News from around the nation.

As U.S. Senate votes down IVF bill, Minnesota parent speaks out; After false pet claims, Springfield mayor says Trump visit would be 'an extreme strain' on resources; Report: immigration enforcement changing, NW detention still high; Suicide rates rising among Indiana's diverse communities.

Transcript

The Public News Service Daily Newscast, September the 18th, 2024.

I'm Mike Clifford.

A bill to bolster protections for IVF treatments failed in the Senate Tuesday.

As the political debate plays out, a Minnesota mother hopes her experience opens more eyes to the challenges some people face in expanding their families.

For the second time this year, Senate Republicans blocked efforts to put in place a nationwide right to in-virtual fertilization or IVF.

The outcome is likely to get more attention on the campaign trail this fall.

Mariah Grand, a mother from Bloomington, says she and her husband were both diagnosed with infertility.

They are now proud parents of a daughter through IVF, but there were many hoops to jump through.

Infertility is a disease, and like any other disease, it is emotionally and physically exhausting.

When your disease is not covered by insurance, there's a financial component added on top of it.

She says the couple underwent many tests, took out a second mortgage, and relied on crowdfunding to pay for the IVF.

In Congress, Senate Republicans say they support IVF, but accuse Democrats of a political stunt by bringing it to a vote.

Democrats contend the outcome aligns with conservative ideals and curtailing reproductive freedoms.

I'm Mike Moen.

Minnesota governor and Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz has frequently called for expanded access to IVF, citing his family's struggle with infertility.

Next, from NBC News, the Republican mayor of an Ohio city that has been the target of unfounded claims from former president Donald Trump and his running mate about Haitian immigrants eating residents' pets said Tuesday that a visit from the Republican presidential nominee would strain the city's resources.

Springfield Mayor Robert Roose said, "It would be an extreme strain on our resources, "so I'd be fine if they decided not to make that visit."

NBC News reported on Sunday that Trump planned to visit the city soon, according to a source familiar with the former president's planning, after amplifying during a presidential debate a baseless claim that had circulated in right-wing spheres online for weeks, saying Haitian immigrants were eating the dogs and cats of local residents.

And a new report looks into the recent shift in immigration enforcement, especially at the immigrant detention center in Tacoma.

The University of Washington Center for Human Rights report, "The Border Is Everywhere," finds immigration arrests have started to tick back up after falling at the start of the pandemic.

However, the center's director, Angelina Godoy, says fewer of these arrests are transfers from jails or prisons in Washington and Oregon like they were in the past.

We see a lot of the more recent arrests happening on ICE check-ins or when folks who have arrived from the southern border are coming here and starting to comply with the process that ICE required them to do in terms of following up on their case, that's when they're brought into custody.

Godoy notes that both Washington and Oregon have passed sanctuary state legislation, which has reduced the number of these transfers.

I'm Eric Tegethoff reporting.

This is public news service.

New poll results show 80 percent of likely Arizona voters believe American democracy is under threat.

But the new survey from the Center for the Future of Arizona also finds just as many believe their vote could improve democracy.

With fewer than 50 days until election day, Arizona Democratic Congressman Greg Stanton says there are important issues on the ballot for Arizonans across the political spectrum and it isn't too late to take action.

I want people finding candidates and causes they believe in and get out and work on those campaigns.

Become a volunteer, knock on doors, make calls, become a super voter, if you will.

Stanton's challenger this year is Republican Kelly Cooper, who also ran against him in 2022.

Voters in the Grand Canyon State will weigh in not only on candidates at the national, state, and local levels, but will also decide on more than a dozen statewide propositions.

Check your voter registration status online at my.arizona.vote.

I'm Alex Gonzalez reporting.

And healthcare providers in central Indiana are focusing on accessible and culturally competent mental health support as the region's diversity grows.

Our Joe LaRue has more in this Wish TV, Free Press Indiana, Indiana News Service collaboration.

Dr. Sally Fleming, a clinical psychologist at Riley Children's Hospital, says suicide affects all ages in Indiana and factors such as immigration stress and economic disparities can significantly raise the impact on mental wellbeing.

Suicide rates are higher, suicidal ideation, these things are higher in our population of more diverse ethnic groups.

And we have to be aware of that as clinicians and ask more of those questions.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that suicide is the second leading cause of death for Hoosiers aged 14 to 39 and 5 percent of adults and over 11 percent of young adults aged 18 to 25 have considered suicide in the past year.

Finally, our Shantia Hudson lets us know from gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson to superintendent of public instruction hopeful Michelle Morrow have suggested North Carolina could reject federal funding for public schools.

The North Carolina Justice Center estimates turning down federal funding could strip more than $1 billion from schools and result in thousands of job losses.

Teacher Justin Parmenter in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District thinks this would also harm vulnerable student populations and strain already underfunded schools, especially in rural areas.

Things like providing free and reduced lunch for students who need that support.

It would be serving students with special needs.

It would be funding programs like substance abuse and mental health care.

The NC Justice Center reports that rejecting federal funds will lead to wider gaps in racial and economic opportunities.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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