News from around the nation.

SCOTUS skeptical that state abortion bans conflict with federal health care law; Iowa advocates for immigrants push back on Texas-style deportation bill; new hearings, same arguments on both sides for ND pipeline project; clean-air activists to hold "die-in" Friday at LA City Hall.

TRANSCRIPT

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The Public News Service Dillon Newscast, April the 25th, 2024.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Conservative Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical Wednesday that state abortion bans enacted after the overturning of Roe v.

Wade violated federal health care law, though some also questioned the effects on emergency care for pregnant patients.

That from the Associated Press.

The AP reports the case marked the first time the Supreme Court has considered the implications of a state ban since overturning the nationwide right to abortion.

It comes from Idaho, which is among 14 states, that now ban abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with very limited exceptions.

And immigrant right groups are pushing back on a bill signed by the Iowa governor, Kim Reynolds, in the last few days of the legislative session.

Iowa Senate File 2340 gives local law enforcement officers and judges the authority to deport undocumented immigrants.

Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice Executive Director Erica Johnson argues the bill is an overreach and says Iowa law enforcement officers are not authorized to enforce it.

This is a pretty clear intervention into federal territory.

U.S. immigration law is governed by federal law.

Johnson contends the bill and other anti-immigrant sentiment during the just-completed legislative session target the very people that Iowa, with its dwindling population, will depend on for its future workforce.

Much like the author of the Texas bill, supporters in Iowa blame the Biden administration for failing to slow illegal immigration, so the state has decided to take matters into its own hands.

I'm Mark Moran.

Johnson says her organization will pursue legal ways to block the bill from taking effect in July.

And a round of public testimony wrapped up this week as part of renewed efforts by a company seeking permit approval in North Dakota for an underground pipeline carrying carbon emissions.

Last year, North Dakota's Public Service Commission denied a permit request from Summit Carbon Solutions, which wants to build a maze of pipelines in several Midwestern states.

Emissions from ethanol plants will be captured for underground storage in North Dakota.

Dakota Resource Council Executive Director Scott Scocco says they remain unconvinced this would be a worthwhile project.

I don't think Summit did anything to relax the concerns of the public.

Company officials have submitted a new application with a revised route as they try to ease concerns about safety and landowner rights.

During comment period, Summit leaders and other speakers discussed how the project would provide economic boosts, including corn prices.

However, skeptics restated their concerns about potential ruptures and lasting negative effects on the landscape.

I'm Mike Moen.

The company has run into similar opposition and permitting headwinds in other states, including South Dakota.

This is Public News Service.

And a coalition of climate groups who are seeking cleaner air at the rail yard in ports of L.A. and Long Beach will hold a die-in rally tomorrow at Los Angeles City Hall.

Nine climate, environmental, and community organizations are calling on Mayor Karen Bass to support new rules coming soon from the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

Christian Tapia Delgado is a climate campaigner with the nonprofit Pacific Environment.

These rules have been delayed for almost a decade now for the ports, so our communities can't keep waiting.

People shouldn't be dying just because their homes are in vicinity to these polluting sources.

I'm Suzanne Potter.

The city of Long Beach's 2019 community health assessment found communities near the ports suffered increased rates of respiratory diseases and up to eight years shorter life expectancy.

And as construction progresses on Atlanta's Public Safety Training Center, a coalition of organizers, activists, and community members has emerged under the banner "Stop Co-Op City."

We get more in this "Yes" magazine, Georgia News Connection collaboration.

Among them are disability justice activists who see the project as a direct threat to their community.

Dom Kelly with New Disabled South highlights the lack of representation for marginalized communities in the decision-making process regarding Co-Op City's construction.

He says this is not only a democracy issue, but it will widen the gaps that already exist for disabled people encountering police.

We know that the state and federal prison population is two-thirds people with disabilities, and the argument that this will train police is not based in any factor data because we know that implicit bias trainings don't actually improve police interaction.

The ATL Public Safety Training Center's website claims to train officers, firefighters, and civilian responders with modern methods focused on harm reduction.

However, Kelly believes this facility could contribute to police militarization and increased discrimination against people with disabilities.

Shantia Hudson reporting.

Finally, from Arroz Brown, New Mexico members of elected officials to protect America are renewing their call for rules regulating how close fossil fuel companies can operate near schools and other public places after legislation failed to pass earlier this year.

Representative Tara Lujan says industrial oil and gas wells are operating just feet from homes, schools, and hospitals, increasing community health risks from well-known toxins.

Some here in New Mexico have been devastated because of types of energy incentives that have affected their land, their culture, their way of life, and have taken away their lives.

I'm Roz Brown.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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