BRAVE MAG

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona must stop enforcing abortion restrictions that predate and contradict a 2024 voter-approved constitutional amendment guaranteeing abortion rights, a judge ordered in a ruling released Friday.

Maricopa Superior Court Judge Greg Como found that the older laws present unnecessary obstacles to getting an abortion, including barring one if a woman was seeking it because the fetus had a non-fatal genetic abnormality, and requiring patients to see a doctor twice, at least 24 hours apart, before obtaining one.

He also took issue with the laws because they required abortion seekers to undergo ultrasounds and Rh blood testing, and barred doctors from prescribing abortion pills by telehealth and mailing them to patients. Pills are the most common way abortion is obtained.

"Each of these laws infringe on a woman's 'autonomous decision making' by mandating medical procedures and disclosure of information regardless of the patient's needs and wishes," Como wrote.

Kris Mayes, the state's Democratic attorney general, supported the plaintiffs.

Two of Arizona's top legislative Republicans — House Speaker Steve Montenegro and Senate President Warren Petersen — intervened in the lawsuit in support of the restrictions, arguing that abortion rights advocates wanted to sweep away health and safety regulations in the name of the constitutional amendment.

Peterson's office said the ruling will be appealed.

In Arizona and many other states, abortion law has been in flux since the U.S. Supreme Courtoverturned Roe v. Wadein 2022 and cleared the way for states to ban abortion. Even after voters approved the abortion rights amendment, throwing out a 2022 law that banned abortion after 15 weeks' gestation, some older restrictions remained on the books.

Two obstetricians and the Arizona Medical Association sued last year over the continued enforcement of the old laws. They said the voter-backed constitutional amendment guaranteed the "fundamental right to abortion" and specifically barred the state from enacting, adopting or enforcing a law that "denies, restricts or interferes with that right before fetal viability."

"My patients will no longer be forced to make additional unnecessary visits for care, nor will I be required to give them disinformation that stigmatizes abortion." Dr. Laura Mercer, an OB-GYN and member of the board at the Arizona Medical Association, said in a statement Friday.

Ingrid Duran, the National Right to Life Committee's state legislative director, told The Associated Press on Friday that she's disappointed but not surprised by the ruling. She said the group intends to work on educating people in Arizona about its position to "expand our base into more pro-lifers who believe that the unborn child deserves protection." But she said the group doesn't expect the ruling to be overturned.

Since Roe was overturned, voters in several stateshave passed lawsallowing abortion, while voters in others have rejected such measures. Missouri voterswill decide this yearwhether to overturn a voter-backed amendment guaranteeing abortion rights. ___

Mulvihill reported from Haddonfield, New Jersey.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Repairs on a pipe rupture that hassent sewage flowinginto the Potomac River northwest of Washington, D.C., will take weeks more to repair because of an unexpected blockage, according to the local water authority.

In a release posted on its website Thursday, DC Water, which operates the sewer system, said a video inspection of the pipeline revealed the blockage inside the collapsed sewer line "is far more significant" than originally thought. It said it discovered a large rock dam about 30 feet (9 meters) fromthe breach in the sewage line,which requires treatment before the current spill can be addressed.

It will take an estimated 4 to 6 weeks longer than initially anticipated to get a system in place, including bringing in bigger equipment, to address the problem and begin removing the large rocks and boulders inside the sewer line, DC Water said.

The 72-inch (183-centimeter) pipeline, called the Potomac Interceptor, collapsed Jan. 19, shooting sewage out of the ground and into the river just north of Washington in Montgomery County, Maryland. In its initial announcement, DC Water said the leak was causing an estimated 40 million gallons (about 150 million liters) a day of wastewater — enough to fill about 66 Olympic-size swimming pools— to escape into the Potomac River.

DC Water said it knew the pipe, first installed in the 1960s, was deteriorating, and rehabilitation work on a section about a quarter-mile (400 meters) from the break began in September and was recently completed.

The agency has been assessing water quality for bacteria contamination and said that while E. Coli levels are well beyond safe levels at the site of the leak, the levels are within safe levels at other sampling sites downstream into Washington.

The Washington Department of Energy and Environment said in an emailed statement that it was continuing to advise that the public and their pets avoid contact with the water until the situation is fully resolved and bacteria levels are reported as safe. "DC drinking water remains safe for everyone to drink and use."

Sherri Lewis, a spokesperson for DC Water, said the overflow was initially 40 million gallons a day and stayed at that level for five days. Since then there have been limited overflows when pumps are taken out of service because of clogs caused by items such as wipes and grease that reduce pumping capacity.

"Most days we have had none," Lewis said. "However, until we have full functionality restored to the Potomac Interceptor, there remains a risk of limited overflow, but the risk and amount are minimal."

Lewis said the drinking water supply was never impacted. The primary intakes for the water system are upstream of the collapse and that system is completely separate from the sewer system.

The notice came the same day that the Potomac Riverkeeper Network and researchers at the University of Maryland announced they had found high levels of fecal-related bacteria and disease-causing pathogens in the Potomac River and were calling for public health advisories in Washington and Maryland on recreational use of the river.

Dean Naujoks, the Potomac Riverkeeper and part of an environmental nonprofit, said he was concerned about the additional bacterial and pathogenic dangers and criticized DC Water for what he said was misleading information and changing versions of what had transpired.

CHICAGO — The text messages a Border Patrol agent sent to colleagues and family members after he repeatedly shot a Chicago woman in October can be released to the public, a federal judge ruled Friday. In messages previously made public,the agent braggedabout his marksmanship.

U.S. District Judge Georgia Alexakis stated in court that the text messages provide insight into the agent's and theDepartment of Homeland Security's credibility, as well as into how DHS leadership perceived the shooting.

The agent, Charles Exum, shot Marimar Martinez five times on Oct. 4, after she allegedly rammed her car into agents' vehicles. Martinez denies ramming them andsaid agents were the aggressors. Exum did not have his body camera turned on during the incident.

In one text message previously released,he bragged about his shooting skills,writing: "I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book boys."

Government lawyers argued that the release of Exum's text messages would further sully the agent and his family.

The judge pushed back. "I don't know why the United States government has expressed zero concern for the sullying of Ms. Martinez's reputation," Alexakis said.

Martinez's attorney, Chris Parente, said his team would work over the weekend with government lawyers on redactions, and Martinez's legal team would be releasing the evidence no earlier than Monday.

Martinez pleaded not guilty in October to Justice Department charges that she used her vehicle "to assault, impede, and interfere with the work of federal agents in Chicago." The governmentdropped its case against Martinez, but her lawyers say officials have refused to correct the record afterbranding her a "domestic terrorist."

The judge ruled Friday that more evidence in Martinez's case could be made public, including emails, text messages, investigative reports and statements by higher ranking DHS officials. Martinez's lawyer said these will shine a light on their thinking and how they are instructing their officers. As part of this ruling, body camera footage from an agent who was in the vicinity of the shooting can also be released, as well as photos and reports from after the crash and audio from Martinez's 911 call.

Alexakis noted that DHS has not publicly addressed that they dropped the case with prejudice — meaning they cannot seek to charge her in the case in the future.

In court filings, Parente wrote that recent fatal shootings in Minnesota show why the evidence in Martinez's case is important to the public interest.

"Based on recent events in Minneapolis, Minnesota, involving the execution of two U.S. citizens who were engaged in similar peaceful protests as Ms. Martinez at the time of their killings, Ms. Martinez believes certain information disclosed in her case, and currently subject to the Protective Order, would be useful for both the public and elected officials to know regarding how DHS responds in cases where their agents use deadly force against U.S. citizens," he wrote.

Parente also laid out a series of high-ranking officials in the Trump administration who had made misstatements about Martinez.

That included an Oct. 6 post FBI Director Kash Patel shared from a different account that included a video on X that read: "This is the video where Marimar Martinez, aka La Maggie, rammed a white DHS vehicle who had their emergency lights on. Another DHS black SUV then attempts to ram Marimar's SUV from behind. One DHS agent is on the passenger side firing shots. Democrats are insane."

As of early Friday,Patel had not taken downthat post.

Martinez's attorneys also asked for the release of Flock surveillance camera footage from 30 days before the shooting — arguing that it would show her engaged in everyday activities and rebut DHS' statements that she has a history of doxxing federal agents and ambushing them.

The judge ruled in favor of releasing that footage but not license plate reader camera data, saying it would have "little value" to clear Martinez's name.

At one point during the court hearing, Parente said there would be no need to release any of the footage if the U.S. government publicly said that Martinez is not a domestic terrorist. The judge said the court wasn't expected to handle negotiations such as that.

After the hearing, lawyers for Martinez said they will continue to fight to clear her reputation.

"You can't call a U.S. citizen with no criminal history who's a Montessori school teacher a domestic terrorist, which is such a loaded word in this country, and repeat it over and over as late as yesterday," Parente said.