[captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> i renew my invitation to implore the lord for peace for the beloved ukrainian people who have been suffering the horror of war for six months. i hope that concrete steps can help to bring the end of a war and avert a nuclear disaster. amy: as pope francis calls for

peace in ukraine after six months of war, we will talk to anatol lieven of the quincy institute who says the time for a settlement to end the war is now before tens of thousands more die and ukraine has suffered still greater harm. then to the fight for reproductive rights as four more states -- texas, tennessee, idaho and oklahoma -- enact new bans on abortion. at least one in three women in the united states have now lost access to abortion in their state since the supreme court overturned roe v. wade. pres. biden: how extreme are these maga republicans? look at what has happened since the supreme court overturned roe v. wade. in red state after red state there is a race to pass the most restrictive abortion limitations possible even in the event of

rape or insist. but these maga republicans will not stop there. they want a national ban. amy: we will speak to the head of naral pro-choice america and to a doctor with planned parenthood in texas. doctors their face life in prison and a $100,000 fine if they perform an abortion. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in ukraine, the russian-occupied zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was cut off from the national power grid thursday, after fighting between russian and ukrainian forces sparked fires that destroyed a transmission line. without a source of outside power, the plant's automated system switched to an emergency backup a last line of defense against nuclear meltdown. zaporizhzhia is europe's largest nuclear power station, with six reactors and thousands of tons

of highly radioactive materials stored on site. on thursday, ukraine's president volodimir zelensky said russia has put the whole world at risk of a major nuclear disaster. >> diesel generators were immediately activated to provide energy to the station itself to support it after the shutdown. the world must understand what a threat this is. if the diesel generators had not turned on, if the automation in those stations had not passed, we would have been forced to overcome the consequences of the radiation. russia has put ukraine and all europeans in a situation, one step away from a radiation disaster. amy: the latest fighting comes as the united nations is negotiating with russia for access to the site. international atomic energy agency director-general rafael grossi told france 24 television

thursday he expects a team of inspectors to reach zaporizhzhia within days. >> we need to be there, we need to be there soon. kiev accepts it, moscow accepts it, and we need to go, hopefully very soon. amy: days or weeks? >> days. amy: the united states launched a series of attacks inside syria this week, targeting what the pentagon described as iranian proxies. wednesday, u.s. helicopter gunships killed up to three suspected iran-backedilitants after twhases inorthern ria came under rocket fire. one day eaier, warplan stru in the oil-rich region along the eastern border with iraq. the pentagon said president biden ordered the strikes to target fighters connected to the islamic revolutionary guard corps.

congress has not formally authorized military action in syria. last mon, 60% of democrats voted to and our role in syria. in bangladesh, thousands of rohingya muslims have staged protests in refugee camps to mark five years since burmese soldiers began a campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide against their community. the u.n. reports as many as 10,000 rohingya were killed by burmese forces during the 2017 pogroms, though some estimates put the death toll at more than twice that number. another 730,000 rohingya were forced to flee burma. on thursday, protesters in a sprawling refugee camp in cox's bazar said they're ready to be repatriated, but only if they're guaranteed security and burmese citizenship. >> today, we are holding a demonstration, because in 2017 the burmese people killed our

community. they killed my husband, raped our children, and snatched children from mothers. >> we are now ready to go back to burma. but our demand is we must get our citizenship right. if they agree, we are ready to go back. bangladesh is not our soil. we don't want to stay here. if we go, we don't want to stay in camps in burma. we want to go our homes. amy:ere in new york, environmental groups are warning united nations talks aimed at protecting the world's oceans e on the bnk of faure. this week, diplomats convened at the un's headquartersor a finaround ofegotiations on a new treaty to protect biodiversity in international waters. greenpeace says a handful of mostly rich countries including the united states and canada have derailed progress on the talks, including a plan to establish "marine protected areas" spanning 30% of the world's oceans. in a statement, greenpeace said,

"it now looks like protecting 30% of the world's oceans by 2030 will be impossible. scientists say this is the absolute minimum necessary to protect the oceans, and failure at these talks will jeopardize the livelihoods and food security of billions.” peru is suing spanish oil firm repsol for $4.5 billion over a massive oil spill that fouled beaches off the coast of lima in january, when an underwater oil pipeline leaked nearly 12,000 barrels of oil into the pacific ocean. repsol has denied responsibility for the spill, which peruvian president pedro castillo described as "one of the biggest ecocides ever on our coasts and seas." locals continue to demand justice. >> we have been enormously affected by the oil spill, just

like the traditional fishermen at the ports which the company, repsol, does not want to recognize. we are all connected in a chain. we live off of products from their. since the oil spill we have not been able to get fish and people cannot get products toort. amy: in north dakota, a state court has blocked an anti-abortion "trigger law" just before it was set to take effect today. on thursday, a judge granted a preliminary injunction against the legislation, which makes it a felony to perform an abortion with limited exceptions in cases of rape, incest, or medical emergency. meanwhile, in texas, an anti-abortion "trigger law" went into effect thursday making it a felony to perform an abortion, punishable by a $100,000 fine and up to life in prison. a similar "trigger law" -- with no exceptions for rape, incest or fatal fetal anomalies -- also took effect in tennessee. in south carolina, republican

state representative neal collins recently said he is reconsidering his support of his state's so-called "fetal heartbeat" bill after learning how the law imperiled the life of one of his constituents. last week, collins described how he learned from a doctor about a 19-year-old who was denied abortion care for her unviable fetus and sent home from a south carolina hospital, because the new law required her to wait until a heartbeat could no longer be detected in the fetus. >> the doctor told me at that point there was a 50% chance -- first, she is going to pass this fetus in the toilet. she will have to deal with that on her own. there is a greater than 50% chance that she will lose her uterus. there is a 10% chance she will develop sepsis, and herself die. that weighs on me. i voted on that bill. these are affecting people. amy: south carolina

representative collins was among three republicans who abstain from a committee vote on a new bill that would ban nearly all abortions. that bill faces a debate by the full south carolina house next wednesday. a federal appeals court has ruled against an arkansas law banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender children. on thursday, a three-judge panel on the 8th circuit court of appeals ruled that a temporary injunction against the law should remain in effect while legal challenges proceed. last year, the aclu sued to block the arkansas bill on behalf of four transgender youth and their families, as well as a pair of doctors who provide care to trans youth. in immigration news, the biden administration is turning the obama-era deferred action for childhood arrivals, or daca, into a federal regulation, a move aimed at protecting the program from more legal challenges. the rule is scheduled to take effect october 31. daca has shielded hundreds of thousands of immigrants who were brought to the u.s. as children from deportation and granted them work permits.

several republican led states have legal efforts attempting to gut daca, arguing it's illegal. last year, a federal judge in texas blocked new daca applications. the 5th circuit court of appeals is expected to issue an opinion on a challenge to that rulg later this year. a federal judge has set a noon deadline today for the justice department to release part of the affidavit used by the fbi to justify its search of former president trump's residence earlier this month at mar-a-lago. it is not known how much of the affidavit will be redacted but it will likely contain clues into how the fbi established probable cause in their search of his resort where agents recoved 11 sets of classified documents, many marked "top-secret." fox news host tucker carlson is set to be deposed today in a lawsuit brought by the voting machine company at the center of republicans' false claims about

the so-called stolen 2020 election. dominion voting systems is seeking $1.6 billion from fox news, alleging the network's hosts defamed the company by repeatedly promoting baseless conspiracy theories that its voting machines were used to steal votes from donald trump. other prominent fox news hosts facingepositio include sean haity, louobbs, jeine rro, andteveoocy. in labor news, workers at a chipotle in lansing, michigan on thursday voted to unionize, making it the first of the restaurant chain's stores to form a union. workers have been demanding higher wages and better schedules. the lansing store first filed for a union election in july. that same month a chipotle in augusta, maine was permanently closed after workers tried to unionize. a company spokesperson said c hipotle was "disappointed" by the lansing vote. in more labor news, the national labor relations board has filed

a new complaint against starbucks, accusing the coffee giant of illegally withholding wage raises and benefits from thousands of workers involved in union efforts. the complaint seeks full back pay for the workers and would require the ceo admitting his unfair actions. workers at more than 230 stores have unionized with the starbucks workers united since last december. and qatar has deported dozens of migrant workers who recently led a protest denouncing unpaid wages. many of them were from bangladesh, india, and nepal and worked for the al bandary engineering and electrowatt company which holds multi-million dollar contracts in doha. workers said they hadn't been paid for at least six months worth of labor. british human rights advocate mustafa qadri recently spoke with migrant workers in south asia who report they are still

owed unpaid wages from jobs in qatar, as the country prepares to host the world cup many of , them suffer from work-related disabilities. >> qatar and its partners have failed human rights responsibilities, to respect basic working rights at work, and also profiting out of an exploitative labor system. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. let me come back, we look at them more in ukraine six months after the russian invasion. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "cherry coloured funk" by cocteau twins. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. i am joined by juan gonzalez in

new brunswick, new jersey. juan: welcome to all of our listeners and viewers around the country and the world. it was six months ago this week when russian forces invaded ukraine. while pope francis and others marked the anniversary with calls for peace, the are few signs from the capitals of ukraine and russia -- or in washington -- that an agreement to end the war is near. on thursday, russian president vladimir putin signed a decree to add 137,000 more troops to russia's armed forces. on wednesday, as ukrainians marked its independence day, ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskiy vowed to take back all land seized by russia since 2014 including crimea. meanwhile, the biden administration announced this week a new $3 billion military aid package for ukraine to boost its long-term military power. we are joined by anatol lieven. he is a senior fellow at the quincy institute for responsible statecraft.

his latest piece is headlined "six months after russian invasion, a bloody stalemate, a struggle for peace.” anatol welcome back to democracy , now! start out by laying out what you think has happened over these six months since russia invaded ukraine and what needs to haen. anatol: it is pretty clear that militarily the more has turned into a stalema. that is due to heroic ukrainian resistance, western help, russian military failures. something else we need to look at is how military technology has changed recently. almost like the first world war, the power of the defens particularly in urban areas, has greatly increased compared to the offenses. if you look at the history of sweeping military victories going back to 1939, they were

achieved with tanks, backed up by aircraft above all. what we have seen in ukraine is that anti-tank and missile weapons have caused blocks on damage to rushing armor, ground attack, and have forced them to a standstill. it now looks very unlikely to me that russia can make sweeping new gains as long as the west goes on supplying ukraine. on the other hand, if the ukrainians try to launch massive offenses to regain land, they may well find the same tactics used against them.

i think both sides can make certain gains, ukraineould reconquer kerson, russia may be able to take on the whole of the donbas, it seems the outcome for both sides seems highly unlikely. we are essentially in a situation -- if that is correct -- like the first world war, where the war will just drag on and on with of course heavy casualties on both sides, massive damage to ukraine, and also massive damage to the world economy, to inflation, energy supplies in the west. or we have to attempt at least a first cease fire, beginning with a cease fire around the zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, they then use that as the basis for

negotiations in a peace settlement. it does not seem to me that we would gain very much more -- a chance of getting very much more -- if we do this years down the line, than if we try to do this now. juan: i want to ask you, you mentioned the failures of russia to have a quick victory but ere has also been an enormous failure, it seems to me, in the west being able to use sanctions as a means to force russia to stop its military incursion, invasion in ukraine. europe is facing energy crisis 10 times a year ago, and as we are heading into the fall and the winter, what do you make of the pronouncements by president

biden that the sanctions, unprecedented in history, would force russia to relent? anatol: that has not oved to be the case. various people have pointed out, it is not easy to see why people thought this would work. when sanctions have not worked against much weaker states. have not worked against cuba, iran, north korea, did not work against iraq in the 1990's. russia is a much stronger state and has enormous amounts of energy and raw materials to export. and as you said, this has led to tremendous and worsening economic damage for the west. on top of that, not that this is a direct result of sanctions, but in part, you have the effect

on global food supply, global food prices. that has been made worse in recent months by climate change, heat waves in india, western europe, now in china. agricultural yields and western europe are expected to be down this year by more than 15% as a result of the impact of these heat waves. the other thing the war is producing is the threat of starvation and certain parts of the world. so a deep political instability. the economic damage from this more has been to all sides, but most of all to ukraine and its population. juan: i wanted to ask you also, when you mentioned the stalemate that has been evident now for several weeks, there has not

been a rising call for a cease fire. what is your sense of the united states' position on a cease fire, does president biden want one, or does it prefer the ukrainian people basically be cannon fodder to weaken russia, does ukraine want a cease fire, does russia want a cease fire? anatol: to start with the ukrainian government, it clearly does not want a cease fire at th moment. partly because they ink they can regain a lot of territory. the key test is whether or not they can do that. also because there are deep divisions within the ukrainian government. previously, president zelenskyy

appeared to be in favor of some peace settlement that he is also under pressure from his own hard-liners in his government, military. recently he has in making a much harder line, statements. the russian government does not seem, at present, interested in a cease fire. russia also believes, it seems, that it can regain some territory. i am told that if russia can conquer the whole of the donbass region, then russia may favor a cease fire. russian casualties have been enormous. russian progress on the ground for months has been minimal. the biden administration of course is saying it is all up to the ukrainians, essentially that america does not have a say in trying to bring about a cease

fire or peace settlement. in my view, that is a foolish thing to say. america is giving massive aid to ukraine, running enormous risks for the american economy, world economy, climate change, and american citizens are suffering economically as a result. by definition, that means america has not just a moral right, but a duty to its citizens to play a part in the peace process. amy: anatol lieven, i wt to ask you about what is happening at zaporizhzhia, the largest nuclear power plant in all of europe in ukraine. thursday, president volodymyr zelenskyy accused russia of putting the whole world at risk of a major nuclear disaster after the russian occupied nuclear plant cut off the power grid thursday.

ukraine and russia have accused each other of attack from the plan in recent weeks. >> diesel generators were immediately activated to provide energy to the station itself, to support it after the shutdown. the world must understand what a threat this is. if the diesel generators had not turned on, if the automation had not reacted after the blackout, we would have already been forced to overcome the consequences of a radiation nightmare. russia has put ukraine and all europeans one step away from a european disaster --nuclear disaster. amy: talk about that and the threat of a nuclear meltdown. we should comment the ukrainian crew at the plant are still there, they are just occupied by russia right now. also what this means in the whole energy context.

could you see this being the main force that could lead to a cease fire? anatol: i think it could play a role. what we need to focus on, russia is basicly to blame the situation by invading ukraine and the plant. it doesn't make any sense to me that russia deliberately shut down the plant because it is in russian occupied territory. why would they do that? the electricity also supplies strangely enough the territories occupied by russia and territory held by ukraine. the point is, without saying that ukraine is deliberately showing the plant, the plant is very close to the front line between russia and ukraine. on a front line with shells and rockets flying around, that

obviously endangers the plant. two things should happen. one, which is not wanted by ukraine or russia, the plant should be shut down, it should not be operating. but that would cut off elecicity to most of the russian occupied areas, and parts of ukraine, which would shut down industry. but the other thing that could happen, both sides should agree now to a cease fire in the region around the plant, the zaporizhzhia region. not a cease fire along the whole line but extensive enough to ensure the safety of the plant. that could be used as the first step toward a general cease fire, and that would be good, but the first thing is to ensure the safety of the nuclear plant. juan: i wanted to ask you about

the broader issue of the perspective of the media in the united states, the u.s. government, we are constantly being bombarded by information and news that shapes the narrative that the key enemies of the west right now are china and russia as belligerent powers. therwas an interesting article by jeffrey sachs, a columbia university professor, challenging the narrative. basically saying that what we are seeing in ukraine is a reflection of that, continued insistence of the united states and europe to be the dominant powers in the world at a time when really power is shifting to the global south. he mentions that the brics

nations, brazil, india, russia, china, south africa, now have a greater gdp combined there the g-7 nations, which had been running the political and economic affairs of the planet for so long. he says what is happening here, the global south is not going along with the narrative when it comes to the battle between russia and ukraine. i wond your perspective. all of these nations of the global south that are not raying as the united states would lik to the use of t ukrainian people. anatol: i think the global south is ambivalent. most countries did about to condemn the invasion vote to condemn the invasion. almost no countries have recognized the annexation of crimea. there is a definite feeling against russia.

but there is also widespread feeling that american policy helped the war by this endless expansion of american power, american insistence that the rest of the world follow its order on key issues. that of course is why countries that even condemned the russian invasion have not joined in on sanctions against russia. i was reading a good biography putin, and in the conclusion, he makes the case, america is determined to lead the world. russia is determined not to be lead. but that should not, in and of itself, turn russia into an enemy of the west in general. nor indeed, should china's claim to taiwan, turned china into an

enemy of the west. these are issues that have to be managed and negotiated. in the case of ukraine, having worked in the former colonial world, what have been -- what has happened inkraine is very much a post colonial struggle of territory and identity, whiche have seen in so me parts of the world. india, pakistan, myanmar, africa. it did not have to become a battle between russia and the west, if both sides had behaved with more circumspection and more restraint, beasley, respect for the ukrainian people. so much of what russia has done against the west since the war

began, it has been very damaging. but that was in evitable, if the west was going to side with ukraine and impose massive economic sanctions on russia. what on did we expect? amy: anatol lieven, i want to shift the focus in the last few minutes from ukraine to afghanistan. this marks one year since the return of the taliban to power anthe withdrawal of u.s. troops ending what was the longt war in u.s. history. afghanistan today is facing a humanitarian crisis. according to the united nations, 95% of afghans are going hungry. meanwhile, the united states is continuing to refuse to unfreeze $7 billion of foreign assets held by afghanistan's central bank on u.s. soil. you are with the quincy institute for responsible statecraft which held a recent symposium on afghanistan and the u.s. withdrawal. your thoughts on this other anniversary?

anatol: well, the whole business in afghanistan is a tragedy and disaster, by which there were no easy exits, where there are no solutions. i have been arguing for many years there is no solution to the endless problems in afghanistan, only better management. basic humanitarian- i thin we have a duty to provide food aid, to make sure at least the population does not starve to death. but especially after the execution of the al qaeda leader under taliban protection. given taliban policies toward

wome it is not possible, i think, to resume any kind of rmal relations with the taliban at present or give them massive aid. the only problem is, afghanistan, as always, there are people that are much worse than the taliban, threatening to the west, like isis, others who are fighting against the taliban, have carried out terrible terrorist attacks against religious minority targets, universities, education establishments in afghanistan. real promoters of international terrorism. we also don't want the taliban to fall and, god for bid, isis to take over. there is a bind. at least preventing starvation in afghanistan is perhaps our

duty and perhaps could be the basis for a new relationship with the taliban, one day, but not today. juan: we only have about a minute left. i wanted to ask how you assess the world sponsor and u.s. response to the humanitarian crises in ukraine versus afghanistan? ukrainian refugees were welcomed in the u.s. whi the u.s. had allowed some afghan refugees to come in but many were blocked, including many of those that had worked in the occupation, obtaining permanent refugee status. how do you make the comparison between the response to ukraine and the response to afghanistan? anatol: the response to ukraine and ukrainian refugees have been vastly more generous.

noto giving a saw them to people who worked with the united states and britain is disgraceful, dishonorable. i have to say, though, when it comes to much larger numbers of refugees in afghanistan, as we have seen from previous generations of migrants to the west, there has often been real problems with integration. even in firsteneration, let alone second-generation, some of these people that come to the west as refugees, then turning to extremism and terrorism. simply saying that we must accept anyone who wants to leave afghanistan can, is not a solution. ukrainns, like pols and others, are frankly much easier

to integrate and likely to be successful in western societies. that sounds harsh but i'm afraid it is a fact. amy: anatol lieven, thank you for being with us. senior fellow at the quincy institute for responsible statecraft. coming up, we look at the fight or reproductive rights in the united states as a four more states, texas, tennessee, and idaho enact new bands on abortion. one in three women in the united states have lost access to abortion in their own state since the supreme court overturned roe v. wade. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. with juan gonzalez. we spend the rest of the aberrant looking at how millions of people in the u.s. have now lost access to abortion in their state supreme court overturned roe v. wade. this includes at least one in three women. more restrictions are being implemented in state after state. this week alone anti-abortion , trigger laws went into effect in texas, tennessee, and idaho, and on saturday, oklahoma will increase penalties for doctors who perform illegal abortions for pregnant people to include a

$100,000 fine and up to 10 years in prison. the texas anti-abortion "trigger law" that went into effect thursday makes it a felony to perform an abortion, also punishable by a $100,000 and up to life in prison. tennessee's similar "trigger law" has no exceptions for rape, incest, or fatal fetal anomalies. meanwhile, a trigger law set to take effect today in north dakota was blocked thursday in state court when a judge granted a preliminary injunction against the measure that makes it a felony to perform an abortion with limited exceptions in cases of rape, incest, or medical emergency. abortion access is now a key issue in the 2022 midterms, and many states report a surge in women registering to vote. this is president biden kicking of his midterm campaigning thursday night in maryland. pres. biden: how extreme are these maga republicans? take a look at what happened

since the supreme court overturned roe v. wade. in rate state after red state there is a race to pass the most instructive abortion limitations imaginable, even without exception for rape or incensed. these maga republicans will not stop there, they want a national ban, they want to pass a legislative national ban in congress. if the maga republicans win control of congress, it won't matter where you live, women will not have the right to choose anywhere, anywhere. let me tell you something, if they take it back and try to pass it, i will veto it. amy: this comes as arizona's republican senate nominee, far-right venture capitalist blake masters, is now downplaying his support for a "fetal personhood law" as he seeks to challenge incumbent democratic senator mark kelly in november. this week masters's campaign quietly overhauled its website,

scrubbing it of many of his extreme anti-abortion views. last week, south carolina republican state representative neal collins said he is rensidering his support of his state's so-called "fetal heartbeat" bill after hearing how it had led to one of his constituents being denied abortion care for her unviable fetus because it required her to wait until a heartbeat could no longer be detected. collins spoke before the state's house judiciary committee. >> a 19-year-old girl appeared at the er, she was 15 weeks pregnant. her water broke. and the fetus was unviable. the attorneys told the doctor that because of the fetal heartbeat bill, because that 15 week old had a heartbeat, the doctors could not extract. there is a greater than 50% chance that she will lose her uterus. there is a 10% chance that she will develop sepsis and herself

die. that weighs on me. i voted for that bill. amy: state representative collins was one of three members who abstained on the boat which passed along party lines. for more we're joined by two , guests. in texas, we are joined by dr. bhavik kumaris, medical director of primary and trans care at planned parenthood gulf coast in houston, and the co-chair of the committee to protect health care's reproductive freedom task force. and in philadelphia, mini timmaraju is the president of naral pro-choice america. welcome to democracy now! i should add, mini timmaraju, today is also the 102nd anniversary of the 19th amendment which gave women the right to vote. when you look at what is happening around the country, new women voters are searching

all over the country right now. it looks like it has changed the prospects for the midterm elelections. talk about what has taken place just this week with trigger band after trigger ban. mini: thank you so much for having me. the trigger bans are horrifying, but it's important to note that as these are coming into place, these are state that already passed horrific restrictions, including texas where dr. kumaris is. we already have a six-week been with a vigilante enforcement mechanism and outrageous fines and penalties in texas since last year. texans have been living under age or coding nightmare for a long time. you mention idaho, oklahoma, tennessee. it is small comfort that we have some limited restrictions now by the court. the good news is the court

struck down the north dakota trigger ban, upheld an objection. i want to note something about north dakota. the one abortion clinic in north dakota that existed has already moved over to minnesota because they understand they cannot functionally provide health care in the state of north carolina -- north dakota with everything going on. even the courts put an injunction on the trigger ban, there is no abortion access in north dakota. that is the landscape we are talking about. women and pregnant people having to travel hundreds of thousands of miles to get access to care. working moms, people who seek abortion care mostly already have children. they have to figure out how to get childcare, how to get gas, take some days off of work, just to get what should be a basic fundament of human right that they have had guaranteed for almost 50 years. it is nothing short of horrific. my colleague can tell you more about what is happening on the ground. juan:ini timmaraju, i want to

ask you about some of the high-profile cases that have already come to public life. some of them are absolutely chilli. a baton rouge, louisiana resident who was 10 weeks pregnant at a louisiana hospital. even though an ultrasound showed her fetus developing without a school, the condition known as "acrania" does not appear on a list of accepted conditions for an abortion in louisiana. a court in florida recently ordered a 16-year-old orphan to carry her pregnancy to term after she petitioned the court for the right to have an abortion, testifying that she was "not rdy to have a baby.” but a three-judge panel denied the request, ruling the girl "had not established that she was sufficiently mature to decide whether to terminate her pregnancy.” these cases, as they become more and more apparent to the public, what do you expect to happen?

mini: two major responses i have. thank you for asking the question. one, advocates have been talking about these cases for decades to rebel can -- republican extremists in these states. you played the clip of the south carolina legislator being shocked of the results of his actions. this is what happens with abortion bands. we have seen decades of target restrictions on abortion providers throughout this country that have already put abortion care out of reach for the majority of people in rural areas, people of color, people without means come because of a federal ban on funding for abortions. it is important to understand, the stories coming to public light have already been happening around the country. another point, this is why bans are problematic. also i just adding exceptions do not work.

you just talked about how a three-judge panel had to make a determination for a life-saving procedure for a mother and her situation. do you want to re-judge panels and hospital administrators making decisions and life-and-death decisions? it is an absolutely intolerable way to manage reproductive health care in this country. and considering how devastating and dangerous pregnancy is, it is the most dangerous time for most women in their life. do we need to be waiting weeks on weeks, asking legislators, panels, administrators to make the life-saving decisions? these cases are increasingly horrific. what you saw a few weeks ago in kansas is an indication of what the american public things of these bans. when asked directly how they feel about it, they are unequivocally clear, they do not want government in their business, they do not want these restrictions, and they are ready to fight back. amy: dr. bhavik kumaris, you are

in texas. the trigger law just went to into effect and makes it a crime for you to perform an abortion. you face a $100,000 fine and life in prison. your response? dr. kumaris: this is now the third abortion ban since the overturning of dobbs. texas has been in a -- almost as 2008. on the ground this does not chan anything. abortion has not been accessible in tex for some time. people trying to access care, whether it is abortion, folks experiencing a miscarriage, if something goes wrong, or even booked with an apt topic pregnancy may not be able to get the care that they need. what is important toote with this trigger law, there are penalties of life in prison, fines of $100,000. it is another weight on health care providers shoulders as they

try to navigate what they can and cannot do. think about who they have to contact in a hospital or emergency room, contacting ethics committees. as a physician thinking about to care of a patient, the last thing i should be thinking about is which attorney i need to ask, which law i need to consider, what the penalties might be. what i have seen over the last seven years of providing abortion care in texas, politics has found its way into my exam room, health center, it has soaked its way into everything that i do as a health care provider. it is not fair because people are suffering. we have heard stories from north carolina, ohio, louisiana about what is happening to some folks. but these are stories that we hear every day. there are hundreds if not thousands of people experiencing the same thing and i'm worried that things will only get worse if we don't do anything and vote these folks out. juan: you mentioned having to consult lawyers with these new

restrictions. what is considered aiding and abetting and abortion? is that legally clear yet? dr. kumar: absolutely not. these laws are passed by politicians who are not health care providers. whether its aiding and abetting, these be descriptive for medical emergencies, these are not well-defined. there is chaos and confusion and also a chilling effect. folks providing information, physicians or nurses try to take care of people when it comes to medical emergencies, it is not well-defined. clinics and hospitals are left to figure out what they can and cannot do, figure out how much risk they can take. there are people trying to get care, information, and they are in this limbo of not ing sure what they can and cannot say. these things are starting to vary by clinic and state and it is unfair because people are suffering in the meantime. amy: you are with planned

parenthood in houston, in texas. what does texas look like now when it comes to trying to access reproductive care? how many clinics have closed? what did you do? did you perform abortion before ando not know? dr. kumar: when we were able to, we provided abortion care. the vast majority of folks that we would see qualified for an abortion in th state, closer to where they live. of course there were a number of restrictions already on the books, so the situation was not ideal. they would have to wait 24 hours, go through other hurdles to get the care they need, some couldn't go through insurance. but now with three abortion bans, today, i'm essentially not

allowed to perform abortion car to anybody if there is a viable pregnancy. the same is true for folks that present to an emergency room. if they need an ultrasound, if they need blood work, we can provide that. for folks that have had an abortion in another state, we can see them for follow-up care. folks are traveling out of state. at is what is happening in texas. folks are traveling sometimes hundreds if not thousands of miles, which means time off of work, finding childcare, navigating the multiple jobs they may have. of course there are some that are not able to travel. i have seen some that are undocumented who say cannot risk somebody nding out my documentation status, my family could be deported, i see people who are tethered to an abusive partner. i cannot travel to another state. sometimes i don't know what happens to these folks. sometimes they can make it to

another state to get the care they need, or ey are forced to stay pregnant, which is not just. they know that they cannot be pregnant, it is not the right me for them to parent, and they are left with no other option. that has been the reality for almost a year in texas. juan: dr. kumar, since the overturning of roe v. wade, sb 8, what has the climate been like in terms of harassment from antiabortion activists, potential violence to health care providers? dr. kumar: the harassment and frankly the terrorism we see among antiabortion folks has been there for some time, and remains there, even though we are not providing abortion care in texas. we still have protesters harassing patients try to access other care, whether it is planning care like contraception, or just coming in for breast and cervical care

screenings. they are harassing everyone coming into the clinic. it is also important to note that the air is outside of our clinic are closely linked to these politicians passing these laws. it is one movement that is not roed in the well-being of our patients or texans. it has to stop. we have been seeing this for some time, we have been telling politicians the harms that will happen if they pass these laws. it is exhausting as a physician to tell nonmedical people about what these violent attacks are doing, whether it is outright violence against people, or violence in terms of these racist and classes laws. these are the consequences of things playing out now. i really want to call on people to really take action. we had some success in kansas. we are hoping to have more success in november. amy: i want to quickly ask you, dr. bhavik kumar, about the federal appeals court ruling getting gender confirming --

affirming care for children. a judge panel ruling a temporary injunction that the law should remain in effect while legal challenges proceed. the whole issue of trans care and how it links to reproductive care. dr. kumar: thank you for asking the question. i think there are a lot of similarities between the two. i also provide trans care. so it is clear to me the playbook that we saw with abortion care, where it was one law, one group targeted, in this case minors, and then slowly we saw an overturning of everyone's rights. now we have roe overturned, abortion is accessible in many states. i can see a similar pattern with trans care. alabama passed a similar law, arkansas now. at the end of the day we know that this care is safe. as a physician who provis this care, who is trained to ovide this care, trans care is

lifesaving. it reduces people's suicidality, it helps them access care, especially minors. what we are seeing with the opposition, they are targeting folks in southern states and the most wonderful among us, children. this is another issue closely linked to in the antiabortion issu these folks also support anti-trans laws. as a physician, these decisions should be left to me and my patient. we should be using science and medicine and counseling our patients on what is best for them and counseling them on what they want to do with their bodies to uphold their dignity and humanity. juan: i want to bring in mini timmaraju back to the conversation. a recent decision on wednesday by a federal judge in idaho blocking portions of a trigger band on abortions. could you talk about that? mini: the department of justice

brought suit on the provision, the emergency care provision piece. in idaho, the court did say, the ban is still in place, which is problematic, but now as a patient -- again, the patient and the doctor have to prove it -- but if the patient can prove they have an emergency, they can have access in an emergency room to abortion care. this is still problematic but an important first step. this is an example of how the biden administration is taking a strong stance on reproductive freedom and reproductive rights, trying to use all the tools to intervene in some of these most problematic cases. amy: thank you for being with us. so much to talk about and we will continue to age and mini timmaraju is the president of naral pro-choice america. she speaks to us from philadelphia. dr. bhavik kumar is the medical

director of primary and trans care at planned parenthood gulf coast in houston. democracy now!