State Senator Nancy Barto (R-Phoenix) shared that she was the sole state legislator from Arizona in attendance at the rally outside the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) on Wednesday. Inside, the justices held a hearing for a watershed case in abortion law: Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Their ruling is anticipated in the spring.
Barto told AZ Free News that the hearing was historic, as was the gathering outside the SCOTUS building advocating for an end to abortion. She said the rally was peaceful, and recounted how diverse their rally was: individuals reportedly represented from all across the political spectrum, the religious and non-religious, and a generational attendance from tikes to older adults such as herself.
“America has lived this lie long enough. Our laws need to be modernized to recognize [the science]: viability is different now, women are not burdened by pregnancy anymore. The greater standard is, of course, that our constitution needs to fit our laws and protect life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” observed Barto. “We will wait and see and keep praying for these justices to really follow the changing hearts in America, hearts that really have turned. People no longer support abortion through nine months; the more that they learn about what abortion does to women and the unborn in terms of pain, and how the development of an unborn child is trackable from the earliest moments in utero.”
The case brought by Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a Mississippi abortion clinic challenging the constitutionality of Mississippi’s ban on abortions after 15 weeks. On behalf of the defense, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch countered that SCOTUS should leave abortion law to individual states. A SCOTUS ruling in favor of Mississippi would overturn the precedent set by the 1973 case that legalized abortion nationally, Roe v. Wade, which was upheld in the 1992 case Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
The crux of the plaintiff’s arguments during the hearing concerned the need for SCOTUS to stand by precedent set in previous rulings, discussed as the question of “stare decisis.” They also insisted that the interests of the woman outweighed those of the state, especially prior to the viability of the unborn child.
The plaintiffs also admitted that they were arguing a constitutional right to abortion under the constitutional guarantee of liberty when pressed by Associate Justice Clarence Thomas as to what right they were arguing needed protecting. Previous SCOTUS rulings on abortion considered concepts entailing rights under the Constitution and various amendments, such as personhood, undue burdens, and privacy.
Founding Father James Wilson warned of licentiousness, a concept conflated with liberty but truly its antithesis. “Licentious,” or “license,” comes from the Latin term “licentia”: an unbridled, wanton, chaotic freedom. The distinction between liberty and license wasn’t made by anyone in the hearing. Wilson was one of the original SCOTUS justices, serving from the onset of its establishment by the Judiciary Act of 1789 until his death in 1798.
“Liberty and happiness have a powerful enemy on each hand; on the one hand tyranny, on the other licentiousness. To guard against the latter, it is necessary to give the proper powers to government; and to guard against the former, it is necessary that those powers should be properly distributed,” asserted Wilson.
After the hearing, Congressman David Schweikert (R-AZ-06) shared one of his floor statements from earlier this year describing how his life was saved when his birth mother chose life over abortion and gave him up for adoption.
“I was born in an unwed mother’s home – so was my brother, so was my sister. You’ve all met my little girl that came to us as a gift out of nowhere. But I’m 38 years old [at the time] and through a series of accidents, I get the phone number for my birth mother – and I call her. And the first words were just through the tears and this high-pitch almost – she was struggling, you could hear her almost hyperventilating – is: ‘I prayed for you every morning. Are you okay? Are you healthy, are you happy?’ And I’m crying on my side, saying, ‘I have a great life. Thank you for letting me live.’ […] My little girl’s third generation adopted, now. […] And we will get together with our birth moms and our moms. The amazing thing is my mom became best of friends with my birth mom. This is the American family of today – let’s love it and respect it.”
Earlier this year, I spoke on the House Floor to share my personal story about how my life was saved when my birth mother chose life and gave me up for adoption.
With nearly 78 million dogs living in American homes, Congressman David Schweikert (AZ-06) and two of his Arizona colleagues introduced the Paws Off Act of 2021 on Tuesday aimed at requiring label warnings of the danger of Xylitol, a sugar-substitute found in sugar-free or lite foods and household products, but which can kill a dog if ingested.
According to Schweikert, there were more than 6, 700 poisoning-related calls to American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) centers in 2020. And despite awareness campaign efforts by the Food and Drug Administration, most people are unaware Xylitol is extremely toxic to dogs and can cause serious illness, even death, if a quantity half the size of a sugar packet is ingested.
Xylitol, also known as birch sugar or sugar alcohol, is often found in breath mints, sugar-free gum, vitamins, cough drops, baked goods, ice cream, peanut butter, mouthwash, and toothpaste. It is also commonly used in fiber gummies, kids’ allergy medications, cough syrups, sugar-free jellies and candies, and dietary sleep aids.
In announcing the Paws Off Act, Schweikert noted the prevalence of Xylitol is increasing, thus making it harder for pet owners to identify which commonplace household items can be deadly for their dogs. The proposed federal legislation seeks to require labeling changes to ensure pet safety.
“With roughly 50% of American household’s owning one pet or more, it is vital that families be informed of the dangers many basic items and products can pose to their animal’s lives,” Schweikert said. “I’m proud to introduce this legislation to heighten awareness around this chemical so that pets may remain protected.”
Under the legislation, Section 403 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act would be amended to address the need for labeling an item containing Xylitol with a warning of the toxic effect if ingested by dogs. A product would be considered “mislabeled” if the warning is missing.
In addition, the Secretary of U.S. Health and Human Services would be required to ensure the Commissioner of Food and Drugs initiates the rulemaking process, with an interim rule due no later than six months after enactment of Paws Off Act of 2021. A final rule must then be issued “no later than one year after date of enactment of this Act.”
The proposed legislation has the support of the FDA and other groups which advocate for the care for dogs.
“For millions of American households our pets are family. And no family should lose a beloved dog because they didn’t realize a breath mint or toothpaste may be safe for human use but create a toxic reaction in dogs,” said Sara Amundson, president of Humane Society Legislative Fund. “Preventing these tragedies is why we support the Paws Off Act, and we thank Representative Schweikert and his bipartisan cosponsors for introducing this critical federal bill.”
Dr. José Arce, president of the American Veterinary Medical Association, had similar praise for the effort.
“Despite the deadly harm Xylitol presents to dogs and other pets, it is frequently not listed in the ingredient label in products we use on an everyday basis,” said Arce. “We must enact the Paws Off Act of 2021 to inform the public about which products contain the artificial sweetener and the poisonous effect it has on our pets.”
Xylitol poisoning produces symptoms within 20 minutes in a healthy dog, such as vomiting, decreased activity level, weakness and collapse, difficulty walking or standing, shaking or seizures, bleeding problems, liver failure, and coma. Its impact can be more sudden -and severe- in older dogs and those with preexisting medical problems.
Amid the turmoil of the Biden Administration’s Afghanistan Crisis, civilians are stepping up to save the lives of American citizens and Afghans who assisted our country throughout the war. State Representative Steve Kaiser (R-Phoenix) is one of those civilians.
AZ Free News reached out to Kaiser after obtaining his press release asserting that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris bore the blame for the Taliban’s takeover. In that statement, Kaiser mentioned Afghan nationals he’d befriended who were still in Afghanistan. We reached out to Kaiser to elaborate; it was then the representative revealed that he and others have been busy with extraction efforts for those Afghans who served alongside American soldiers.
Kaiser explained that this effort began when he received a message from one of the Afghan nationals he’d befriended, following the Taliban takeover.
“We have two interpreters that we worked over there that were still over there when all this started. I was Facebook friends for a lot of years with one of them. He was always in Kabul – he’s got kids now and is married,” explained Kaiser. “When all this fell apart, all of a sudden he was emailing me[.]”
At that point, Kaiser and fellow service members reached out to Congressman David Schweikert (R-AZ-06) and some active duty members for help. In the meantime, the coalition got to work pulling together the special immigrant visa paperwork necessary.
“I’m definitely just working as a civilian through a congressman. That’s my only lever right now,” said Kaiser. “We’re lucky that some of us that were in the unit together have stayed in the military.”
As of this publication, the Afghan national and his family have made it safely to the U.S.
However, their coalition’s work isn’t done. This week, another Afghan ally reached out to Kaiser.
“I got a phone call and I saw on the phone the caller ID that it’s from Afghanistan. I normally wouldn’t answer in the middle of a meeting, but I did,” explained Kaiser. “[It was] another interpreter stuck in Kabul with his family. You could hear the fear in his voice[.]”
Kaiser explained that these people they’re saving aren’t just attempting to get to America – they’re those who fought alongside American soldiers, making the difficult decision to leave their homeland for the safety of themselves and their families. He emphasized that this is the purpose of asylum.
“These are people that are friends and stood next to us in a warzone and are hunted actively for standing with us,” explained Kaiser. “There are people being disparaging about this – calling them the ‘unwashed masses.’ I can tell you – there’s ten Afghans coming to Arizona. Five of them are from two different families and four are individual males. They all had special immigrant visa paperwork – there’s a lot that goes into [that paperwork]. These are people who have special immigrant visas, who are already people who worked alongside us [in the military]. These are people that stood next to us, faced death and dismemberment and are now being hunted. They deserve the same respect as our service members.”
Kaiser explained further that the Afghan nationals, such as the interpreter currently needing help, were the ones who ensured the safety of American soldiers.
“These interpreters kept us safe. They didn’t just translate for us. They were cultural advisors, they were local nationals from Kabul [who] grew up in Afghanistan,” said Kaiser. “They filled in a lot of cultural gaps that we didn’t get because our training was pretty poor going over there.”
This wasn’t Kaiser’s first time assisting Afghan nationals. Kaiser mentioned that he’d assisted in extracting another friend years ago – one who’d lost both legs and an arm serving alongside American soldiers. That friend is now happily married with several daughters.
Kaiser understands that the issue is controversial, but these aren’t just any Afghans. They’re the people who were willing to sacrifice for the American cause.
“I’m a conservative, and I know people say that loosely and easily. I understand it’s going to be controversial – I understand where they are coming from,” said Kaiser. “If I lose an election saying this, so be it – this is more important than that. This is life and death, you know?”
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
