Politics and views in the United States

Senate Democrats honor 4th anniversary of the Dobbs decision. Abortion may be a key issue in the Maine Senate race and New York sues the Trump Administration over the right to enact immigration legislation.

Transcript

Welcome to 2026 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

We are four years out from the day Republicans ripped away the national right to abortion.

The pain that that has caused, the horrors we all knew it would cause, are now plain of state.

Washington state's Patty Murray and other Senate Democrats marked Roe v.

Wade on the anniversary of its overturning.

After the Supreme Court's Dobbs ruling, 13 states enacted abortion bans, with 10 others imposing strict limits.

In spite of that, pills, often prescribed remotely and sent by mail, have enabled more abortions than before the ruling.

Aggressive legal, legislative, and bureaucratic challenges have come close, but so far not stopped most medication abortions.

In the hotly contested Maine Senate race, Planned Parenthood has endorsed Democratic Oysterman and veteran Graham Plattner over incumbent Republican Susan Collins.

While Plattner blames Collins' vote to confirm Associate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh for helping end Roe, he says his own party is also to blame.

I also will never forgive establishment Democrats for many years, never taking the opportunity to codify reproductive rights in federal law.

Bills codifying abortion rights or enacting national restrictions have both failed.

Last year's budget mega bill blocked Medicaid funding for some nonprofit providers that perform abortions.

Planned Parenthood has had to close or consolidate nearly 60 clinics in the last year and a half.

Under bipartisan pressure, acting attorney general Todd Blanche told Congress President Donald Trump's so-called weaponization fund isn't moving forward.

In spite of that, his agency is refusing to say so under oath.

Justice Department lawyers turned down a Virginia federal judge's invitation to submit a sworn statement that the $1.8 billion fund is dead.

The Atlantic Magazine reports the White House is assuring allies the payouts will happen.

A formal statement from the American Bar Association accuses the administration of corruption, calling it, quote, pay-to-play tactics.

Democrats say they're planning to highlight that in the midterms.

Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy says no president has done the kind of, quote, self-dealing Trump has in his second term.

He warns it could become the new normal.

If people stop being outraged at what he is doing to enrich himself, then I fear there is no going back.

The White House will just become a place to get rich.

New York's governor and attorney general are suing the administration to defend a recently passed package of immigration laws.

The laws and some formal partnerships between local law enforcement and ICE, give New Yorkers the right to sue federal agents who violate constitutional rights, prohibit law enforcement officers from wearing masks in public, and bar public agencies, including schools and local governments, from sharing immigration information.

Murata Wauta is with the New York Immigration Coalition.

The 10th Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees New York State's self-determination, which cannot be undermined by the Trump administration's bullying tactic or threat.

The D.C. federal court just ruled the administration can go ahead with fast-track deportation of immigrants believed to be undocumented.

That process bypasses immigration court hearings if the migrants fail to demonstrate they've lived continuously in the country for at least two years.

I'm Edwin J. Viera for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

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