Iowa’s Republican-led Legislature passed a bill banning most abortions after roughly six weeks of pregnancy during a marathon special session Tuesday that continued late into the night. Governor Kim Reynolds immediately said in a statement she would sign the bill Friday. 

The bill passed with exclusively Republican support in a rare, one-day legislative burst lasting more than 14 hours over the vocal — and sometimes tense — objections from Democratic lawmakers and abortion rights advocates protesting at the Capitol.  

Just after 11 p.m., lingering protesters in the gallery booed and yelled “shame” to state senators in the minutes after the bill was approved. 

Reynolds ordered the rare session after the state Supreme Court declined in June to reinstate a practically identical law that she signed in 2018. 

“The Iowa Supreme Court questioned whether this legislature would pass the same law they did in 2018, and today they have a clear answer,” Reynolds said in a statement. “The voices of Iowans and their democratically elected representatives cannot be ignored any longer, and justice for the unborn should not be delayed.”  

Abortion is currently legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks of pregnancy. The legislation will take immediate effect with the governor’s signature on Friday. It will prohibit almost all abortions once cardiac activity can be detected, which is usually around six weeks of pregnancy and before many women know they are pregnant. 

Preparations were already underway to quickly file legal challenges in court and get the measure blocked, once Reynolds signs it into law. 

“The ACLU of Iowa, Planned Parenthood, and the Emma Goldman Clinic remain committed to protecting the reproductive rights of Iowans to control their bodies and their lives, their health, and their safety — including filing a lawsuit to block this reckless, cruel law,” ACLU of Iowa Executive Director Mark Stringer said in a statement. 

In the meantime, Planned Parenthood North Central States has said they will refer patients out of state if they’re scheduled for abortions in the next few weeks. The organization, the largest abortion provider in the state, will continue to provide care to patients who present before cardiac activity is detected. 

There are limited circumstances under the measure that would allow for abortion after that point in a pregnancy where cardiac activity is detected — such as rape, if reported to law enforcement or a health provider within 45 days; incest, if reported within 145 days; if the fetus has a fetal abnormality “incompatible with life;” and if the pregnancy is endangering the life of the pregnant woman. 

For much of the morning and afternoon, chants from abortion rights advocates echoed through the rotunda and could be heard from rooms where state representatives and senators were meeting in the morning and afternoon. Members of the public for and against the bill alternated conveying their viewpoints to lawmakers from both chambers for nearly four hours in total. 

Sara Eide of the Iowa Catholic Conference encouraged lawmakers to vote in favor. 

“The unborn child is a distinct human life with her own value, with her own DNA, and with her own right to life and right to legal protections,” she said. “As a state and as a society, we should commit ourselves to protect all vulnerable populations wherever we find them.” 

Hilary McAdoo, a fertility nurse, said her two daughters motivated her to voice her opposition Tuesday. 

“Just because a person has the ability to become pregnant does not mean they should be forced to become a mother,” she said. “The people before me want to govern women’s bodies without understanding how they work.” 

McAdoo called the six-week cutoff “impossible and irresponsible.” 

Laws such as Iowa’s ban abortion when a “fetal heartbeat” can be detected, a concept that does not easily translate to medical science. That’s because at the point where advanced technology can detect that first visual flutter, the embryo isn’t yet a fetus, and it doesn’t have a heart. An embryo is termed a fetus beginning in the 11th week of pregnancy, medical experts say. 

A district court found the 2018 law unconstitutional in 2019 based on rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court and Iowa’s Supreme Court that had affirmed a woman’s fundamental constitutional right to abortion.  

After both bodies overturned those rulings last year, the governor sought to reinstate the 2018 law. But the state’s high court deadlocked last month without ruling on the merits of an abortion ban, leaving the law permanently blocked.  

And so Reynolds called lawmakers back to Des Moines. 

Democratic lawmakers proposed amendments to the language to expand the exceptions, which were swiftly rejected. 

“Iowa women are less free than they were a week ago and it’s because of the work of Republicans in the legislature and the governor,” said House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst, who voiced concerned that there will be instant chaos and confusion when the bill is signed into law.  

“We will spend every day between now and Election Day letting voters know that the Republican Legislature was too extreme, went too far and voted against the interests of everyday Iowans,” she added. 

Most Republican-led states have drastically limited abortion access in the year since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and handed authority on abortion law to the states. More than a dozen states have bans with limited exceptions and one state, Georgia, bans abortion after cardiac activity is detected. Several other states have similar restrictions that are on hold pending court rulings. 
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U.S. lawmakers expressed concern Tuesday over a proposed merger between Saudi-backed LIV Golf and the PGA Tour, saying that — if it is finalized — the deal could give Saudi Arabia an outsized role in American sports. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson reports on what Congress plans next
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A storm that dumped up to two months of rain in two days in Vermont and other parts of the Northeast brought more flooding Tuesday to communities marooned by water, including the state capital, where a dam just upstream was threatening to overflow. 

The flooding has already caused tens of millions of dollars in damage, officials said, with more to come: If water pours over the dam on the Winooski River that flows through Montpelier, it could surge through downtown blocks where the floods were already waist-high. City officials said Tuesday afternoon they had not seen any significant changes in the water levels at the dam for the last two hours and that they would continue to monitor it through the night. 

“Floodwaters continue to rise in some places, like our capital city, and have surpassed the levels seen during Tropical Storm Irene,” Vermont Gov. Phil Scott said. Irene killed six people in Vermont in August 2011, washing homes off their foundations and damaging or destroying more than 200 bridges and 500 miles (805 kilometers) of highway. 

The sun was out Tuesday and more sunshine was expected Wednesday. But more rain was forecast Thursday and Friday. 

“We are not out of the woods,” Scott said. “This is nowhere near over.” He tweeted that the roads around his house were impassable Tuesday morning, so he had to hike through the woods to reach the state’s emergency response center. 

One woman was swept away in New York. There have been no reports of injuries or deaths related to the flooding in Vermont, where swift-water rescue teams aided by National Guard helicopter crews have done more than 100 rescues, Vermont Emergency Management said Tuesday. 

That included an “extremely high-risk rescue” by a visiting New Hampshire team, of a person who decided to drive around a barricaded road, said Mike Cannon of Vermont Urban Search and Rescue. “The car was washed off the roadway almost into the river,” he said, urging drivers to pay attention to road closures. 

Dozens of roads and highways were closed, including many along the spine of the Green Mountains, and flash flood warnings and advisories were in effect for much of the state, from the Massachusetts line to Canada. 

Downtown Montpelier, a city of 8,000, was swamped between the capitol building and the Winooski River. Montpelier Town Manager Bill Fraser warned that the Wrightsville Dam several miles to the north could exceed capacity for the first time. 

“There would be a large amount of water coming into Montpelier which would drastically add to the existing flood damage,” he said, adding that there are very few evacuation options remaining. “People in at risk areas may wish to go to upper floors in their houses.” 

Just before noon on Tuesday, Montpelier Police said waters had risen to within a foot of the top of the dam, and every foot of water that goes over the spillway would double the flow into the city. 

Multiple rescue crews were positioned in Montpelier, where dispatch, police and fire operations were relocated to a water treatment plant after heavy flooding at City Hall and the police and fire departments. Also, the radio towers they use for emergency calls are not functional, Police Chief Eric Nordenson said. 

Shelters were set up at churches and town halls, but at least one refuge had to close as flooding worsened. Delivering food and water to more than 200 people sheltering at the Barre Municipal Auditorium has been a challenge. 

“We’re trying to find paths to get supplies in to them,” said John Montes, American Red Cross of Northern New England regional disaster officer. 

The slow-moving storm reached New England after hitting parts of New York and Connecticut on Sunday. Some communities received between 7 and 9 inches (18 centimeters and 23 centimeters) of rain by Monday night. Towns in southwest New Hampshire had heavy flooding, and road washouts earlier in the week. 

Syd Straw, who was trapped in her house near the small town of Weston, appreciated Tuesday’s sunshine, but said she still had water in her basement and a crumbled driveway that reminded her a bit of the Grand Canyon. 

“I can hike out of my broken driveway and get onto the sliver of dirt road that remains,” she said. 

The Connecticut River, swollen from the heavy rains in Vermont, was expected to crest above flood stage Wednesday in Hartford and towns to the south, causing minor to moderate flooding, according to the National Weather Service. 

President Joe Biden, attending the annual NATO summit in Lithuania, declared an emergency for Vermont and authorized the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help coordinate disaster relief efforts and provide assistance. 

FEMA sent a team to Vermont, along with emergency communications equipment, and is prepared to keep shelters supplied if the state requests it. The agency also is monitoring flooding in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire, regional spokesperson Dennis Pinkham said Tuesday. 

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre urged people on Tuesday “to please, please be safe, and follow safety protocols.” 

Road crews cleared debris Tuesday, reopening Interstate 89 as it follows the river between Montpelier and Middlesex. Rescuers from North Carolina, Michigan and Connecticut joined Vermonters in among those reaching towns that had been isolated since torrents of rain began belting the state. 

One of the worst-hit places was New York’s Hudson Valley, where a woman identified by police as Pamela Nugent, 43, died as she tried to escape her flooded home with her dog in the hamlet of Fort Montgomery. 

The U.S. Military Academy at West Point was pounded with more than 8 inches (20 centimeters) of rain that sent debris sliding onto some roads and washed others out. 

“Nine inches of rain in this community,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said during a briefing on a muddy street in Highland Falls, just south of the academy on the west bank of the Hudson River. “They’re calling this a ‘1,000-year event.'”

Atmospheric scientists say destructive flooding events like these happen more frequently as storms form in a warmer atmosphere, and the planet’s rising temperatures will only make it worse. 
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NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday he is “absolutely confident” Turkey will ratify Sweden’s accession to NATO and that alliance leaders gathered for a two-day summit in Lithuania’s capital will “send a very strong and positive message” about Ukraine’s own desire to join. 

Stoltenberg said the NATO summit in Vilnius “is already historic before it has started” after talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yielded a breakthrough in a months-long impasse during which Erdogan accused Stockholm of not doing enough to crack down on their branch of a political party that Turkey’s government sees as extremists. 

Erdogan pledged to support the approval of Sweden’s bid in Turkey’s parliament, while Hungary, the other remaining NATO member yet to give its approval in a process that must be unanimous, is expected to follow suit. 

In what appeared to be a last-ditch parry on the eve of the summit, Erdogan linked the Sweden issue with Ankara’s stalled demands to join the European Union.   

“The United States has always supported (Turkey’s) EU membership aspirations and continues to do so. (Turkey’s) membership application and process is a matter between the EU and (Turkey),” a National Security Council spokesperson told VOA. The official asked not to be identified, as is common practice when discussing administration policy. “Our focus is on Sweden, which is ready to join the NATO Alliance.”   

U.S. President Joe Biden, who is set to meet with Erdogan late Tuesday at the end of the first day of the summit, welcomed news of Turkey’s support for Sweden. 

“I stand ready to work with (Turkish) President (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan and (Turkey) on enhancing defense and deterrence in the Euro-Atlantic area,” Biden said in a statement issued from Vilnius, where he is attending the summit of NATO leaders. “I look forward to welcoming Prime Minister Kristersson and Sweden as our 32nd NATO Ally.”   

Sweden and Finland applied jointly for membership last May, with both Nordic nations citing overwhelming popular support for the idea amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Finland’s membership was finalized in April.    

Defense spending and Ukraine  

The summit still has important issues to cover in a short time. Those include whether the members can agree on — and then meet — a commitment to spend at least 2% of their GDP on defense. Currently, only seven members fulfill that target.   

Another key agenda is Ukraine’s ambition to join NATO, which allies in 2008 agreed in principle would happen without setting up a pathway for Ukraine’s membership. 

Stoltenberg said Tuesday that he had put forth a package during an informal NATO foreign ministers meeting in May that included removing the requirement for a membership action plan in Ukraine’s bid. 

Biden has candidly admitted there is no consensus within the alliance about admitting Ukraine. The U.S. is reluctant to grant quick membership for Kyiv for fear of dragging NATO into war with Russia.  

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he accepts that his country can only join after the conflict with Russia ends. Membership in the midst of a war would require the alliance to apply the principle of “an attack on one is an attack on all” enshrined in the bloc’s Article 5. 

Still, Zelenskyy has demanded a clear pathway to join the alliance, and during the two-day summit, NATO members will aim to nail down a compromise that will signal that Kyiv is moving closer to membership without making promises of a quick accession.    

Some NATO allies, including the U.S., U.K. and France, are set to come up with proposals to strengthen Ukraine’s armed forces, including its postwar needs, through a series of long-term commitments outside the NATO framework.   

The so-called security guarantees are going to be done in “extremely close coordination, given how high the stakes are,” however it will be “different from having an Article 5 agreement to defend Ukraine,” said Leslie Vinjamuri, director of the U.S. and Americas program at Chatham House, to VOA. 

Following the two-day summit, Biden heads to Helsinki on Thursday to meet with leaders of Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Denmark. Once Sweden has joined NATO, all five Nordic countries will be members of the military alliance. 

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters
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As U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen concluded her four-day trip to China, calling it “productive,” the ink was barely dry on China’s sweeping new Foreign Relations Law that appears to be aimed at countering U.S. trade sanctions. 

The day before the bill took effect on July 1, China’s official Xinhua News Agency quoted an unnamed person in charge of the Legal Work Committee of the powerful Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress as saying, “China’s foreign-related legal system still has some shortcomings. Especially in terms of safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests, there are still many legal gaps.” 

The new law aims to close those holes, stressing Beijing’s right “to take corresponding countermeasures” against acts that violate international law and norms and “endanger China’s sovereignty, security and development interests.”  

The law comes as the government of President Xi Jinping is pushing back against American efforts to cut off its access to technology to make advanced computer chips and efforts to reduce reliance on Chinese suppliers after the global pandemic revealed the consequences of disrupting the supply chain. 

Einar Tangen, an American political and economic affairs commentator in Beijing, said the law essentially provides a legal basis for China to counter sanctions issued by the U.S. and other nations. 

“They want to signal in their own way that they had enough, because after they announced this, a few hours later they were talking about taking away gallium exports,” Tangen said, referring to Beijing’s July 3 announcement that it would restrict exports of gallium and germanium — key raw materials widely used in semiconductors and electric vehicles.  

“There’s only one paragraph in the new law which is actually new that gives specific authority to respond for national security reasons,” Tangen said. “It’s more of a signal to the U.S. that two can play this game.” 

Suisheng Zhao, a professor at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver, also said the law contains little new.  

“It actually systematizes and legalizes Xi Jinping’s diplomatic thinking. To some extent, it is an external propaganda to strengthen China’s soft power, describing China as a major responsible country in the world and systematically presenting China’s so-called core interests, diplomatic behavior and principles,” Zhao told VOA Mandarin. 

China is currently the largest producer of gallium and germanium, accounting for 94% and 83% of global production, respectively. They have a wide range of applications in optoelectronic displays, communications, lasers, detectors, sensors, solar energy and radar. 

Shu Jueting, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, said that items related to the two metals have prominent dual-use properties for military and civilian purposes. She said it is an international practice to implement export controls on them. The regulations will come into force on August 1. 

Exporters who want to start or continue exporting items related to the two metals must apply for a license from China’s Ministry of Commerce and report details of overseas buyers and their applications.  

Hu Xijin, the influential former editor-in-chief of the Global Times, said on China’s Twitter-like Weibo platform, “China’s anti-sanctions, anti-interference, and anti-long-arm jurisdiction by certain countries require this law, and it will definitely increase the price for the United States and its allies to violate China’s interests.” 

The Global Times says with the law, China is “marking a milestone significance, as it is the first fundamental and comprehensive foreign-relations law that aims to fix the loopholes in the rule of law in foreign-related affairs amid new challenges in foreign relations, especially when China has been facing frequent external interference in its internal affairs under the Western hegemony with unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction.” 

Zhao told VOA Mandarin the new law “is mainly aimed at the domestic people. … Americans will not buy it. Xi Jinping’s international development initiative, international security Initiatives and the Belt and Road Initiative have been talked about a lot, and there is nothing new for the United States.”  

The Chinese government has long complained that the U.S. uses economic sanctions for diplomacy and says it passed the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law in 2021 to counter foreign sanctions against Chinese companies and individuals. However, China also frequently uses economic sanctions to exert political pressure on such countries as Australia, Canada, South Korea and Lithuania. 

The current chip war between China and the U.S. is an example of how both nations employ sanctions.   

In October 2022, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced export controls on advanced semiconductor and chip manufacturing equipment to China.  

In May, the Chinese government announced a ban on the U.S. chip giant Micron, saying it caused a significant security risk to China’s critical information infrastructure supply chain. 

It followed Beijing’s announcement in February of sanctions against two U.S. arms makers — Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Technologies — for supplying arms to Taiwan, including banning Chinese companies from doing business with them. 

Recently, the Biden administration is reported to be preparing to restrict Chinese companies from using U.S. cloud computing services. If adopted, the new regulation could require U.S. cloud service providers, such as Amazon and Microsoft, to obtain a U.S. government license before providing cloud computing services that use advanced artificial intelligence chips to Chinese customers. 

“This is sending a clear signal right before Yellen’s visit” to China, Tangen said. “The U.S. is … going to keep Chinese companies out of the cloud.” 

He said the rift is causing a “split between the countries in terms of technology.” 

“Right now, I don’t think Beijing is counting on changing the minds of Washington elites,” Tangen said. “What they’re betting on now is that the business community, which has an interest in China, is not having a world decoupled. It will cost all American businesses a tremendous amount of money to relocate to other countries or within the U.S. to do the same thing.”   

Zhao believes the law does not make much of a difference.  

“When it first came out, people couldn’t figure it out,” he said. “But the heat passed within a day or two … and now there are not many people discussing it.”

Adrianna Zhang  contributed to this report.        
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U.S. federal prosecutors on Monday announced charges against a U.S.-Israeli man, saying he acted as an unregistered foreign agent on behalf of China and tried to broker weapons and Iranian oil sales. 

Authorities accused Gal Luft of recruiting and paying a former U.S. government official who worked as an adviser to then president-elect Donald Trump and of trying to get the official to support policies favorable to China. 

Prosecutors also said Luft arranged meetings between Iranian officials and a Chinese energy company to talk about deals involving Iran’s sanctioned oil program. 

Luft serves as the co-director of a U.S. think tank focused on energy, security and economic trends and was arrested in Cyprus in February on U.S. charges. He fled after being released on bail and remains at large. 

Some information for this report came from Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 
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