New Mexico governor approves payments to offset inflation - By Morgan Lee Associated Press
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed legislation Friday to provide payments of $500 to individual adults or $1,000 to households to offset increased prices for fuel and other consumer goods.
Payments of $250 per individual are scheduled for June and August under a Democratic-sponsored bill approved Tuesday during a one-day special legislative session.
The payments will arrive on top of separate tax rebates in July that exclude upper-income residents. Income limits don't apply to the newly approved payments, which will cost the state about $700 million.
Most payments will go out automatically as tax rebates to people who file tax returns in New Mexico, while $20 million also was set aside largely for elderly people with little or no income who don't ordinarily file taxes. Undocumented immigrants are eligible whether they file tax returns or not.
The U.S. inflation rate for the 12 months ending in February was nearly 8% — and that was before the Russian invasion of Ukraine set off a worldwide surge in fuel prices.
Democratic Rep. Christine Chandler of Los Alamos, chairwoman of the lead House committee on taxation, highlighted the cascading effect of higher fuel prices as businesses pass on energy costs by raising prices on a variety of goods and services.
"The rising fuel costs are hitting families, especially in our rural communities," Chandler said at an online news conference. "We are giving families relief now and also in the summer when they are preparing to send their kids back to school."
The New Mexico state government is experiencing a financial windfall linked to record-setting oil production in the Permian Basin. Lujan Grisham said the rebates are meaningful to families but won't necessarily be repeated in future years.
"While giving rebates directly into the hands of New Mexicans, particularly in the context of inflation, are both meaningful, valuable and necessary .... we also want to make sure that we're hitting the mark on continuing our investments in education" and housing, said Lujan Grisham, who is running for reelection in November.
Republicans in the legislative minority were divided on the initiative, with one GOP senator and 13 allied House representatives voting against it amid concerns about making local inflation worse without cutting taxes.
New Mexico dairies urged to seek aid due to contamination - Associated Press
Dairy farmers can seek reimbursement from the federal government for cows contaminated by chemicals that have leached into the groundwater around an Air Force base in eastern New Mexico.
U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján on Friday commended a recent rule change by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that created a pathway for farmers to receive payments through the Dairy Indemnity Payment Program. Previously, farmers were able to get payments for lost milk production but could not get paid for their cows.
Luján said in a statement that New Mexico farmers and ranchers are critical contributors to the state's economy and that many producers have been brought to the verge of bankruptcy due to inaction and because programs that were designed to provide a safety were not working.
"Beyond the moral imperative of the federal government providing just compensation, this announcement is part of a broader effort to support the dairy industry and rural communities," he said.
At one dairy near Cannon, Luján's office said an estimated 5,200 cows were impacted and about 2,000 of the animals have died.
New Mexico sued the Air Force in 2019 over PFAS contamination at Cannon and at Holloman Air Force Base in southern New Mexico. The state argued that the federal government had a responsibility to clean up plumes of toxic chemicals left behind by past military firefighting activities.
The synthetic chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances also are used in products ranging from cookware to carpets and have been increasingly showing up in drinking water systems, wells and food. They have been associated with health problems including cancer and reduced birth weight.
They often are referred to as "forever chemicals" because they do not easily degrade and can remain in the body for years.
Last year, the EPA announced a new strategy to regulate them.
In New Mexico, the Air Force began installing monitoring wells in March to determine the extent of "forever chemicals" in and around Cannon, which is located near the community of Clovis. The locations for the wells were determined following an extensive effort that involved the collection of soil and groundwater samples.
Air Force officials said the data collected from the wells will help determine potential future full-scale response efforts.
Tickets to ride Rail Runner 75% cheaper through July – By Austin Fisher, Source New Mexico
The price of riding New Mexico’s commuter rail line will drop by 75% on Monday, rail officials and New Mexico’s governor announced.
All one-way, day pass, monthly passes and annual passes to ride the Rail Runner will be cheaper through the end of July. Buying the passes will be even cheaper online, according to a table attached to the announcement.
The tickets will remain cheaper “through at least July 31,” according to the news release.
The cheaper ticket prices are meant to make travel around the state more affordable “as gas prices remain high across the country,” the governor’s office said in a news release on Friday afternoon. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said it is another way state officials are trying to provide economic relief to New Mexicans.
“Reducing public transportation costs for the Rail Runner provides commuters with another affordable option while gas prices remain high,” Lujan Grisham said.
Terry Doyle, director of the Rio Metro RTD, said daily ridership on the train is about 60% of what it was before the COVID-19 pandemic began.
“Now with more people returning to work and gas prices at an all-time high, we’re hoping that this reduced fare promotion encourages many to get back on the train, and also attracts those who have never commuted by rail to give it a try,” Doyle said.
The Rio Metro Regional Transit District will put its own money toward covering half of the reduction in fares, while the state Department of Transportation will cover the remaining 25%, the governor’s office said.
Riding the Rail Runner is completely free for children aged 9 and under, seniors aged 60 or older on Wednesdays, and active-duty military and veterans with ID.
GOP candidates apply for governor’s job in Albuquerque - KUNM News, Albuquerque Journal
Five Republican candidates for Governor answered questions last night in front of an audience in Albuquerque. The event was conducted in the style of a job interview.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that Carla Sonntag of the New Mexico Business Coalition was joined by one candidate at a time on stage and fired questions at them, while they tried to highlight their policies and sense of humor.
Former meteorologist Mark Ronchetti said his priority was the rapid passage of an anti-crime bill. “We will keep you safe,” he said.
State Representative Rebecca Dow pointed out that as a legislator she has been able to work with Democratic colleagues to pass two bills. “We've got to have someone in office who's able to work across the aisle,” she said.
The other candidates were Ethel Mahard, Jay Block and Greg Zanetti.
Absentee voting for the candidate begins next month.
Current Democratic governor Michelle Lujan Grisham is running for a second term.
Manchin, Capito among senators asking consultation on VA - Associated Press
West Virginia's U.S. senators are among a dozen asking President Joe Biden to consult with officials state by state on the possible impact of recommendations of the Department of Veterans Affairs to the Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission.
"The recommendations are overly focused on quantitative data that does not do enough to consider the impact the proposed changes would have on our Veterans, particularly elderly Veterans," said the senators. The group includes West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin and Republic Shelley Moore Capito.
The VA released preliminary recommendations last month. The recommendations would significantly alter services provided to rural veterans across the country, according to a statement from Manchin's office Friday. Manchin and Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., led a bipartisan letter the next day asking Biden to be sure rural perspectives were considered by the AIR Commission.
In the latest letter, the group of senators told Biden that VA facilities are the only place many elderly veterans seek care.
"The reasons Veterans often cite are that they are better understood, respected, and cared for at their local VA Medical Center," the letter said.
Manchin and Capito were joined by Rounds and Republican John Thune of South Dakota, Democrat Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Democrats Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, Republican Steve Daines of Montana, Republicans John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Republican Ted Cruz of Texas and Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
Allegations of sexual humiliation at Los Lunas Prison echoes 2011 case - Austin Fisher, Source New Mexico
Guards accused of taking part in beating, terrorizing and sexually humiliating incarcerated people two years ago at the New Mexico state prison in Los Lunas were found to have committed similar abuses before, but have only risen in the ranks since.
A new federal lawsuit alleges that New Mexico Corrections Department Assistant Warden Joe Lytle and Capt. Emmitt Bland are two of at least 12 guards who took part in an abusive “welcome committee” in March 2020 at the Central New Mexico Correctional Facility, about a half-hour’s drive south of Albuquerque.
On two separate occasions, March 20 and April 8, 2020, prison officials transferred people held at the men’s prison in Grants to the one in Los Lunas.
When they arrived guards tried to provoke them to fight them, told them to bend over and “spread their butt cheeks,” strip-searched them, sexually taunted them, and then chose some of them “to have their heads forcibly and violently shaved,” the lawsuit states.
Albuquerque-based civil rights attorney Matthew Coyte and Steven Robert Allen, an attorney with the New Mexico Prison and Jail Project, pieced together what happened by collecting the accounts of 14 current and formerly incarcerated people.
“The threats of physical violence combined with sexualized bullying and intimidation were premeditated and occurred regardless of whether the Plaintiffs were complying with orders or objecting to their treatment,” the lawsuit states. “The decision to forcibly shave certain prisoners was premeditated and taken by high- ranking NMCD staff members, including Defendants Lytle and Bland.”
Lytle and Bland were both involved in the 2011 incident and the one in March 2020, Coyte said.
The “nuts to butts” lawsuit Coyte filed in 2011 is similar to this one, he said, in that guards used violence, intimidation, sexual harassment and inappropriate mass strip searches.
In the 2011 case, guards lined people up naked, with the exception of their underwear, in rows on the gymnasium floor and made them scooch up so close to each other that their genitals touched the back of the guy in front of them, Coyte said.
“Depositional testimony in that case revealed that they forced them to put their foreheads onto the naked back of the man in front of them,” he said.
Coyte and another attorney sued on behalf of 472 people incarcerated at the same prison. New Mexico settled the case for $750,000 and promised to never engage in the practice again, Reuters reported.
Lytle was the head of the team who did that at that time.
“He got promoted, as did many other who were involved,” Coyte said.
The new lawsuit alleges that as Lytle watched his subordinates abuse the incarcerated people, he recorded it on a cell phone. Allen said he does not know whether that was Lytle’s personal or Department-issued phone.
Eric Harrison, a spokesperson for the New Mexico Corrections Department, declined to comment on the lawsuit but said “NMCD is committed to the safety of all inmates within our care, and we maintain a zero tolerance policy regarding any and all forms of sexual abuse and sexual harassment.”
“Please let me be clear — we absolutely will be investigating these allegations thoroughly and will take action to make certain that any staff involved in any kind of abusive or inappropriate behavior are held accountable to the highest level,” Harrison said.
NO KNOWN INVESTIGATION OF BATTERY
It is not clear if the Department’s investigation will determine the identity of an unnamed prison guard who is alleged to have forcibly shaved the head of one of the men incarcerated in Los Lunas.
The lawsuit states that the guard forced the man’s neck onto the rim of a trash can to violently shave his head, pushing down on his neck hard enough to choke him.
When the incarcerated person tried to lift his head to breathe, the officer “yelled sexually degrading names at him calling him a ‘faggot’ and a ‘gay bitch,’” the lawsuit states.
Afterwards, guards told him, “You better not say anything to the nurse.”
The lawsuit goes on to say that “the forcible shaving of a person’s head while pushed into a trash can amounts to a battery,” a violation of New Mexico criminal statute.
As far as attorneys know, no police agency has investigated the alleged battery.
Jessica Martinez, chief deputy of 13th Judicial District Attorney Barbara Romo, said the district attorney’s office “will review the investigating agency’s case and determine if there is sufficient evidence to proceed with criminal charges.”
“However, I cannot give you an answer at this point as to whether we have received this case for review without an offender’s name,” Martinez said.
RACIST TAUNTS
Part of the degradation described in the suit includes homophobic, misogynistic and racist taunts by the guards, Allen said.
The lawsuit states that an unnamed guard referred to a Black incarcerated person as “boy” in “a deliberately degrading act of racism.” He objected to having his head shaved because he is Muslim, but the more he spoke up, the worse it became, the suit states.
Another incarcerated person, as part of his Native American tradition and religion, had cut his hair more than a year before to mourn the death of his brother. To pay his respects as he approached his release date, the incarcerated person started to grow his hair back and did not get a haircut for 14 months.
The lawsuit states that he told the guards that he was Native American and had the right to grow out his hair. An unnamed guard told him, “This is our version of scalping you.”
It was difficult to identify all of the guards involved, Allen said, in part because “our clients were instructed, over and over again, to keep their eyes on the ground, to not look up, and if they did, and when they did, they were severely beaten for doing that.”
“That was an attempt to ensure that they couldn’t document what was happening to them, and that’s also a disturbing aspect of all this,” Allen said.
He anticipates learning more through the discovery process about exactly how many guards took part in the abuse, the actual reasons why they violently shaved the incarcerated people’s heads, and whether the racist and sexist comments by the guards may point to broader problems with the power dynamics between the guards at the prison and the people in their charge.
US agency to review oil, gas leases near Chaco in New Mexico - By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
The U.S. government, environmentalists and an energy company have reached a settlement over contested oil and gas leases in an area held sacred by Native American tribes.
The agreement approved by a federal judge earlier this week would pause drilling on a few dozen parcels in northwestern New Mexico near Chaco Culture National Historical Park while federal land managers conduct an environmental review and consult further with tribes.
The spotlight already is on Chaco as U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland has initiated a plan for halting development on federal land around the park and providing a pathway for tribes in New Mexico and neighboring Arizona to be more involved in decision-making. Federal officials are planning more public meetings on the plan later this month.
The settlement stemmed from a petition filed in 2020 that challenged the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's decisions authorizing the leasing of 42 parcels for oil and gas development.
The plaintiffs argued that the agency violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to take a hard look at cumulative greenhouse gas emissions, climate change and health impacts, and environmental justice issues. They also said opportunities for public participation were inadequate.
As part of the agreement, land managers will have until August to complete a more in-depth environmental review, hold a public meeting and meet with tribes. In the meantime, the agency will not approve any applications for a permit to drill or any new right-of-way permits on the challenged parcels.
Energy company EOG Resources Inc. also agreed not to develop 119 wells that federal officials had previously approved until the review is done and the Bureau of Land Management issues a new decision. If the agency decides to cancel any of the leases, EOG reserves the right to challenge that decision.
Email messages seeking comment were left Thursday with the company's attorneys and with regional Bureau of Land Management officials.
The environmental groups and tribal advocates contend that the bureau's initial public participation process fell far short of the "fair treatment and meaningful involvement" that environmental justice demands.
"The Bureau of Land Management's fly-by-night approvals for oil and gas leasing during the pandemic chaos of the waning days of the Trump administration undermines the trust responsibility the bureau has with Diné living on the Counselor, Ojo Encino, and Torreon lands," said Mario Atencio, an organizer with the Navajo environmental group Diné C.A.R.E.
The fight over development in the region has spanned multiple presidential administrations, and even some Native Americans have differing views on how much space around the national park should be protected.
A World Heritage site, Chaco is thought to be the center of what was once a hub of Indigenous civilization. Within the park, walls of stacked stone jut up from the bottom of the canyon, some perfectly aligned with the seasonal movements of the sun and moon. Circular subterranean rooms called kivas are cut into the desert floor.
Outside the park, archaeologists say there are discoveries still to be made.
Ally Beasley with the Western Environmental Law Center said this latest case provides an opportunity for federal land managers to correct what she described as unjust treatment of the area around Chaco park as "an energy sacrifice zone."
"A new decision — and new decision-making process — for these leases could be a meaningful step toward truly 'honoring Chaco' as the agency has alluded to," she said.
APS schools given option to extend year by 10 days - KUNM News, Albuquerque Journal
The Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education has approved a measure allowing schools to elect to add ten days to the school year.
The Albuquerque Journal reports the board first rejected a proposal to mandate a longer year for schools. Proponents said the extension would allow more professional development for staff, and personalized teaching for students.
Later, the board approved a motion that would allow schools the option to adjust their calendars if they’d like.
A longer school year has been a topic of debate for some time and dozens of people spoke at the public meeting last night.
One member of the board pointed out that schools are suffering from a lack of staff. Barbara Petersen said it was “incredibly frustrating” that ten extra days of school were being proposed during a time of staff shortages.
Defendants protest trial delays in New Mexico compound raid - By Morgan Lee Associated Press
A second defendant is invoking the right to a speedy trial in the 2018 raid on a squalid family compound in northern New Mexico that uncovered the remains of a 3-year-old boy and led to charges of kidnapping, firearms and terrorism charges, defense attorneys confirmed Thursday.
Subhanah Wahhaj, one of five defendants who have been incarcerated since the raid, gave birth to a child during her initial months in federal custody. She denies the charges against her and this week notified federal prosecutors and a judge in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque of her right to a trial within a reasonable amount of time after arrest.
"We filed the speedy-trial notice because it's been (nearly) four years, and based on the evidence in the case we don't think our client belongs in jail anymore," said Ryan Villa, a court-appointed attorney for Wahhaj.
Wahhaj was arrested in August 2018 along with her husband and three other adults from an extended family in a law enforcement raid at a ramshackle encampment in the remote desert surrounded by berms of used tires with an adjacent firing range. Authorities were searching for a sickly 3-year-old who had been reported missing by his mother in Georgia.
Sheriff's deputies and state agents initially found 11 hungry children and a small arsenal of ammunition and guns. After days of searching, they recovered the decomposed remains of the 3-year-old in an underground tunnel.
Trial preparations have been largely suspended without a start date as the court addresses mental health concerns about four defendants. A new court filing indicates three defendants have been found mentally competent to stand trial — Subhanah Wahhaj, sister Hujrah Wahhaj and Haitian national Jany Leveille.
Evaluation and possible treatment is pending for Lucas Morton, the husband of Subhanah.
Subhanah also is the mother of four children taken into state custody during the 2018 raid.
Authorities have said the deceased child, Abdul-Ghani Wahhaj, suffered from untreated disabilities as father Siraj Ibn Wahhaj and his partner Leveille performed daily prayer rituals over him — even as he cried and foamed at the mouth. Authorities also said Leveille believed medication suppressed the group's Muslim beliefs.
Forensic specialists determined the child died several months prior to the recovery of his body.
A grand jury indictment alleges Leveille and her partner instructed people at the compound to be prepared to engage in jihad and die as martyrs, and that one more relative was invited to bring money and firearms.
All five defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States and providing material support to each other as potential terrorists by crossing state lines with firearms and training at the New Mexico compound.
The defendants have denied all charges. Defense attorneys have said their clients would not be facing terrorism-related charges if they were not Muslim.
Siraj Ibn Wahhaj also has protested trial delays.
Stiegler back, among big names at World Pro Ski Tour event - By Pat Graham Ap Sports Writer
A year ago, Resi Stiegler retired from ski racing. Eight weeks ago, she gave birth to her daughter, Rosi. A few days ago, she handed Rosi to her husband to sneak in an extra afternoon training session.
She had a race — two, in fact — to prepare for.
The three-time U.S. Olympian will make a quasi-comeback at the World Pro Ski Tour's championship races this weekend at Taos Ski Valley in New Mexico. With lucrative prize money on the line, the field is loaded with Olympians, World Cup standouts, national team members, college standouts and those who just so happen to be coming out of retirement (see: Stiegler).
"I was planning on winning, because that's who I am," Stiegler cracked of her expectations with qualifying set for Friday, a men's and women's parallel slalom race Saturday and a parallel giant slalom race Sunday. "But then I didn't know they were coming."
"They" would be a reference to Erin Mielzynski of Canada and American Paula Moltzan, who both competed at the Winter Games in Beijing.
The tour that has long attracted elite racers. With roots dating to the late 1960s, it once featured the likes of Billy Kidd and the Mahre brothers (Phil and Steve) before disbanding around 1999. The tour came back in 2017, but the world championships were put off the past two years because of the pandemic.
Up for grabs will be $20,000 for the men's and women's winners in both races. Plus, there's a $25,000 bonus for the male and female racer who perform the best in both events combined.
The competition will be side-by-side racing along a super-slalom course that features pro-style jumps. One run each on the red and blue courses (for fairness), with the winner advancing through a March Madness-style bracket based on time differential.
On the men's side, there are names such as Linus Strasser, who was part of Germany's Olympic silver medal in the team parallel event in Beijing, and American River Radamus (fourth in the giant slalom in Beijing). There's also Robert Cone, the 30-year-old from Vermont who's dominated the circuit the last two seasons. In all, more than 50 men entered.
The field for the women is smaller — about two dozen — but just as stacked. Moltzan enters fresh off winning the slalom crown at the U.S. championships.
The tour isn't designed to compete with the World Cup circuit. It's simply another avenue for race competition.
"We're the NASCAR to their Formula One — complementary tours," explained WPST CEO Jon Franklin, whose partnership deals include Rocket Mortgage. "The action should be fast and furious."
Expect the unexpected, too.
That was the case with Tuva Norbye, the 25-year-old racer who retired from the Norwegian team due to a back issue. On a whim, Norbye, a grad student at the University of Utah, decided to compete at a WPST event in January. On borrowed skis and gear, she won the event and the $10,000 to go with it.
A month later, in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, she won again. Another $10,000.
For this event, she had her racing gear shipped from home and increased her training. The racers go through a time trial Friday to determine their seeding for the tournament, which will be a field of 16 for the women and 32 for the men.
"The competition level is really high, and here for the finals, it's going to be the highest that it's ever been," Norbye said. "I'm excited for it. I'm actually getting a little nervous, too."
A casual conversation with her husband, German slalom racer David Ketterer, enticed Stiegler back to the starting gate. He simply inquired: How fun would it be to race at an event together?
Extremely, Stiegler thought. And so here they are.
The excitement's building for the 36-year-old Stiegler, whose long but injury-filled career included 178 World Cup entries — one podium — and more than a dozen surgeries. Stiegler retired last April following a slalom win at the national championships.
Stiegler, who lives in Wyoming and trains at Jackson Hole, skied up to the day of Rosi's birth in early February. She also watched the Beijing Games, and her heart broke for good friend Nina O'Brien, who fell near the finish line in the women's giant slalom and suffered a compound leg fracture.
Soon after the birth of Rosi, O'Brien wrote under Stiegler's Instagram post: "I know a good babysitter who has plenty of time on her hands."
Stiegler said she is excited to back racing.
"If it's this really awesome thing that goes well, I can really have a fun year (on the World Pro Ski Tour) next year," said Stiegler, who serves as a coach for her husband and helps oversee Stiegler Ski Racing Camps with her brother.
Any chance of a full-scale comeback?
"I'm retired," Stiegler said with a laugh.
Social programs weak in many states with tough abortion laws - By Lindsay Whitehurst, Camille Fassett And Jasen Lo Associated Press
States with some of the nation's strictest abortion laws are also some of the hardest places to have and raise a healthy child, especially for the poor, according to an analysis of federal data by The Associated Press.
The findings raise questions about the strength of the social safety net as those states are poised to further restrict or even ban abortion access following an expected U.S. Supreme Court decision later this year. The burden is likely to fall heaviest on those with low incomes, who also are the least able to seek an abortion in another state where the procedure remains widely available.
Mississippi has the nation's largest share of children living in poverty and babies with low birth weights, according to 2019 data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Centers for Disease Control, the latest available. Texas has the highest rate of women receiving no prenatal care during their first trimester and ranks second worst for the proportion of children in poverty who are uninsured, the data show.
Laws from both states are at the center of the nationwide fight over abortion access. The Supreme Court's conservative majority signaled willingness in a Mississippi case to gut or strike down Roe v. Wade.
Anti-abortion lawmakers there say they will further promote adoption and foster-care programs if abortion is banned, as well as funding alternatives to abortion programs.
If Roe is overturned, 26 states are certain or likely to quickly ban abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a think tank that supports abortion rights. Many of those states ranked poorly in measurements that nonpartisan advocacy groups consider key to ensuring children get a healthy start.
Data analyzed by the AP illustrates the hurdles pregnant women and their children face in states with the most stringent abortion restrictions and how access to resources can lag behind that of states that also have more permissive abortion laws.
Jazmin Arroyo, a 25-year-old old single mom in Kokomo, Indiana, had to stop working as a receptionist after her first child was born because she couldn't afford day care.
Arroyo found a job as a restaurant host, but it didn't offer insurance and her second child has a heart defect. She now has thousands in unpaid medical bills.
"I never could have imagined how hard it would end up being," she said.
Indiana has the second-highest rate of women — 18% — who don't receive prenatal care during their first trimester and has a high percentage of children in poverty without insurance, more than 9%.
The AP analyzed figures from several federal government agencies in seven categories — metrics identified by several nonprofits and experts as essential to determining whether children get a healthy start.
Generally, states that had passed preemptive abortion bans or laws that greatly restrict access to abortion had the worst rankings. Alabama and Louisiana joined Mississippi as the top three states with the highest percentage of babies born with low birth weights. Texas, Indiana and Mississippi had the highest percentage of women receiving no prenatal care during their first trimester.
In response to AP's findings, many conservative state lawmakers said women can give their newborns up for adoption and said they would support funding increases for foster-care programs. In Oklahoma, GOP Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat said he would work to increase salaries for child-welfare workers and state money for adopting foster parents.
"There's going to be a commitment there, but it won't be a new commitment. It will be a continuing effort on our part," he said.
Some Democratically controlled states with more permissive abortion laws also measured poorly in some categories.
New Mexico ranks third highest for the share of its children living in poverty, Delaware ranks fifth highest for the percentage of women who receive no early prenatal care and California is among the top five states — between Oklahoma and Arkansas — for the share of women and children on food stamps.
Those states are generally outliers. Overwhelmingly, the data show far more challenges for newborns, children and their parents in states that restrict abortion.
Abortion restrictions and troubling economic data aren't directly linked, but finances are a major reason why women seek abortions, according to research by Diana Greene Foster, a professor of reproductive science at the University of California, San Francisco.
Children born to women who were denied an abortion are more likely to live in a household where there isn't enough money for basic living expenses, her work has found.
Texas last year passed an unusual law that leaves enforcement of an abortion ban after six weeks to civilians — a law the Supreme Court largely left in place.
Maleeha Aziz, an organizer for the Texas Equal Access Fund, had an abortion when she was a 20-year-old college student, after birth control failed. She's also experienced a condition called hyperemesis gravidarum, which causes persistent, extreme nausea and vomiting.
"I was a vegetable. I could not move," said Aziz, who later had a daughter. "Pregnancy is not a joke. It is the hardest thing that a person's body will ever go through."
In Texas, 20% of women don't get prenatal care in their first trimester, according to pregnancy-risk assessment data collected by the CDC in 2016, the most recent data available from that state. The lack of prenatal care increases the risk of the mother dying or delivering a baby with low birth weight.
Texas abortion foes also point to a program called Alternatives to Abortion. As with similar groups in other states, it funds pregnancy counseling, adoption services and classes about life skills, budgeting and parenting.
"This social service network is really critical in our mind to right now supporting pregnant women and expecting families," said John Seago, the legislative director for Texas Right to Life.
Most such groups, known generally as crisis pregnancy centers, are not licensed to provide medical care.
Albuquerque police officers fatally shoot carjacking suspect - Associated Press
Albuquerque police say officers fatally shot a carjacking suspect who had fired at least one shot at officers.
Police Department spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said no officers were injured in the incident that occurred Wednesday evening after police spotted and followed a vehicle stolen from a man.
Gallegos said multiple officers returned fire when the suspect shot at police after getting out of the car and running down a path while being pursued.
The officers who fired shots were placed on leave pending an investigation.