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Credit: AP

Credit: AP

One of the first to arrive was U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, a Democrat who has twice been drawn out of her suburban Atlanta district. Now shes competing for a newly drawn majority-Black seat on the western edges of metro Atlanta, where shes heavily favored over several rivals.

She was asked whether her ever-shifting districts could help bolster a case for statewide office if she runs for governor in 2026.

Ive always been asking God to expand my territory, and if hes doing so in this way, Im happy to go wherever I need to go and represent the good citizens of Georgia, McBath said.

Qualifying is always marked by unexpected happenings that could shake up an election year. On Monday, one of the first landed shortly after the proceedings began.

Thats when former U.S. Rep. John Barrow, a moderate Democrat, announced he would challenge Georgia Supreme Court Justice Andrew Pinson, who was appointed to the seat by Gov. Brian Kemp in 2022.

Barrow was widely expected to seek a judgeship after his attempt to run for a seat on the states top court was scuttled in a legal ruling.

But some viewed Barrow, the Democratic nominee for secretary of state in 2018, as more likely to compete for an open spot on the state Court of Appeals rather than face an incumbent.

Barrow made clear he would target Pinsons role as state solicitor general handling complex appellate court cases, including litigation involving Georgias anti-abortion law.

We cannot expect Pinson to fight for our interests now that hes been appointed to the only court that can stop what he helped start, he said.

It also marked a new phase in the race to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Drew Ferguson in his deep-red seat in west Georgia. Former state Rep. Philip Singleton was one of the first to join the large field competing to succeed him.

Washington is broken, but the country is not, Singleton said, adding that hes not a Spartacus candidate who makes empty promises to the districts conservative base.

Were the only candidate who can actually go and put their money where their mouth is and do those things, he said.

Then there were the dozens of candidates lining up to challenge entrenched incumbents. Some are in for uphill battles. Democrat Elaine Padgett hopes to challenge Republican state Rep. Todd Jones in November. Jones won nearly two-thirds of the vote in 2022 in his Forsyth County-based district.

This is the year because women are on the ballot womens health care, womens rights. We need change in the House, Padgett said. We need to legislate for the majority of Georgia, not the few.

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

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In Georgia, Republicans and Democrats line up to run for office - The Atlanta Journal Constitution

Large parts of the Republican Party now treat Vladimir Putin as if he were an ideological ally. Putin, by contrast, continues to treat the U.S. as an enemy.

This combination is clearly unusual and sometimes confusing. It does not appear to stem from any compromising information that Putin has about Donald Trump, despite years of such claims from Democrats. Instead, Trump and many other Republicans seem to feel ideological sympathies with Putins version of right-wing authoritarian nationalism. They see the world dividing between a liberal left and an illiberal right, with both themselves and Putin along with Viktor Orban of Hungary and some other world leaders in the second category.

Whatever the explanation, the situation threatens decades of bipartisan consensus about U.S. national security.

Already, House Republicans have blocked further aid to Ukraine a democracy and U.S. ally that Putin invaded. Without the aid, military experts say Russia will probably be able to take over more of Ukraine than it now holds.

If Trump wins a second term, he may go further. He has suggested that he might abandon the U.S. commitment to NATO, an alliance that exists to contain Russia and that Putin loathes. He recently invited Russia to to do whatever the hell they want to NATO countries that dont spend enough on their own defense. (Near the end of his first term, he tried to pull American troops out of Germany, but President Biden rescinded the decision.)

Trump has also avoided criticizing Putin for the mysterious death this month of his most prominent domestic critic, Aleksei Navalny, and has repeatedly praised Putin as a strong and smart leader. In a town hall last year, Trump refused to say whether he wanted Ukraine or Russia to win the war.

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Republicans Who Like Putin - The New York Times

WASHINGTON Many Texas Republicans have publicly embraced in vitro fertilization after a recent Alabama Supreme Court decision raised doubts about the future of IVF, but Democrats questioned their sincerity, pointing to GOP support for a bill declaring life begins at conception.

In a memo, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre described the Life at Conception Act as an extreme, dangerous bill that would make the desperate situation that women and families are facing right now in Alabama the law of the land.

She singled out for criticism the more than 120 GOP House members who are co-sponsoring the bill.

Republican officials think they can obfuscate their way out of their support for these extreme policies, she wrote. But spin is not a time machine. No attempt to rebrand can change the fact that their true colors are on the record.

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Several Texas Republicans who signed on to the bill rejected suggestions it would prohibit IVF, but the party has struggled to agree on how best to protect embryos that are created through the process.

The Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos created through IVF are legally children and people can be held liable for their destruction. Some Alabama clinics have halted IVF treatments while they assess their potential legal liability.

Patients in other conservative states, including Texas, are wondering if they could face a similar situation.

The 2023 Life at Conception Act would define a human being as each and every member of the species homo sapiens at all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization, cloning, or other moment at which an individual member of the human species comes into being.

It includes a provision saying it does not authorize the prosecution of any woman for the death of her unborn child.

It does not include specific language protecting IVF that was included in a Senate version introduced in 2021.

The IVF process can involve the creation of embryos that are not viable or that go unused. Democrats say that means the House bill, if enacted without IVF protections, would result in a de facto ban on the procedure.

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America has objected to some proposals aimed at protecting IVF access as going too far, saying it is possible to protect human embryos while also allowing for IVF.

Seventeen of the 25 Texas Republicans in the U.S. House are co-sponsors of the Life at Conception Act introduced last year. Most of them did not respond to emails requesting comment.

One, U.S. Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Irving, provided a statement in which she unequivocally backed IVF access and said the Supreme Courts decision striking down Roe v. Wade puts the onus on states to enact legislation protecting the procedure.

As a mother who has experienced the soul crushing grief of a miscarriage, I would not want to prevent any woman from the gift of carrying and bearing a child, Van Duyne said. I do believe life begins at conception and that given the Alabama Supreme Courts recent decision, state legislatures should enact clarifying legislation to protect the use of IVF as a means to bear children.

She called for using common sense when it comes to the Life at Conception Act, which she said is aimed at clarifying the 14th Amendment.

Legislation clarifying our U.S. Constitution is an appropriate action by the U.S. Congress, Van Duyne said. Making IVF illegal was never the intent of the Life at Conception Act.

Sensitivity to the issue was evident in interviews with some of the Texas Republicans who have co-sponsored the bill, which include U.S. Reps. Nathaniel Moran of Tyler, August Pfluger of San Angelo, Wesley Hunt of Houston, Brian Babin of Woodville, Michael Cloud of Victoria, Jodey Arrington of Lubbock, Randy Weber of Friendswood, Tony Gonzales of San Antonio, Lance Gooden of Terrell, Ronny Jackson of Amarillo, Pete Sessions of Waco, John Carter of Round Rock, Roger Williams of Willow Park, Pat Fallon of Frisco, Keith Self of McKinney and Jake Ellzey of Midlothian.

Ellzey said House Republicans are fully supportive of IVF.

If you are a pro-lifer, you also support IVF, Ellzey said.

He declined to get into specifics about how the legislation he co-sponsored would function if enacted, however. Democrats, he said, are trying to spotlight IVF to distract from other issues, such as the surge of illegal immigration, because they know they are losing in those areas.

Self said he stands by the bill and by IVF, which he and his wife considered many years ago. He said they decided against it because of the expense and low success rates at the time.

They also opted not to follow through with other fertility treatments because a doctor said they would have to agree to limit the number of fetuses his wife was carrying to three and abort any above that number if necessary, he said.

Im glad to be a co-sponsor of the bill and I do believe life begins at conception, and I think thats a stretch to say IVF would have to shut down, he said.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., sought this week to move by unanimous consent a bill protecting IVF access, but U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., objected to it as a vast overreach.

Republican U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz of Texas expressed support for IVF but pointed to states as the jurisdictions responsible for addressing concerns about access.

In Texas, it is clear that IVF is protected and should continue to be, Cruz told reporters this week. Ill leave it to Alabama to figure out Alabama law, but I think IVF has been an incredible tool for enabling moms and dads who want children to be able to conceive those kids, and it is a blessing that certainly matters to Texans and I think matters to Americans across the country.

U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, who is seeking to face Cruz in November, touted his support for IVF and criticized Senate Republicans for blocking Duckworths bill.

The miracle of IVF has provided so many Texans with the opportunity to have a family, and as a dad, I know the singular joy that being a parent can bring, Allred said in a statement. Texans who want nothing more than to start a family are scared, and Ted Cruzs dangerous record has put their rights and freedoms at risk.

Cruz responded to that criticism with a statement reiterating his support for access.

IVF has given families across the country the gift of children, he said. My hope is the state legislature will support a couples decision to want to grow their family and give them the opportunity to be a mother and father.

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GOP life-at-conception bill scrutinized after Alabama IVF ruling - The Dallas Morning News

ICYMI: Senators Murray, Duckworth, Schumer, Baldwin, Klobuchar Lead Press Conference Denouncing Alabama IVF Decision, Calling for Passage of Legislation to Protect Right to IVF

ICYMI: New Legislation From Senators Murray, Duckworth Would Protect Right to Access IVF, Other Assisted Reproductive Technology in the Face of Republican Attacks

**VIDEO from Murrays floor speech HERE***

Washington, D.C. Today, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), joined Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) in seeking unanimous consent to pass Murray and Duckworths Access to Family Building Act, which would protect every Americans right to access in vitro fertilization (IVF) and other assisted reproductive technology (ART) services that millions of Americans rely on to have children. U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) blocked passage of Murray and Duckworths bill.

Murray and Duckworth were joined on the floor by many of their Senate Democratic colleagues, all speaking in support of their bill. Murray and Duckworths latest push to pass their bill to protect IVF comes after the Alabama Supreme Court ruling on Friday that frozen embryos created through IVF are considered extrauterine children under state law, and calling for passage of legislation that would establish a statutory, nationwide right to access IVF treatment. The decision sparked concerns that embryos that are destroyed or damaged could lead to civil liability, which would have sweeping implications for fertility treatmentsince the ruling, at least three IVF providers in Alabama have suspended IVF services.

This isnt some surprisethe Alabama Supreme Court decision is Republican ideology in action, said Senator Murray on the floor. So, spare me the empty statements Unless youre actually going to work with us to protect IVFplease, save your breath women have had their dreams shattered because Republicans believe a frozen embryo kept in storage at an IVF clinic is the sameand should have the exact same rightsas a living, breathing, human person.

Many of the same Republicans saying they care now about IVF are literally, right now, cosponsors of legislation that would enshrine fetal personhood into law and make IVF unavailable nationwide, continued Senator Murray. You cannot support IVF and support fetal personhood laws. They are fundamentally incompatible! Instead of empty words, Democrats want to see actionand that is why just tried to pass the Access to Family Building Act. It doesnt get any more straightforward than that! And yet, just now, Republicans still blocked this billand showed their true colors when it comes to IVF.

In her floor speech, Senator Murray forcefully denounced the Alabama ruling and the far-right ideology of fetal personhood underlying the decisionan ideology supported by many Republican politicians that has terrifying consequences for the humanity and rights of pregnant women and could put an end to peoples ability to build families through IVF. IVF is overwhelmingly popular with Americansrecent polling found that 85 percent of Americans support increasing access to fertility-related procedures and services. A survey from Pew Research Center in September found that 42 percent of adults say they have used fertility treatments or personally know someone who hadup from 33 percent five years ago.

Just last month, Murray and Duckworth introduced their Access to Family Building Act, which would protect every Americans right to access IVF and other assisted reproductive technology (ART) services that millions of Americans rely on to have children. Building on the Right to Build Families Act the lawmakers had introduced in the previous Congress, the new legislation would establish a statutory right to access IVF and other ART services, thereby pre-empting any state effort to limit such access and ensuring no hopeful parentor their doctorsare punished for trying to start or grow their family.

After the Supreme Courts disastrous Dobbs ruling, many women have not only seen their constitutional right to abortion ripped away from them as a result of state abortion bans, but their ability to get treatment for cancer, lupus and moreand to access IVF and other assisted reproductive technology in order to build a familyare also under threat. The new patchwork of state abortion bans has created significant confusion among patients and providers alike about what services doctors can and cannot provide in states with the most restrictive laws, leading IVF centers to call for new protections.

Senator Murray is a longtime leader in the fight to protect and expand access to reproductive health care and, after the Supreme Courts decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization overturning Roe v. Wade, Murray has led Congressional efforts to fight back. Murray has introduced more than a dozen pieces of legislation to protect reproductive rights from further attacks, protect providers, and help ensure women get the care they need and repeatedly sought unanimous consent to pass common-sense bills to protect womens fundamental freedoms; she also co-leads the Womens Health Protection Act, which would restore the right to abortion nationwide, and has been leading Congressional efforts to make over-the-counter birth control affordable. In January, Senator Murray led Senate Democrats in hosting a briefing on the State of Abortion Rights across America, where senators heard powerful testimony from individuals who had been personally harmed by Republicans abortion bans.

Senator Murrays full floor speech, as delivered, is below:

I have said before that Republican attacks on reproductive freedom would never stop with Roethey would never stop with abortion.

I have said before, IVF was at risk.

And now it has been so heartbreaking to see that warning become a gut-wrenching reality for women in Alabama.

And it is absolutely infuriating to see some of the same Republicans who support so-called fetal personhood bills, who want to codify the very ideology in the Alabama Supreme Court decision that ripped away access to IVF care suddenly acting surprisedsuddenly acting like they had no idea this could happen, suddenly acting like this was totally unforeseenwhen it is exactly what we have been warning about, and exactly what the far right has been working towards for decades.

This isnt some surprisethe Alabama Supreme Court decision is Republican ideology in action.

So, spare me the empty statementsespecially after the objection that we just saw here. Unless youre actually going to work with us to protect IVFsave your breath.

There are women in Alabama who desperately want to start a familywomen who have tried for years to get pregnant, who have gone through the heartbreak of miscarriage, women who are battling cancer, and other devastating diagnoses, for whom IVF is the only way they will be able to have children.

And now, after everything theyve been throughthe hope and disappointment, the thousands, even tens of thousands of dollars it can cost to pursue IVF

After all that, these women have had their dreams shattered because Republicans believe a frozen embryo kept in storage at an IVF clinic is the sameand should have the exact same rightsas a living, breathing, human person.

Thats not hyperbole. That is not hypothetical. That is what is happening.

You dont have to imagine how painful this isyou just have to listen to the women in Alabama who have had their worlds turned upside-down now by this decision.

Meghan Cole has a rare blood disease, prevents her from safely carrying children. Her hopes of starting a family through IVF and a surrogate were dashed last week when her doctor called to cancel her Friday appointment. She asked about transferring the embryos out of stateeven that door has been slammed shut to her.

Jasmine York turned to IVF after previous ectopic pregnancies left her with no other options to have a baby. Now, Alabama has left her with no options at all. As she said, its completely just derailed a lot of hope.

Kayla Lee spent nine years and eighty thousand dollars trying to have a child. Shes gone through several miscarriages and she was days awaydays away!from getting a viable embryo transferred. But instead of getting an embryo transplanted, she got the same heartbreaking phone callher hopes of a family were being put on hold.

Years of trying, tens of thousands of dollars, and at the last moment Republicans pulled the rug out from under her.

Even families who already have gone through IVF are facing the fallout. Can they afford to pay and store unused embryos indefinitely? Can they be prosecuted if they dont? They dont knowright now, no one knows.

The anger, Madam President. The anguish. The stories of these women are heartbreaking.

As IVF patient, Kelly Belmont, put it: Weve already invested so much time and money and just physical and emotional anguish into this process, and to think that it could have all been for nothing and that we could be ending our journey to be able to have childrenits absolutely terrifying Im just trying to hold myself together emotionally.

So powerful.

I dont know how anyone can listen to these stories, and still think politicians should be making womens health care decisions for them. I really dont.

Now, I said earlier, Republicans are acting surprised by the result of the very policies they have pushed forthey can save their breath. Thats because actions speak louder than words.

And many of the same Republicans saying they care now about IVF are literally, right now, cosponsors of legislation that would enshrine fetal personhood into law and make IVF unavailable nationwide. You cannot support IVF and support fetal personhood laws. They are fundamentally incompatible!

Madam President, instead of empty words, Democrats want to see actionand that is why just tried to pass the Access to Family Building Act.

It doesnt get any more straightforward than that!

And yet, just now, Republicans still blocked this billand showed their true colors when it comes to IVF.

I am frustrated, Madam President. But I am not done fighting.

Because I know Americans are watchingand they will not forget who is standing with families, in Alabama and across the countryand who is standing in their way.

###

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Senate Republicans Block Murray and Duckworth Bill to Protect IVF After Flurry of Republican Statements Expressing ... - Senator Patty Murray

Nikki Haley won the Republican primary in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, logging her first victory after a string of losses to former President Donald J. Trump who responded bitterly on social media, saying he had purposely avoided the contest because it is the Swamp.

Ms. Haley received about 63 percent of the vote to Mr. Trumps 33 percent, according to The Associated Press, securing all 19 available delegates and becoming the first woman ever to win a Republican presidential primary. But Mr. Trump remains well positioned to lock down the nomination later this month.

The contest in Washington was tiny: Just over 2,000 Republicans voted in the overwhelmingly Democratic city, compared with 110,000 in Iowa, 325,000 in New Hampshire and 757,000 in South Carolina.

Ms. Haley seemed to acknowledge that in a post on X. Thank you, DC! she wrote. We fight for every inch.

But Mr. Trump could not let that inch go. On his social media site, he claimed falsely that Ms. Haley had spent all of her time, money and effort there. He never used her name, referring to her repeatedly by his disparaging Birdbrain nickname.

Ms. Haley sought to play the symbolism of Washington not exactly Republicans favorite place to her advantage, writing, Republicans closest to Washingtons dysfunction know that Donald Trump has brought nothing but chaos and division for the past 8 years.

Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for Mr. Trump, said in a statement that Ms. Haley was just crowned Queen of the Swamp by the lobbyists and D.C. insiders that want to protect the failed status quo.

The race now turns to the 15 states that will hold Republican contests on Super Tuesday, March 5. While it is not mathematically possible for Mr. Trump to lock up the nomination just yet, he could come very close with strong performances on Super Tuesday and position himself to do so within the next couple of weeks.

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Nikki Haley Defeats Trump in 2024 Washington, D.C., GOP Primary - The New York Times