Cronkite News D.C.

During the summer before my senior year at ASU I lived in Washington D.C. as a news reporter for Cronkite News. 

Widely used abortion drug remains legal on 9-0 vote, as Supreme Court says anti-abortion doctors lack standing to challenge mifepristone

WASHINGTON – A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court upheld access to a widely used abortion drug Thursday, tossing out an effort to take mifepristone off the market on grounds that the anti-abortion doctors who brought the case lack legal standing to sue.

The drug is used in nearly two-thirds of U.S. abortions available.

The justices – splintered ideologically in other abortion cases – all agreed that the doctors who brought this suit couldn’t show they’d suffered any personal harm from keeping mifepristone on the market.

With 1864 abortion ban repealed, Arizona doctors don’t need emergency licenses in California and none have signed up

WASHINGTON – Weeks after the Arizona Supreme Court revived a near-total abortion ban adopted decades before statehood, Democrats in California sprung into action. Through the end of November, Arizona doctors can get temporary licenses to perform abortions in California for Arizona patients.

Arizona abortion providers and abortion rights advocates voiced appreciation for the neighborly gesture.

But so far no Arizona doctors have signed up, California officials say.

Vice President Kamala Harris will campaign in Phoenix on Dobbs anniversary, putting abortion rights in spotlight

WASHINGTON – Vice President Kamala Harris will mark the two-year anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling striking down Roe v. Wade in Phoenix, at a campaign event focused on abortion rights.

Arizona has been a battleground for reproductive rights, and Democrats see it as a wedge issue to drive up turnout and lure independents and even some Republicans.

In Phoenix, VP Kamala Harris puts focus on abortion rights as advocates mark two years post-Roe v. Wade

(Co-written with Lauren De Young) Marking two years since the Supreme Court struck down federal abortion rights, protesters marched on the court Monday, and Vice President Kamala Harris stumped in Phoenix to put a spotlight on the tussle over abortion in Arizona.

“Our work right now is absolutely directly going to affect the people of Arizona, the people of our country, but will have an impact on people around the world. That’s what’s in our hands right now,” Harris said at a reproductive freedom campaign event in Phoenix.

Calls to 988 suicide hotline go to a crisis center in the caller’s area code, but may soon get routed to the closest counselor

WASHINGTON – The 988 crisis hotline went live nationwide two years ago, replacing a hard-to-remember 800 number so that people considering suicide could more easily reach out for help.

But unlike 911 calls, which go to the nearest dispatch center, calls to 988 are connected to a center in the caller’s area code.

With 80% of those calls coming from cell phones, people in crisis often end up speaking with a volunteer or counselor thousands of miles away who has no way to send help.