November, 23 2021, 10:40am EDT
Planned Parenthood Action Fund Endorses Jessica Cisneros in TX-28
Jessica Cisneros is running against Henry Cuellar, the last anti-choice Democrat in the House.
WASHINGTON
Today, Jessica Cisneros, an immigration and human rights attorney running for Congress in South Texas, announced the endorsement of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the reproductive rights group's first U.S. House candidate endorsement of the 2022 midterm election cycle. The endorsement comes after nearly 3 months since the implementation Texas' unconstitutional 6-week abortion ban putting abortion access and healthcare out of reach for millions of Texans. Cisneros is challenging Rep. Henry Cuellar who has been proudly anti-choice for decades, co-sponsoring anti-choice legislation with Republicans, supported Trump-era restrictions on abortion and reproductive healthcare, was the only Democrat to vote in favor of the discriminatory Hyde amendment this Congress and most recently was the only Democrat to vote against the Women's Health Protection Act.
"I am honored to be Planned Parenthood Action Fund's first U.S. House endorsement. Texans have lived under the shadow of S.B. 8 for 3 months and while people in our state are desperately seeking health care outside of Texas, Congressman Cuellar continues to turn his back to our community and stand with his extremist Republican allies, " said Jessica Cisneros. "His vote against the Women's Health Protection Act should send a clear message to all the people in our district: Henry Cuellar is severely out of step with the needs of our community. It's time South Texas families had a representative that will fight tirelessly for affordable healthcare and their reproductive freedom."
Statement from Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund
"At Planned Parenthood Action Fund, electing champions like Jessica Cisneros, who will fight with us to expand access to sexual and reproductive health care, including birth control and safe, legal abortion, is imperative. This year, Texas passed one of the most extreme and dangerous abortion bans in the country. Rep. Henry Cuellar said nothing about S.B. 8 and voted against legislation to help protect abortion access in Texas and around the country. Unlike her opponent, Jessica believes reproductive health care is a human right and has a proven track record of advocating on behalf of her community. We look forward to Texans replacing the last Democrat to oppose abortion access in the House with Jessica Cisneros, who will be the voice and the vote that people in South Texas need."
Prior to the 6-week abortion ban going into effect, Texas already had some of the strictest abortion laws in the entire country. This abortion ban makes it nearly impossible for any person to access the health care they need, giving people only 6 weeks into their pregnancy to seek abortion care, before most people even know they are pregnant. Beyond that, it emboldens almost any private citizen to sue anyone suspected of helping someone seek abortion care for at least $10,000--from friends and family to doctors and even clergy members and ride-share drivers--with no exceptions for rape or incest.
Jessica Cisneros has been outspoken about Texas' abortion ban. She wrote an op-ed for Teen Vogue detailing the catastrophic effects for Texas communities and the additional barriers this law will create for those in South Texas who already have limited access to health care, as well as an interview in Vogue. Cisneros also received the endorsement of NARAL Pro-Choice America PAC in September this year. She has continued to uplift and emphasize the abortion funds on the ground in Texas working to connect people with the care they need, including Frontera Fund in South Texas.
Cisneros is a 28-year-old immigration and human rights attorney born and raised in the border town of Laredo. She attended the University of Texas at Austin and received her law degree from the University of Texas School of Law. Urged by her community, in 2020, she ran for Congress to change our broken immigration system at its source in Washington D.C. and bring South Texas the representation it deserves. She was able to raise over 2 million dollars and come within 3 percentage points from defeating a 15-year incumbent. Cisneros has now relaunched her campaign to unseat one of the most anti-worker, anti-choice, pro-corporate Democrats in Congress. She has received the endorsements of Justice Democrats, Way to Lead, NARAL Pro-Choice America, Democracy for America, the Working Families Party, Brand New Congress, Sunrise Movement, CWA Local 6143, USW District 13, Unite Here Local 23, former Texas State Senator Wendy Davis and Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
Planned Parenthood was founded over 100 years ago on the revolutionary idea that women have the right to access the information and care they need to live strong, healthy lives. Today, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund (PPAF) fights to protect that right--often in the face of extreme politicians trying to take it away.
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Grand Jury Indicts Top Trump Aides, 11 Arizona Republicans Over 'Fake Electors' Scheme
Had it succeeded, said the state's attorney general, the scheme would have "deprived Arizona's voters of their right to have their votes counted for their chosen president."
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A grand jury in Arizona on Wednesday charged seven aides to Donald Trump and nearly a dozen Republican officials over a "fake electors" scheme in the state that aimed to keep the former president in power after his 2020 loss to President Joe Biden.
Trump, who is currently facing nearly 90 charges across four criminal cases as he runs for another White House term, was described as "unindicted co-conspirator 1" in the 58-page indictment, which was announced by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes.
"The people of Arizona elected President Biden," Mayes, a Democrat, said Wednesday. "Unwilling to accept this fact, the defendants charged by the state grand jury allegedly schemed to prevent the lawful transfer of the presidency. Whatever their reasoning was, the plot to violate the law must be answered for."
The indictment names former Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward, sitting state Republican Sens. Jake Hoffman and Anthony Kern, former U.S. Senate candidate Jim Lamon, and seven others as the "fake electors" who sought to declare Trump the rightful winner of the state's presidential contest.
The names of other individuals indicted by the state grand jury are redacted, but the document's descriptions make clear that former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, and top Trump legal strategist Boris Epshteyn are among those facing felony charges—including fraud, forgery, and conspiracy.
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November based on memos drafted by [an attorney for the Trump campaign, Kenneth Chesebro]."
Mayes said Wednesday that had the fake elector scheme succeeded, it would have "deprived Arizona's voters of their right to have their votes counted for their chosen president."
"It effectively would have made their right to vote meaningless," said Mayes.
A state grand jury, made up of everyday, regular Arizonans, has handed down felony indictments in the ongoing investigation into the fake elector scheme in Arizona. pic.twitter.com/Nu8GcD4ZqJ
— AZ Attorney General Kris Mayes (@AZAGMayes) April 24, 2024
Alex Gulotta, state director of All Voting Is Local Action Arizona, said Wednesday that "the indictment of the eleven fake electors is one of the first steps required in holding these election deniers accountable for their alleged attempts to take power away from voters by disrupting our free and fair elections."
"Arizonans deserve to trust the election officials responsible for administering our elections and preserving our democracy," said Gulotta, "and this is a positive step forward as we continue to strengthen the foundations of our democracy and restore faith in our elections."
The Arizona Republicreported Wednesday that "several of the Arizona electors have previously claimed they were merely offering Congress a backup plan, though nothing in the documents they sent to Congress and the National Archives backs up that assertion."
"The indictment includes several statements the false electors made on social media that contradict those claims," the newspaper observed.
Jenny Guzman, director of Common Cause's Arizona program, said the indictment "marks the start of a new chapter for the fake elector scheme that has plagued Arizona."
"Arizonans are still dealing with the fallout from the false electors and the Big Lie about the 2020 elections," said Guzman. "We are relieved that the investigation by Attorney General Mayes has concluded and Arizonans can now know that what comes next is accountability. These efforts by these fake electors to undermine the will of Arizona’s voters have had implications far beyond their failed attempt to overthrow the 2020 election."
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A campaign finance watchdog on Wednesday filed a Federal Election Commission complaint accusing former President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign, affiliated political groups, and an accounting firm of violating U.S. law in a scheme "seemingly designed to obscure the true recipients of a noteworthy portion of Trump's legal bills."
The Washington, D.C.-based Campaign Legal Center (CLC) said that "evidence appears to show an illegal arrangement between several Trump-affiliated committees and a compliance firm named Red Curve Solutions that is designed to obscure the identities of those providing legal services and how much they are being paid."
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CLC alleges that the Trump campaign, Trump's political action committee (PAC) Save America, and three affiliated organizations "violated federal reporting requirements based on a scheme in which the committees reportedly paid over $7.2 million—described as 'reimbursement for legal' costs or expenses"—to Red Curve.
The watchdog also said that Red Curve appears to be "making or facilitating illegal contributions that violate either federal contribution limits or the prohibition on corporate contributions."
According to CLC:
Red Curve is a domestic limited liability company that offers compliance and FEC reporting services but does not appear to offer any legal services. It is managed by Bradley Crate, who also serves as the treasurer for each of the five Trump-affiliated committees concerned in this complaint, as well as over 200 other federal committees.
According to filings with the FEC, Red Curve appears to have been fronting legal costs for Trump since at least December 2022, with Trump-affiliated committees repaying the company later. This arrangement appears to violate FEC rules that require campaigns to disclose not only the entity being reimbursed (here, Red Curve) but also the underlying vendor. By not disclosing the vendors that actually provided legal services, the Trump-affiliated committees effectively blocked the public from knowing which attorneys and firms are being paid—and how much they are being paid—through this arrangement.
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Trump—who is the presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee—faces 91 federal and state felony charges related to his role in the January 6 insurrection and his organization's business practices. He is currently on trial in New York for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money payments to cover up sex scandals during the 2016 election cycle. The twice-impeached former president has been open about his use of campaign donations to pay his legal costs.
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"With a total ban still set to take effect June 8, the Arizona Abortion Access Act is needed now more than ever," one state campaigner said of a November ballot measure.
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Three Republicans in the Arizona House of Representatives on Wednesday joined with Democrats to advance legislation that would repeal an 1864 ban on abortion—a development rights advocates welcomed while stressing that the fight is far from over.
The 32-28 vote on House Bill 2677—with GOP Reps. Tim Dunn (25), Matt Gress (4), and Justin Wilmeth (2) voting in favor—was the third attempt in as many weeks to pass repeal legislation since the Arizona Supreme Court upheld the ban.
"The state Senate could vote on the repeal as early as next Wednesday, after the bill comes on the floor for a 'third reading,' as is required under chamber rules," according toNBC News. Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs on Wednesday toldThe Washington Post that "I am hopeful the Senate does the right thing and sends it to my desk so I can sign it."
Applauding the House passage of H.B. 2677, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona president and CEO Angela Florez said that "today, Arizona is one step closer to repealing the state's Civil War-era total abortion ban. While the repeal still must pass the Senate, this is a major win for reproductive freedom."
"We must celebrate today's vote in support of abortion rights and harness our enthusiasm to spread the word and urge lawmakers in the Senate to support this necessary repeal bill," she continued. "Despite this step forward, Arizonans cannot stop fighting."
Florez noted that "even with the repeal of the Civil War-era ban, the state will still have a ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy that denies people access to critical care. And lawmakers continue to attack Arizonans' ability to access reproductive healthcare. Our right to control our bodies and lives is hanging on by a thread."
"Thankfully, voters will have the opportunity to take back control if the Arizona Abortion Access Act is on the ballot this November," she added. "Abortion bans are out-of-step with the will of Arizonans and will force pregnant people to leave their communities for essential healthcare. Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona will continue fighting to ensure everyone has the right to make decisions about their health and futures."
The Arizona Abortion Access Act is a proposed state constitutional amendment that would prevent many limits on abortions before fetal viability and safeguard access to care after viability to protect the life or physical or mental health of the patient.
The coalition supporting the amendment, Arizona for Abortion Access, highlighted on social media that the House-approved bill "did not include the emergency clause required to stop the 1864 ban from taking effect on June 8," meaning H.B. 2677 wouldn't apply until 90 days after the end of the legislative session.
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Arizona is one of multiple states where rights advocates are promoting abortion rights ballot measures this cycle. Reproductive freedom is also dominating political races at all levels, including the presidential contest. Democratic President Joe Biden is set to face former Republican President Donald Trump in November.
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