Molly Hennessy-Fiske: An #abortion ban turned a grieving Allie Phillips into a candidate
"Phillips had been overjoyed by the prospect of another little girl. Then, at about 19 weeks, a routine ultrasound revealed devastating problems: Amniotic fluid supporting the fetus had drained; its lungs, heart, brain and other organs were not developing.
Continuing the pregnancy would endanger Phillips, her doctor warned. But Tennessee’s near-total ban on abortion — signed into law some six months earlier — meant she would have to go out of state for the procedure. …
Her loss not only turned the petite 28-year-old into a first-time candidate … but into a committed activist, too. She is one of three dozen plaintiffs in state and federal lawsuits filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights against abortion bans in #Tennessee, #Texas, #Oklahoma and #Idaho, among the most restrictive statutes in the country."
I have never seen snowshoes for horses. Pretty coo! U.S. Forest Service near McCall, #Idaho, 1925. Photo courtesy of the Payette National Forest Heritage Program Historic Photo Archive. #history#horses
Despite falling on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a day traditionally associated with calls for equality and inclusivity, the Idaho House Committee on State Affairs approved House Bill 384, a controversial measure that targets LGBTQ+ literature depicting certain expressions of homosexuality.
#Idaho Governor Proposes $2 Billion in Funding for #School Buildings Over Next 10 Years
Gov. Brad Little cited reporting by the Idaho Statesman and ProPublica as he laid out his plan for a massive infrastructure investment in the state’s public schools during Monday’s State of the State address.
Supreme Court Upholds Idaho Law Jailing Doctors Who Provide Abortions
“SCOTUS just allowed Idaho to throw health care providers in jail for providing emergency abortion care while they consider this case,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) wrote in response to the Supreme Court’s order. “This is a chilling reminder that the anti-abortion movement doesn’t care if women live or die — as long as they’re forced to give birth.”
SCOTUS says it’s okay for Idaho to continue killing women who need abortions at least until it hears the case next month.
Rich Republican women will of course just go out of state when they need the procedure.
The court also agreed to hear an appeal of the case. The #Biden admin had challenged the state #law, saying it conflicted w/a #federal statute on #emergency-room care.
🤦🏻♀️ “#SupremeCourt on Friday allowed #Idaho to enforce its strict #abortion ban, even in medical emergencies, while a legal fight continues.
The justices said they would hear arguments in April and put on hold a lower court ruling that had blocked the Idaho law in hospital emergencies, based on a lawsuit filed by the Biden administration.”
While out doing our monthly raptor survey in southern #Idaho yesterday we came upon a few fields with close to 2,000 Snow Geese Fun to see, but seems early for them to be here. #birds#BirdsOfMastodon#IdahoWildlife
With U.S. democracy plagued by extremism, polarization, and a growing disconnect between voters and lawmakers, a set of reforms that could dramatically upend how Americans vote is gaining momentum at surprising speed in Western states.
🔸Ranked choice voting🔸, which asks voters to rank multiple candidates in order of preference, has seen its profile steadily expand since 2016, when Maine became the first state to adopt it.
But increasingly, #RCV is being paired with a new system for primaries known as 🔸Final Five 🔸— or in some cases, Final Four — that advances multiple candidates, regardless of party, to the general election.
Alaska, the only state currently using "RCV-plus-Final Four or Final-Five", appears to be seeing some benefits to its political culture already:
After years of partisan rancor, both legislative chambers are now controlled by bipartisan majorities eager to find common ground and respond to the needs of voters, say lawmakers in the state who have embraced the new system.
A slew of other states could soon follow in Alaska’s footsteps. Last year, #Nevada voters approved a constitutional amendment that would create an RCV-plus-Final-Five system — for the measure to take effect, voters must approve it again next year.
Efforts also are underway to get RCV-plus-Final-Five on #Arizona’s 2024 ballot, and RCV-plus-Final-Four in #Colorado and #Idaho — where organizers announced Wednesday that they’ve gathered 50,000 signatures (they need around 63,000 to qualify).
Even #Wisconsin Republicans, who in the redistricting sphere have fought reform efforts tooth and nail, in December held a hearing for bipartisan legislation that would create RCV-plus-Final-Five, though its prospects appear dim.
Meanwhile, #Oregon voters will decide next year whether to adopt RCV alone.
And this year, #Minnesota and #Illinois lawmakers passed bills to study RCV, while #Connecticut approved a measure that allows local governments to use it.
There are even flickers of interest at the #national level.
In December alone, two leading Washington, D.C. think tanks that often find themselves on opposite sides — the conservative 🔹American Enterprise Institute 🔹and the liberal 🔹Center for American Progress 🔹— each held separate panel discussions that considered RCV-plus-Final-Four/Five.
👉 Katherine Gehl, the founder of the 🔹Institute for Political Innovation, 🔹and the designer of the Final Four/Five system, calls RCV-plus-Final-Five “transformational.” (Her organization now says advancing five candidates to the general works best, by giving voters more choices.)
“There’s a huge pressure on reformers to say, this is not a silver bullet,” said Gehl. “And OK, I get that.”
But, she added, “I think it’s as close to a silver bullet as you can come.”
Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador, a Republican, has brought on the far-right Christian legal advocacy organization "Alliance Defending Freedom" to represent the state in at least three cases in recent months, documents obtained by Law Dork show.
In each case, ADF has agreed to represent the state “without charge” — a move that experts say raises several ethical concerns.

“Are they representing the state of Idaho or not?” James Tierney, a lecturer at Harvard Law School who was the former attorney general of Maine and teaches courses on the role of state attorneys general, told Law Dork.
“They have their own principles,” the former Democratic AG said of legal advocacy groups — adding that such groups also have their own funding sources, which are unknown to the state’s residents.
#Idaho Hasn’t Assessed #School Buildings for 30 Years. Students and Educators Helped Us Do It Ourselves.
To understand the problems plaguing underfunded #schools in Idaho, we surveyed 115 superintendents, toured 39 buildings and collected accounts from hundreds of #students, parents and #teachers.
@ProPublica has an in-depth look at a horrifying situation, in Idaho where Schools have been denied funding for repairs for almost 30 years. The schools are literally falling apart. Classes are being held in stairwells and closets, amid frequent power outages, and no one is doing anything.