12min chapter

The World and Everything In It cover image

12.31.24 Pro-life rulings and battles of 2024, a 1984 song for Ethiopia, and remembering notable trailblazers

The World and Everything In It

CHAPTER

Political Turbulence and Human Stories

This chapter explores the potential repercussions of delays in electing the House Speaker and their impact on the certification of the 2024 election results. It also delves into significant events such as a cybersecurity breach linked to Chinese hackers, the emotional reunions of Ukrainian POWs following a swap, and ongoing discussions about voter identification laws. Additionally, the chapter highlights key developments in pro-life rulings, abortion rights, and the complexities surrounding these legal battles in light of recent Supreme Court decisions.

00:00
Speaker 2
What some of these people that are frustrating
Speaker 4
to see my own colleagues say is that, well, why does he work with Democrats? We have to work with Democrats. Birchett and Tenney talking to Fox News and Fox Business, respectively. If there's a delay in choosing the House speaker, that could delay the official certification of the 2024 election results and swearing in of new House members. The U.S. Treasury Department says it has been hacked by China. Details from World's Travis Kircher. Hackers
Speaker 1
acting on behalf of the Chinese government breached the U.S. Treasury's online guardrails earlier this month and stole documents. That, according to a report by Reuters News Service, signing a letter the U.S. Treasury sent to lawmakers. Reuters obtained that letter yesterday. In it, the Treasury characterized the hack as a, quote, major incident, but said none of the documents were classified. The hackers allegedly bypassed a third-party security provider by stealing a key or password, providing access to the Treasury's computer system. The Treasury Department says the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, as well as the FBI, are investigating. For World, I'm Travis Kircher. The
Speaker 4
sounds of tearful reunions as Ukrainian prisoners of war reunite with their families. It came after Russia and Ukraine took part in a prisoner swap of nearly 200 POWs each. That's according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Among the Ukrainian POWs, soldiers captured by Russian forces from the front lines in places like Snake Island. The POWs also included two civilians.
Speaker 3
This
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soldier in Russian says he's euphoric. He says he doesn't fully understand that he's really free, although both he and his family have waited for this moment. He goes on to call this the second birthday of his life. Zelensky credited the United Arab Emirates for negotiating the exchange. President Biden says the U.S. is sending another $2.5 billion in weapons to Ukraine, working to meet the White House's goal of spending all available money for Ukraine before Donald Trump takes office. We are committed to using
Speaker 2
that full authority that Congress has allotted to us.
Speaker 4
That was Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh weeks after Trump's election win. The aid package announced Monday lets the military pull existing stock from shelves to get weapons to the battlefield faster and also pays for longer-term weapons deliveries. another $3.4 billion to Ukraine to cover the salaries of first responders, school employees, health care, and other government workers as that country combats Russia's invasion. Monday was cleanup day for a lot of people after powerful storms roared through the southern U.S. over the weekend. The National Weather Service says it's confirmed at least 30 tornadoes touched down as it works through about 50 reports of tornado damage spanning from Texas to South Carolina. In Alvin, Texas, Donald Duncan tells KTRK a tornado ripped the roof off his home as he was about to celebrate a late Christmas with family. One of the boys said, my ears are ringing. The next thing you know, the glass just busted out. When the glass busted out, the tornado came through. That's when it ripped off the roof. Neither he nor his 10 family members inside were hurt. The storms knocked out power to tens of thousands of people across several states and also resulted in a handful of deaths. Republicans want to overhaul the U.S.'s voting procedures, and they're planning to act quickly on that in the new Congress. They want all voters to show a photo ID and prove citizenship every time they cast a ballot. Wisconsin Republican Congressman Brian Stile says it's a reasonable way to restore public confidence in elections.
Speaker 1
Photo ID is essential. You need it to board an airplane, buy a six-pack of beer, open a bank account. I think it's appropriate that you need photo identification to be able to vote.
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Some Democrats say the GOP proposals go too far and could make it harder for people to vote. Michigan Democrat Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson would prefer to see more federal funding for election offices.
Speaker 2
My job is also to make sure everyone has access to identification and gets their license or gets their state ID. And so what we really need are more resources from the federal government that helps us get people IDs before they, you know, or add more onerous identification requirements. The
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proposed changes have the strong support of President-elect Trump. I'm Mark Mellinger. Straight ahead, reviewing the top pro-life news stories of 2024. Plus the story behind a popular Christmas song. This is the world and everything in it.
Speaker 3
It's Tuesday, the 31st of December. So glad to have you along for today's edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning. I'm Mary Reichard.
Speaker 1
And I'm Nick Eicher. First up, a year-end recap on The Life Beat. This year, World followed dozens of stories related to the sanctity of life, everything from the 10 ballot measures on abortion to a controversial court ruling on in vitro fertilization. Joining us now to review some of these top stories and to talk about the year ahead is World's LifeBeat reporter, Leah Savas.
Speaker 5
Leah, good morning. Good morning. Thanks for having me on. Well,
Speaker 3
let's just start with a recap of this year. What would you say is the top development on the LifeBeat?
Speaker 5
Yeah, so normally I'm really focused on the abortion issue, but this year in vitro fertilization came into the headlines and that was because of a state Supreme Court ruling out of Alabama, ruling that parents who lose their embryonic children to like an accident or just other unfortunate events that happened during the IVF process that they could sue under the wrongful death of a minor act. Now, that didn't mean that, you know, IVF providers could face homicide charges or something, but I think a lot of people thought that's what it meant. So there was this big national backlash, people coming out in support of IVF, specifically Republicans saying, you know, I'm all about this. We need to support IVF. But even though it was misunderstood, it did raise a lot of important questions. So here's a theologian I interviewed about the case. His name's Matthew Lee Anderson.
Speaker 1
What does it mean to be a human being frozen in ice in a laboratory? It's a very strange condition that we've brought these embryos into. I think the burdens of judgment that it places on reproductive doctors is just way too
Speaker 3
high. Well, let's segue now into abortion stories. What's top of mind there?
Speaker 5
Yeah, so there were two abortion-related Supreme Court cases this year, and they were the first cases to come to the Supreme Court on the abortion issue since the Dobbs decision. So that was pretty big. One of them had to do with abortion pills. In this case that pro-life doctors brought against the Food and Drug Administration, basically critiquing their lack safety requirements on distributing the abortion drug. That case did not go the way pro-life doctors were hoping. Eventually, the justices ruled that those doctors did not have standing. And then the other case was out of Idaho. The federal government had sued Idaho over its protections for unborn babies, basically saying, you know, your lack of a health exception in your pro-life law is against federal law. So they're trying to pressure the state to require doctors to be able to perform abortions, not only to save the woman's life, but also to save her health. And that also did not go favorably for pro-lifers. The justices said that they shouldn't have taken the case up at all.
Speaker 3
You know, this year I saw plenty of stories about women from pro-life states who experienced complications or even death. And the way the media reported it was to connect it to those laws passed in pro-life states. What can you tell us about those? Yeah,
Speaker 5
so there was a lot of coverage specifically from ProPublica. They were publishing all these articles basically saying, you know, here's a case of a woman who died because of the state's pro-life law. Well, you know, they were trying to blame it on the laws. Why, you know, for instance, a doctor wasn't intervening to remove dead baby from a mom who was like infected, you know, stuff like this. But doctors I interviewed, including in states with similar laws in place, they were saying that this is probably just cases of poor medical judgment. Here's one doctor I spoke with, Dr. Jonathan Scrafford.
Speaker 4
Where are the examples
Speaker 1
of people who did give appropriate medical care and then were convicted or their lives were ruined? They went bankrupt. They lost their job because of these things. There has to be some burden of proof at some point about these concerns. Right.
Speaker 3
And Pro Publica dropped some of those stories really close to the election. Maybe they were hoping to influence voters at that point. Now, earlier, we mentioned the 10 states that had abortion measures. Remind us what happened there.
Speaker 5
Yes. So there were 10 states that voted on abortion-related ballot measures. They were all slightly different, but each of them would essentially enshrine abortion into the state constitution. Seven of those passed, including in red states like Missouri. But in three other states, pro-lifers were able to defeat those pro-abortion ballot measures using varying tactics. For instance, in Nebraska, pro-lifers actually backed an alternative amendment that succeeded while the pro-abortion amendment failed. And a lot of people see this as kind of a path forward for the movement. So here's U.S. Senator from Nebraska, Pete Ricketts.
Speaker 1
I believe that life begins at conception. What we put in certainly says, hey, abortion after the first trimester is not allowed. But it doesn't say it's a fundamental right to abortion. So it doesn't open the door to things like funding abortions. I think part of the challenge is we've got a lot of work to do, winning hearts and minds. Our 434 ballot initiative gives us that opportunity to be able to do that.
Speaker 3
All right. Well, let's look ahead to the new year. Leah, what stories will you be watching?
Speaker 5
Yeah, there's going to be a lot going on for sure, but definitely fallout from these pro-abortion constitutional amendments, what actually happens in the courts and in state legislatures related to that. Looking at the U.S. Supreme Court also recently, we found out that they're taking up another abortion-related case, this time having to do with whether states, pro-life states, can remove abortion providers like Planned Parenthood from Medicaid funding. So we'll be watching all those things and a lot of other things too. Yeah,
Speaker 3
plenty of work to do. And Leah, you welcomed new life into your family this year, didn't you?
Speaker 5
Yes, we had our first baby this summer. He came the same week as the anniversary of the Dobbs decision. So I was actually finishing up a Dobbs anniversary piece while I was in labor with him because I was bored. So I promised no one was forcing me to do that. That
Speaker 3
is dedication and we appreciate it. Congratulations for your new son. You have a lot going on there. Thanks for joining us today, Leah. Yeah,
Speaker 5
thanks for having me, Mary.

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