural exports are among the top concerns for communities in Illinois.

Rising production costs and pressure on agricultural exports are among top concerns for Illinois communities.

Michael Happ with the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy points to a county-level analysis that found the state's 80 rural counties moved an average of 6.5 percentage points toward Democrats compared with the 2024 presidential election.

Hap thinks the results send a clear message.

I see these results as a rebuke of status quo farm policy.

There are a lot of people who are commodity farmers that are reliant on exports, and this administration has been shipping away a lot of the pillars of that kind of agriculture without providing alternatives.

University of Illinois researchers found fertilizer costs were 37 percent higher in 2025 compared to five years earlier.

I'm Judith Ruiz Branch reporting.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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