Day: January 12, 2025

SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO — The New Mexico Supreme Court on Thursday struck down abortion restrictions by conservative cities and counties, helping to ensure the state remains a go-to destination for people from other states with bans.

The unanimous opinion, in response to a request from state Attorney General Raúl Torrez, reinforces the state’s position as having some of the most liberal abortion laws in the country.

Attorneys representing the cities of Hobbs and Clovis and Lea and Roosevelt counties had argued that provisions of a federal “anti-vice” law known as the Comstock Act block courts from striking down local abortion ordinances.

But Justice C. Shannon Bacon, writing for the majority opinion, said state law precludes cities and counties from restricting abortion or regulating abortion clinics.

“The ordinances violate this core precept and invade the Legislature’s authority to regulate access to and provision of reproductive healthcare,” she wrote. “We hold the ordinances are preempted in their entirety.”

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez praised the court’s ruling Thursday, saying that the core of the argument was that state laws preempted any action by local governments to engage in activities that would infringe on the constitutional rights of citizens.

“The bottom line is simply this: Abortion access is safe and secure in New Mexico,” he said. “It’s enshrined in law by the recent ruling by the New Mexico Supreme Court and thanks to the work of the New Mexico Legislature.”

New Mexico House Speaker Javier Martínez called access to health care a basic fundamental right in New Mexico.

“It doesn’t take a genius to understand the statutory framework that we have. Local governments don’t regulate health care in New Mexico. It is up to the state,” the Albuquerque Democrat said.

Opposition to abortion runs deep in New Mexico communities along the border with Texas, which has one of the most restrictive bans in the U.S.

But Democrats, who control every statewide elected office in New Mexico and hold majorities in the state House and Senate, have moved to shore up access to abortion — before and after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, eliminating the nationwide right to abortion.

In 2021, the New Mexico Legislature repealed a dormant 1969 statute that outlawed most abortion procedures as felonies, ensuring access to abortion even after the Roe v. Wade reversal.

And in 2023, Democratic New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a bill that overrides local ordinances aimed at limiting abortion access and enacted a shield law that protects abortion providers from investigations by other states.

In September, construction began on a state-funded reproductive health and abortion clinic in southern New Mexico that will cater to local residents and people who travel from neighboring states.

The new clinic is scheduled for completion by early 2026 to provide services ranging from medical and procedural abortions to contraception, cervical cancer screenings and education about adoptions.

In Thursday’s opinion, justices said they “strongly admonish” Roosevelt County, in particular, for an ordinance that would have allowed individuals to file lawsuits demanding damages of more than $100,000 for violations of the county’s abortion ordinance.

The provision would have created “a private right of action and damages award that is clearly intended to punish protected conduct,” the court said in its opinion.

Erin Hawley, a vice president at Alliance Defending Freedom, an Arizona-based Christian legal advocacy group, is an attorney who argued on behalf of Roosevelt County in the case. On Thursday, she criticized the court’s decision and emphasized its limitations.

“Roosevelt County and other New Mexico localities should be able to enforce ordinances that comply with federal law and protect the lives of their citizens,” said Hawley, the wife of U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri. “We’re grateful that the New Mexico Supreme Court did not abandon common sense and find a so-called right to abortion in the state constitution.”

It was not immediately clear whether the ruling can be appealed in federal court or influence broader efforts to apply Comstock Act restrictions on abortion. The New Mexico Supreme Court opinion explicitly declined to address conflicts with federal law, basing its decision solely on state provisions.

Austin, Texas-based attorney Jonathan Mitchell, a former Texas solicitor general and architect of that state’s strict abortion ban, said he looked forward “to litigating these issues in other states and bringing the meaning of the federal Comstock Act to the Supreme Court of the United States.” 
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jerusalem — When a renowned Israeli TV journalist lost his ability to speak clearly because of ALS, he thought his career might be over. But now, using artificial-intelligence software that can re-create his widely recognized gravelly voice, Moshe Nussbaum — known to generations of viewers simply as “Nussi” — is making a comeback. 

Nussbaum, 71, was diagnosed two years ago with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive disease also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease that attacks nerve cells that control muscles throughout the body. 

At the time, he vowed to viewers of Israel’s Channel 12 News to continue working as long as he was physically able. But, gradually, it became more and more difficult. 

It was a devastating blow to the career of a leading, no-nonsense reporter who for more than 40 years had covered many of Israel’s most important stories from the field. He had appeared from the scenes of suicide bombing attacks and the front lines of wars in Gaza and Lebanon, and had covered scandals in Israel’s parliament and high-profile court cases. 

After Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war in Gaza, Nussbaum was unable to report from the field. It was the first war of his career he had ever sat out, he noted in a recent interview with colleagues at Channel 12, the country’s largest station. 

Even though he was having trouble moving and speaking, he launched a segment interviewing injured soldiers from Israeli hospitals. His questions were slow and halting, but he kept it up for the first half of the war. Then, as it became increasingly difficult to speak, and to be understood, his interviews became less frequent. 

On Monday, Channel 12 made the surprising announcement that it would bring Nussbaum back to the air in the coming weeks as a commentator— with the help of AI. 

“It took me a few moments to absorb it and to understand that it is me speaking now,” Nussbaum told The Associated Press via text message. “Slowly, slowly, I’m understanding the incredible meaning of this device for everyone with disabilities, including me.” 

Nussbaum will report his stories, and then write them up, using an AI program that has been trained to speak using Nussbaum’s voice. He will be filmed as if he were presenting, and his lips will be “technologically adjusted” to match the words. 

Mimicking intonation, phrasing

People with speech disorders have used traditional text-to-speech technology for years, but those voices sound robotic and flat, and lack emotion. In contrast, AI technology is trained using recordings of a person’s voice — there are thousands of hours of Nussbaum speaking thanks to his lengthy career in TV and radio — and it can mimic their intonations and phrasing. 

Thrilled by the possibilities the technology affords him, Nussbaum said he is also worried about the ease with which the technology could be used by bad actors to spread fake news and falsehoods. 

In its current form, the technology will not work for live broadcasts, so Nussbaum won’t be able to go out into the field, which is his favorite part of the job, he said. Instead, he will focus on commentary and analysis about crime and national security, his areas of expertise for decades. 

Ahead of the broadcasts, Channel 12 released a preview showing snippets of Nussbaum speaking naturally — garbled and difficult to understand — followed by the new “Nussi AI.” The new version sounds strikingly like the old Nussbaum, speaking quickly and emphatically. Nussbaum was filmed as if he was presenting the report, sitting straight with his trademark bushy eyebrows moving up and down for emphasis. 

“Honestly, this is my first time sitting here in the studio after more than a year,” AI Nussbaum says in the preview. “It feels a bit strange, and mostly, it tugs my heart.” 

AI-powered voice cloning has grown exponentially in recent years. Experts have warned that the technology can amplify phone scams, disrupt democratic elections and violate the dignity of people — living or dead — who never consented to having their voices re-created to say things they never said. 

It’s been used to produce deepfake robocalls mimicking President Joe Biden. In the U.S., authorities recently charged a high school athletic director with using AI to generate a fake audio clip of the school’s principal making racist remarks. 

But the technology also has tremendous potential to help people who have lost their ability to speak clearly. A U.S. congresswoman who cannot speak because of complications from Parkinson’s disease and a related palsy has used a similar AI program to give a speech on the House floor, and the technology has also helped a young woman who lost her voice because of a tumor. 

Channel 12 declined to say which AI program it was using. 

Nussbaum had worried that ALS would rob him of the career he loved. In an interview with Channel 12, he recounted telling his managers not to “feel like you’re pitying me, doing me a favor. The day you come to the conclusion that this is it — tell me. I’ll know how to accept it without a problem.” 

He calls his new AI-enabled persona a “magic trick” that enabled his comeback, and he believes it will raise awareness in Israel of ways that people with disabilities — especially progressive disabilities — can continue to work. 

“The fact that Channel 12 and my news managers are allowing me to reinvent myself anew, that is one of the most important medicines I can get in my fight with this disease,” he said.
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CAPE CANAVERAL — A quarter of a century after its founding, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is finally ready for its maiden orbital voyage with a brand-new rocket the company hopes will shake up the commercial space race.

The launch initially scheduled for Sunday was pushed back a day due to “unfavorable” sea conditions, Blue Origin posted on X.

Named New Glenn after legendary astronaut John Glenn — the first American to orbit Earth in 1962 — the rocket stands 320 feet (98 meters) tall, roughly equivalent to a 32-story building — and is set to blast off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in a launch window that opens at 1 a.m. (0600 GMT) Monday.

“Pointy end up!” the company’s CEO, Dave Limp posted on X alongside photos of the gleaming white behemoth.

With the mission, dubbed NG-1, Bezos, the world’s second-richest man, is taking direct aim at the world’s wealthiest: Elon Musk, whose company SpaceX dominates the orbital launch market through its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.

These serve the commercial sector, the Pentagon, and NASA — including, crucially, ferrying astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

“SpaceX has for the past several years been pretty much the only game in town and so having a competitor… this is great,” G. Scott Hubbard, a retired senior NASA official, told AFP.

SpaceX, meanwhile, is planning the next orbital test of Starship — its gargantuan new-generation rocket — the same day, upping the sense of high-stakes rivalry.

If all goes to plan, shortly after launch, Blue Origin will attempt to land the first-stage booster on a drone ship named Jacklyn, in honor of Bezos’ mother, stationed about 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) downrange in the Atlantic Ocean.

Though SpaceX makes such landings a near-routine spectacle, this will be Blue Origin’s first shot at a touchdown on the high seas.

Meanwhile, the rocket’s upper stage will fire its engines toward Earth orbit, carrying a Defense Department-funded prototype spaceship called Blue Ring, which will remain aboard for the roughly six-hour test flight.

Limp emphasized that simply reaching orbit is the prime goal, while successfully recovering the booster would be a welcome “bonus.”

Blue Origin does have experience landing its New Shepard rockets — used for suborbital tourism — but they are much smaller and land on terra firma rather than a ship at sea.

Blue Origin has secured a NASA contract to launch two Mars probes aboard New Glenn. The rocket will also support the deployment of Project Kuiper, a satellite internet constellation designed to compete with Starlink.

Like Musk, Bezos has a lifelong passion for space. But whereas Musk dreams of colonizing Mars, Bezos envisions shifting heavy industry off-planet onto floating space platforms to preserve Earth, “humanity’s blue origin.”

He founded Blue Origin in 2000 — two years before Musk created SpaceX — but has adopted a more cautious pace, in contrast to his rival’s “fail fast, learn fast” philosophy.

“There’s been impatience within the space community over Blue Origin’s very deliberate approach,” Scott Pace, a space policy analyst at George Washington University and former member of the National Space Council, told AFP.

If New Glenn succeeds, Pace added, it will give the U.S. government “dissimilar redundancy” — valuable backup if one system fails.
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