Illinois enacts abortion protection law
CHICAGO — Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed sweeping abortion protections into law on Wednesday, establishing women’s access to the procedure as a “fundamental right” and putting Illinois at odds with Republican-led states that have embraced abortion restrictions.
The new Illinois law, which takes effect immediately, voids decades-old abortion regulations that were on the books but had never taken effect because of court orders, including restrictions on late-term abortions and criminal penalties for doctors who perform abortions. It also requires insurance coverage for abortions, contraception and related medical care.
“In a time when too many states across the nation are taking a step backward, Illinois is taking a giant step forward for women’s health. In this state, we trust women,” the Democratic governor said at a bill signing ceremony in Chicago.
Supporters said the new law is urgent because of the conservative shift on the U.S. Supreme Court and the passage of new limits on abortion in other states that could lead to the overturning of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion nationwide.
U.S. to add troops, Poland to buy F-35s
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he will send 1,000 more U.S. service members to Poland as part of his broadening security and economic alliance.
Trump made the announcement during a White House news conference with Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda. Trump said the Polish government will pay for the infrastructure to support the additional troops, and he praised Poland for increased defense spending to meeting its NATO commitments.
Earlier in the Oval Office, Trump said the United States has based tens of thousands of troops in Germany for a “long, long time” and that he probably would move a “certain number” of those personnel to Poland, “if we agree to do it.”
Trump also said Poland is buying more than 30 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets from the U.S.
U.S. officials said earlier this week that Trump, in addition to the additional troops, would send a squadron of Reaper drones to Poland to aid its self-defense over concerns about Russian military activity.
Hate crimes charged in church burnings
NEW ORLEANS — The son of a Louisiana sheriff’s deputy is facing federal hate-crime charges over three fires that destroyed black churches earlier this year.
Holden Matthews, 21, was charged in a six-count federal indictment that was unsealed Wednesday.
The indictment charges Matthews with three counts of “intentional damage to religious property,” which the Department of Justice said is a hate crime under the U.S. Church Arson Prevention Act. He’s also charged with three counts of “using fire to commit a felony.”
Three historic black churches were burned in a span of 10 days, beginning in late March, in and around the city of Opelousas in Louisiana’s St. Landry Parish, where Matthews’ father is a sheriff’s deputy.
Matthews is white and the churches served black congregations. The indictment, however, does not mention race. It says the fires were set “because of the religious character” of the properties.
Matthews already has pleaded innocent to state charges in the church burnings.
Maine legalizes doctor-assisted suicide
AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine legalized medically assisted suicide on Wednesday, becoming the eighth state to allow terminally ill people to end their lives with prescribed medication.
Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, who had previously said she was unsure about the bill, signed it in her office.
Maine’s bill would allow doctors to prescribe terminally ill people a fatal dose of medication. The bill declares that obtaining or administering life-ending medication is not suicide under state law, thereby legalizing the practice often called medically assisted suicide.
The proposal had failed once in a statewide vote and at least seven previous attempts in the Legislature. The current bill passed by one vote in the House, and a slim margin in the Senate.