内容摘要：Sunday across the sodden U.S. South and Midwest, threatening communities already badly damaged by

Sunday across the sodden U.S. South and Midwest, threatening communities already badly damaged by

Several Democrats spoke out against the bill on the House floor.Rep. George Latimer, D-N.Y., said that “instead of mind-bending tariffs, giveaways to billionaires, and renaming bodies of water, we should be voting on bills that lower costs for the average family.”

“No one is clamoring for a newly named body of water,” Latimer said. “They want lower grocery bills.”A county clerk in New York refused Thursday to fileagainst a doctor accused of prescribing abortion pills to a woman near Dallas, setting up a potential challenge to laws designed to shield abortion providers who serve patients in states with abortion bans.

A Texas judge last month ordered Dr. Margaret Carpenter, who practices north of New York City, to pay the penalty for allegedly breaking that state’s law by prescribing abortion medication via telemedicine. The Texas attorney general’s office followed up last week by asking a New York court to enforce the default civil judgment, which is $113,000 with attorney and filing fees.The acting Ulster County clerk refused.

“In accordance with the New York State Shield Law, I have refused this filing and will refuse any similar filings that may come to our office. Since this decision is likely to result in further litigation, I must refrain from discussing specific details about the situation,” Acting Clerk Taylor Bruck said in a prepared statement.

Republican Texas State Attorney General Ken Paxton said he was outraged by the refusal and signaled he would take action.“The likelihood of that being enforced is higher now because of the focus on removing undocumented people from the United States,” Walker said.

Alabama’s legislation is similar to a 2023 Florida law, which made it a state crime to knowingly transport someone who entered the U.S. illegally. A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against the Florida law last year, noting it’s preemption by federal law. But in March, the judge narrowed that injunction to block the law’s enforcement only against some who sued, including several individuals and members of The Farmworker Association of Florida.Democratic Rep. Phillip Ensler testified against the Alabama bill, saying the crime already exists under federal law. He conceded that exemptions made the bill better but said, “It just seems very cruel and overly broad that we’re going to criminalize people doing innocent things.”

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, signed a law last week that criminalizes harboring, transporting or hiding individuals without legal immigration status “for the purpose of commercial advantage or private financial gain.”Texas also has toughened its immigration laws. Last year, it increased prison sentences under a state anti-smuggling law that prohibits transporting individuals with the intent to conceal them from law enforcement.