JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri abortion clinics will face new mandates to offer women ultrasound images and heartbeats of their fetuses as a result of legislation allowed to become law Wednesday by Gov. Jay Nixon. The Democratic governor, facing his first decision on an abortion bill, sidestepped a direct endorsement of the new requirements by citing a Missouri constitutional provision allowing bills to become law without the governor’s signature. The legislation is part of a national trend among abortion opponents to encourage women to reconsider their decisions through the use of medical technology.
California: Governor’s rating
A new poll says California voters are giving Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger the lowest rating for a sitting governor in more than 50 years. The Field Poll released Wednesday said just 22 percent of voters surveyed approve of Schwarzenegger’s performance, while 70 percent disapprove. The ratings are as low as those for then-Gov. Gray Davis shortly before he was recalled from office in 2003. The figure also is the lowest since the Field Poll began its surveys more than 50 years ago. Just 16 percent of respondents approve of the way the Legislature is doing its job.
D.C.: Cheney gets heart pump
Former Vice President Dick Cheney announced Wednesday that he has undergone surgery to install a small pump to help his heart work, as the 69-year-old enters a new phase of what he called “increasing congestive heart failure.” “The operation went very well and I am now recuperating,” Cheney said. The surgery took place last week at Inova Fairfax Heart and Vascular Institute in northern Virginia, where Cheney said he is currently receiving care.
Arizona: McCain lead grows
A new poll shows Arizona Sen. John McCain widening his lead over his Republican challenger ahead of next month’s GOP primary. The Rocky Mountain Poll released Wednesday shows McCain leading former U.S. Rep. J.D. Hayworth 64 percent to 19 percent. Political newcomer Jim Deakin had 5 percent. McCain’s margin has widened from a 54 percent to 28 percent lead he held over Hayworth in the same poll in April.
Nevada: Wild horses dying
Twelve wild horses have now died in a Nevada roundup directed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, half of them colts and mares. The BLM on Wednesday said four more animals died or were put down because of dehydration or water intoxication. The agency also announced emergency measures to truck water to large bands of mustangs still on the range in the roundup area. A federal judge scheduled a hearing for today in Reno on a temporary restraining order sought by animal rights advocates to halt the roundup in northern Elko County.
Texas: Racist name change
The president of the University of Texas will ask the school’s regents to remove the name of a former professor and Ku Klux Klan member from a campus dormitory. Simkins Hall, a two-story brick dorm built in the 1950s, is named after William Simkins, who was a popular law school professor in the early part of the 20th century but one with a dubious past. He served as a Confederate fighter and early organizer of the Ku Klux Klan in Florida, promoting the Klan and bragging about efforts to terrorize and harass blacks in campus speeches and publications.
Israel: Libyan aid ship diverts
Flanked by Israeli missile boats, a Libyan charity’s aid ship was sailing in the direction of an Egyptian port on Wednesday after the mission’s organizers apparently decided not to defy Israel’s naval blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and defused a potential confrontation at sea. Egypt’s state news agency cited a security official as saying that Egyptian authorities and the Red Crescent medical service were “making preparations” to receive the Moldovan-flagged Almathea at the Egyptian port of el-Arish.
Brazil: Anti-spanking bill
In Brazil, a swat to your child’s bottom could soon get you slapped with a warning. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva sent a bill to Congress on Wednesday proposing that Brazil join the two dozen or so countries around the world that have moved to curb spanking. While a law on the books already makes it illegal to abuse children, the new measure explicitly prohibits parents and guardians from using corporal punishment.
From Herald news services
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