Trvalý odkaz Pridané používateľom Anonymný (bez overenia) dňa So, 11/30/2024 - 08:35
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are asking voter to choose between an immigration crackdown and reproductive rights<br>
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As their race for the US presidency comes down to the wire, each <br>
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major candidate has leaned heavily on a favorite theme -- abortion rights for Democrat Kamala Harris and border security <br>
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for Republican Donald Trump.<br>
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In Arizona, their ideological duel has reached a white-hot peak, with both topics the subject <br>
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of fiercely debated ballot referendums.<br>
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And in this key southwestern state -- where the billionaire Trump lost to President Joe Biden in 2020 by a tiny margin of about 10,500 votes <br>
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-- every ballot truly will count.<br>
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In the mid-sized city of Tucson, hundreds of volunteers in orange T-shirts were going door-to-door to try to persuade voters to <br>
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back a ballot measure to inscribe abortion rights in the <br>
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state constitution -- and, while they're at it, to vote <br>
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for Vice President Harris.<br>
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To Grace Ireland, a 26-year-old activist, the abortion restrictions imposed <br>
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by several Republican-controlled states amount to "a public health crisis that Donald Trump and the Republicans have created."<br>
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She added, "Democrats and Kamala Harris are trying to push us forward and protect women's health care and protect our democracy and protect all people."<br>
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Une pancarte barrée du slogan "L'indifférence aux élections est dangereuse", <br>
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à Tucson, en Arizona, le 16 octobre 2024<br>
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Since 2022, when the US Supreme Court ended the constitutional <br>
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protection of federal abortion rights, Ireland, a registered nurse, has <br>
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worked in several states where abortion is banned or severely <br>
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limited.<br>
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Those restrictions have had sometimes disastrous consequences for women having <br>
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problem pregnancies or carrying nonviable fetuses when doctors refuse to treat them.<br>
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"Women are going septic and dying because they cannot receive the care that they need," she told AFP.<br>
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- 'Abortion is murder' -<br>
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As Ireland carries her message to potential voters, she noted, particularly <br>
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to young people who may be less likely to vote, that it was Donald Trump who appointed the three justices who tipped the <br>
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Supreme Court against abortion rights.<br>
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Donald Trump lors d'un meeting à Tempe, en Arizona, le 24 octobre 2024<br>
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"It's important to reiterate that Donald Trump and these abortion bans are one and the same," Ireland said.<br>
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But in Tucson there is little unanimity among young voters.<br>
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"I do think that abortion is murder," said Pedro Lopez, a 20-year-old college student.<br>
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"There are cases of incest or rape" that merit exceptions, he conceded, "but that's very small."<br>
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He also worries about the flow of undocumented migrants that have entered the country from Mexico during the Biden-Harris administration.<br>
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"People that are entering the United States illegally... should be sent back to where they came from," <br>
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he said.<br>
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"My grandparents migrated from Mexico to the United States, and they did it the right way."<br>
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So he plans not only to vote for Trump, but to back the proposal to let <br>
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local law enforcement detain, arrest and prosecute anyone suspected of having <br>
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entered the country illegally -- powers normally reserved to the border police who work <br>
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for the federal government.<br>
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"I know people that work for the Border Patrol, and they're really upset because this current administration has really tied their hands up. They're not really able to do anything," Lopez <br>
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said.<br>
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- Mixed impact -<br>
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The major political parties see the competing referendums as offering an opportunity to mobilize more people to vote -- on ballot questions at <br>
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the very heart of the two presidential campaigns.<br>
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Anti-abortion activists demonstrate outside a clinic in Phoenix, Arizona on April 18, 2024<br>
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But the referendums may not have the clear impact on the race for the White House <br>
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that activists hope.<br>
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Polls show Trump and Harris running neck-and-neck in Arizona, with <br>
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the Republican holding a very narrow lead.<br>
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Both ballot questions, meantime, have drawn strong <br>
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support and both appear likely to pass.<br>
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So the abortion issue may not be "helping Democrats in the way that they would hope," said Jenny Brian, a professor of bioethics at Arizona State University.<br>
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Many Republican women will vote both to protect abortion rights and to bring Trump <br>
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back to the White House, Brian said.<br>
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Though abortion is sometimes framed as a Democrat vs.<br>
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Republican issue, the Republican Party includes "a broad spectrum of views on the topic," an issue <br>
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that also raises conservatives' concerns about "government interference," she added.<br>
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The same dynamic applies to immigration, with the tougher language on the Arizona <br>
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ballot question finding support not just among Trump Republicans but also <br>
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"moderates and even many Democrats," said John Kavanagh, a Republican and an Arizona state <br>
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senator.<br>
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The 74-year-old Kavanagh is unimpressed by Harris's recent toughening on migration, specifically her promise to maintain the partial closing of the border Biden ordered in recent months.<br>
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The vice president, Kavanagh said, is "running away faster from her open-border policy than an illegal immigrant that runs away from the Border Patrol."<br>
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Kamala Harris and Donald