FRANKFORT, Ky. — A Republican-backed bill touted as an attempt to bring clarity to Kentucky’s near-total abortion ban was vetoed Tuesday by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, who said it would do the opposite by undermining the judgment of doctors while further imperiling the lives of pregnant women in emergency situations.

Beshear, an abortion-rights supporter who is seen as a potential candidate for the White House in 2028, followed the advice of abortion-rights supporters who urged the governor to reject the measure.

Kentucky’s GOP supermajority legislature will have a chance to override Beshear’s veto when lawmakers reconvene Thursday for the final two days of this year’s 30-day session.

The bill’s supporters said it’s meant to offer clarity to doctors now fearful of breaking Kentucky law for terminating pregnancies while treating expectant mothers with grave complications. Delving into potential life-or-death situations, the bill aims to provide clear guidelines for doctors in such emergencies while maintaining Kentucky’s strict prohibitions against abortion, supporters said.

“Although supporters of House Bill 90 claim it protects pregnant women and clarifies abortion law in Kentucky, it actually does the opposite,” Beshear said in his veto message Tuesday evening.

The governor said the bill would block access to health care and put the lives of women facing crisis pregnancies at even more risk.

Kentucky’s near-total abortion ban has been in place since a so-called trigger law took effect when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. The Bluegrass State bans abortions except when carried out to save a mother’s life. Efforts to add exceptions for cases of rape or incest or when pregnancies are nonviable have made no headway in Kentucky’s legislature.

The new legislation would create a list of emergency situations in which abortions could be done to save the mother’s life, but Beshear said it was flawed.

“The bill is silent on any other emergency situations,” the governor said in his message. “No one, including legislators, can possibly create an exhaustive list of emergency situations that may occur in a hospital or medical facility. Gaps in the law are literally a matter of life and death.”

A House Republican spokeswoman did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed states to enforce abortion bans, exceptions have been a legal and political battleground.

The Kentucky bill says doctors exercising reasonable medical judgment may take action “separating a pregnant woman from her unborn child” in such cases as: lifesaving miscarriage management; emergency intervention for sepsis and hemorrhaging; procedures necessary to prevent the death or substantial risk of death of the pregnant woman; removal of an ectopic pregnancy; treatment of a molar pregnancy.

“It’s not meant to be an exhaustive list but it is the most common issues that physicians and mothers, who are facing a crisis pregnancy, are facing,” Republican state Rep. Kimberly Poore Moser said during a House debate on the measure.

In touting the bill, GOP state Rep. Jason Nemes said it would ensure that women “facing life-threatening situations receive timely, appropriate medical care, and gives providers the legal certainty they need to act decisively.”

Beshear faulted the bill for not containing language used by medical professionals.

“It also substitutes a physician’s best clinical judgment with an ambiguous, unworkable ‘reasonable medical judgment’ standard that will make doctors hesitant to provide life-saving care for fear someone other than the treating doctor, like a prosecutor or a court, may after the fact find it ‘unreasonable,’” Beshear said. “These barriers to treatment could delay access to evidence-based and lifesaving care.”

Addia Wuchner, executive director of Kentucky Right to Life, was among the bill’s advocates, telling a legislative panel: “This is medical care that needs to take place in the commonwealth.”

David Walls, executive director of The Family Foundation, a socially conservative group, said the veto showed that Beshear is a “mouthpiece” for abortion-rights groups. Walls called it “pro-mom and pro-baby” bill meant to add clarity to Kentucky law to protect maternal health.

Abortion-rights supporter Tamarra Wieder, Kentucky State director for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, said Beshear “put patients over politics” with his veto.

“HB 90 was never about clarity or compassion,” she said in a statement. “It ignored medical standards, used anti-abortion rhetoric like ‘maternal-fetal separation’ and would have forced doctors to delay care during medical emergencies.”

MILWAUKEE — As the candidates for a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat squared off in a recent debate before early voting, one issue came up first and dominated at the start.

“Let’s talk about abortion rights,” the moderator said.

The winner of the April 1 election could hold the power to determine the fate of any future litigation over abortion because the outcome of the race for a vacancy on the state’s highest court will decide whether liberals or conservatives hold a majority.

Abortion has become a central plank of the platform for the Democratic-backed candidate, Dane County Judge Susan Crawford, in part because of its effect on voter turnout, although to a lesser extent than during a heated 2023 state Supreme Court race that flipped the court to a liberal majority. Brad Schimel, a former state attorney general, is the Republican-supported candidate.

“Abortion of course remains a top issue,” said Charles Franklin, a Marquette University political scientist. “But we haven’t seen either candidate be as outspoken on hot-button issues as we saw in 2023.”

Democrats are hoping voters will be motivated by the potential revival of an abortion ban from 1849, which criminalizes “the willful killing of an unborn quick child.” The Wisconsin Supreme Court is currently deciding whether to reactivate the 175-year-old ban.

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin filed a separate lawsuit in February asking the court to rule on whether a constitutional right to abortion exists in the state.

The 19th century law was enacted just a year after Wisconsin became a state, when lead mining and the lumber industry formed the bedrock of the state’s economy as white settlers rushed into areas left vacant by forced removals of Native American tribes.

It also was a time when combinations of herbs stimulating uterine contractions were the most common abortion method, said Kimberly Reilly, a history and gender studies professor at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

“During this time, there were no women in statehouses,” Reilly said. “When a woman got married, she lost her legal identity. Her husband became her legal representative. She couldn’t own property in her name. She couldn’t make a contract.”

This is the latest instance of long-dormant restrictions influencing current abortion policies after the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade, which had granted a federal right to abortion.

The revival of an 1864 Arizona abortion law, enacted when Arizona was a territory, sparked a national outcry last year. Century-old abortion restrictions passed by all-male legislatures during periods when women could not vote — and scientific knowledge of pregnancy and abortion were limited — have also influenced post-Roe abortion policies in Alabama, Arkansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas and West Virginia.

Those laws tend to be more severe. They often do not include exceptions for rape and incest, call for the imprisonment of providers and ban the procedure in the first few weeks of pregnancy. Some have since been repealed, while others are being challenged in court.

During the state Supreme Court debate March 12, Crawford declined to weigh in directly on the 1849 abortion case but promoted her experience representing Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin and “making sure that women could make their own choices about their bodies and their health care.” In an ad released Wednesday, she accused Schimel of not trusting “women to make their own healthcare decisions.”

Schimel calls himself “pro-life” and has previously supported leaving Wisconsin’s 1849 abortion ban on the books. He dodged questions about abortion during the debate, saying he believes the issue should be left up to voters, although Wisconsin does not have a citizen-led ballot initiative process, which voters in several other states have used to protect abortion rights.

Anthony Chergosky, a University of Wisconsin-La Crosse political scientist, said Schimel has been “borrowing from the Republican playbook of avoiding the issue of abortion” by leaving the question to voters in individual states.

The message has still gotten across to many Democratic voters, who cited abortion as a top issue while waiting in line for early voting this past week.

Jane Delzer, a 75-year-old liberal voter in Waukesha, said “a woman’s right to choose is my biggest motivator. I’m deeply worried about what Schimel may do on abortion.”

June Behrens, a 79-year-old retired teacher, spoke about a loved one’s abortion experience: “Everyone makes their own choice and has their own journey in life, and they deserve that right.”

Republican voters primarily cited immigration and the economy as their top issues, essentially the same ones that helped propel Republican Donald Trump’s win over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris last November in the presidential election. But others said they also wanted conservative social views reflected on the court.

Lewis Titus, a 72-year-old volunteer for the city of Eau Claire, said restricting abortion was his top issue in the Supreme Court race: “I believe that Brad Schimel is the one to carry that on.”

While it’s one of the key issues this year, abortion played a much larger role two years ago, when a race for Wisconsin’s highest court demonstrated how expensive and nationalized state Supreme Court races have become.

This year’s campaigns have focused primarily on “criminal sentencing and attempting to paint one another as soft on crime,” said Howard Schweber, a University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor emeritus.

Crawford also has tried to make the race a referendum on Trump after his first months in office and tech billionaire Elon Musk, who is running Trump’s massive federal cost-cutting initiative and has funded two groups that have together spent more than $10 million to promote Schimel.

“Two years ago, abortion was a hugely mobilizing issue, and we saw that clearly in the lead-up to the election,” Schweber said. “We’re seeing some of this but not to the same extent, which really makes no sense. The issues and stakes are exactly the same.”

The decision to elevate other issues might be the result of anxiety among Democrats that abortion may not resonate as deeply as they once believed after significant election losses in November, despite Harris using abortion as a pillar of her campaign, several Wisconsin politics experts said.

Charles Franklin, a Marquette University political scientist, said he believes abortion will motivate Democrats, but the issue may not rank high in the priorities of independent voters, who he says will be central to the race’s outcome.

“In the early days after Roe v. Wade was overturned, it was still a very hot issue for voters,” he said. “But as states have codified their abortion laws, the issue doesn’t seem to motivate voters to the same extent. In the fall, many Democrats believed abortion was still this magic silver bullet and would win them the presidential and Senate races. But the outcomes didn’t seem to support that.”

___

Associated Press video journalist Mark Vancleave in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, contributed to this report.

___

The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

MADISON, Wis. — Candidates in a race that will determine ideological control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court will square off Wednesday in their only scheduled debate before the April 1 election.

The contest, which has caught the attention of presidential adviser Elon Musk, will be a litmus test early in President Donald Trump’s term in a key presidential swing state. Control of the court is on the line as it faces cases over abortion and reproductive rights, the strength of public sector unions, voting rules and congressional district boundaries.

The race pits Waukesha County Circuit Judge Brad Schimel, a former Republican attorney general, against Dane County Circuit Judge Susan Crawford, who is backed by Democrats and is running in her first statewide race.

Here is a look at some of the key issues:

Crawford is backed by Planned Parenthood and represented the group in a pair of abortion-related cases when she was an attorney in private practice. She supports abortion rights and has said the U.S. Supreme Court was wrong to overturn Roe v. Wade. Much of her campaign against Schimel has focused on his past opposition to abortion, including when he was attorney general.

Schimel, who is supported by anti-abortion groups, has said he believes that an 1849 state law banning abortions is still “valid” and that there is no right to an abortion under the state constitution. He was also criticized by Crawford and current justices on the court after he said the liberal majority was ” driven by their emotions ” on a pending abortion case.

Both candidates have repeatedly said their personal views on abortion would not affect how they would rule.

As an attorney, Crawford sued in an attempt to overturn the state’s law that effectively ended collective bargaining for public workers. That law, known as Act 10, was the centerpiece of former Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s tenure and made Wisconsin the center of the national debate over union rights.

A Dane County judge last year ruled that the bulk of the law was unconstitutional, and an appeal of that ruling is expected to come before the state Supreme Court.

When Schimel was attorney general, he said he would defend Act 10 and opposed having its restrictions also applied to police and firefighter unions, which were exempt from the law.

Crawford also sued to overturn the state’s voter ID law, but lost. A measure on the April 1 ballot would enshrine that law in the state constitution — an attempt by Republicans to make it more difficult to undo.

Whether Schimel did enough as attorney general to clear the state’s backlog of untested sexual assault evidence has been a central attack from Crawford and her allies.

Schimel took more than two years to test about 4,000 kits sitting unanalyzed on police department and hospital shelves. He has said that the state Justice Department needed time to inventory the kits and struggled to find private labs to test them because labs were overwhelmed with untested kits from other states.

In 2014, the state Justice Department learned of about 6,800 sexual assault evidence kits that had not been tested. Wisconsin cleared its backlog of untested kits in 2019, the year after Schimel left office.

Many of the television ads in the race have focused on specific cases Crawford and Schimel have handled as judges, with both sides claiming the other is weak on crime.

Schimel previously worked as the Waukesha County district attorney and has racked up endorsements from law enforcement officials, including a majority of the state’s county sheriffs, the Wisconsin Fraternal Order of Police and the Milwaukee Police Association.

Crawford worked as a prosecutor for the attorney general’s office under a Democrat and has the backing of the sheriffs of Milwaukee and Dane counties, as well as dozens of judges from around the state.

The winner will determine whether the court remains under majority control of liberal justices as it has since 2023, or whether it will flip back to conservative control as it had been for 15 years prior to that.

The race has become nationalized thanks to groups funded by Musk that have spent more than $8 million in support of Schimel. Crawford also has benefitted from donations from prominent national Democrats such as philanthropist George Soros and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, but they haven’t kept pace with Musk’s spending.

Donald Trump Jr. and political activist Charlie Kirk plan to co-host a town hall on Monday in Wisconsin that’s being billed as a get-out-the vote effort for Schimel.

WASHINGTON — His group spent nearly $1 million on ads opposing Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump’s pick to lead the nation’s health agencies. He’s delivering speeches urging the president to stand with longstanding foreign allies and lobbying members of Congress while aides write letters and opinion columns.

This weekend, he posted an article he penned more than a decade ago on the limits of presidential power after Trump claimed that, “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.”

Mike Pence is emerging as one of the last Republicans in Washington willing to publicly criticize the new administration.

It’s an especially jarring role for the former vice president, whose refusal to break with Trump defined their time together in office until the two had a falling out over Trump’s refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election and his efforts to remain in power.

Pence and those who work with him at Advancing American Freedom, his political advocacy group, stress they are not looking to take on the “Never Trump” mantle. They intend to praise the administration when they agree with it, while raising concerns when they don’t, advocating for longtime conservative principles that have fallen out of favor as Trump’s “Make America Great Again” brand of populism has taken hold.

“We’re calling balls and strikes here,” Pence told The Associated Press.

Pence opposed Kennedy — who has since been confirmed as secretary of health and human services — due to Kennedy’s past comments voicing support for abortion rights. His group is now lobbying against Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Trump’s pick for labor secretary, accusing her of being pro-union, and plans to spend the coming months pushing to increase military spending, shrink the deficit, and make permanent 2017 tax cuts, as well as trying to convince Trump to stop slapping tariffs on allies.

The AP recently sat down with Pence to discuss his efforts and his relationship with Trump — including a closely watched handshake at the funeral of President Jimmy Carter and his wife’s lack of reaction as the 45th and 47th president took his seat.

Here is a transcript of that conversation, which has been lightly edited for space and clarity:

Pence: “To be an anchor to windward … I came across that line I think in a Herman Melville book a long time ago.”

“The wind blows in the direction of more government. And I think it’s a role of conservatives to anchor the party so that when the wind blows, you put the anchor to windward so you stay grounded and hopefully do some small part to hold, you know, hold the ship of state on the principles that really minted my career in this movement.”

“A strong defense, to American leadership of the free world, limited government, fiscal responsibility, growth, the right to life, traditional values — those were the values that drew me to the Republican Party. And I still think that they are the timeless ideals of the party of Lincoln. And so I want to do my part, even as a former elected official, to use whatever remains of my bully pulpit to be a champion for those principles.”

Pence: “Well, for me, it’s always principles first. It’s not personal. I went to the inauguration last month and I was very moved in the outpouring of kind words and expressions of appreciation from former colleagues, including many members of the new administration who I encountered in hallways. And I saw Secretary of State (Marco) Rubio. I gave him a hug, told him how proud I was of him. We had praised him from here when he was selected. I must have seen about or interacted with about half the incoming Cabinet.”

“We went to the Carter funeral. And the president and I had a very cordial exchange. You know, he was coming down the row in front of us at the National Cathedral and he said, ‘Hi, Mike.’ And I was standing up, extended my hand, and I said, ‘Congratulations, Mr. President.’ And I could see his countenance softened. And he said, ‘Thanks.’ And Melania reached out and I said, ‘Congratulations, Melania.’ And it was, you know, the people that know me know it’s not personal. I’ve long since forgiven the president for any differences that we had at the end of our administration. We still have those differences as the president still holds the view that, to my knowledge, that I had some authority that I did not have under the Constitution or laws of the country. But from my heart, I’ve prayed often for the president.”

“And so, to answer your question, I think that the way we want to approach this is with integrity to principle. And I’m very encouraged. I think the Trump administration is off to a great start … I’m very pleased about the president undoing Biden’s border policies and putting back into place the policies that we had negotiated and established that secured the border. But you know, with regard to the nomination of RFK … for me, it would begin and end with the right to life … I saw the nomination of an abortion rights supporter to be secretary of HHS to be a dramatic departure from 50 years of strong pro-life leadership at HHS under Republican administrations. So we thought it was important to speak out. And we got a lot of quiet encouragement about that.”

“Well, we got a lot of quiet encouragement from people that, for whatever reason, didn’t feel compelled to join us in that chorus. But I thought it was an important point for us to make. And, you know, we’ll continue to be a champion.”

Pence: “I never speculate on motives. You know, I’m not new to town. I’ve waged lonely battles before.”

“But you know, you have to be willing to step out and lead. And my hope is that even in the wake of this fight that, you know, the Senate has worked its will, the president will get his choice at HHS. My hope is that when the next issue of life comes up, that people will have been encouraged, emboldened to know that they’re not alone.”

Pence: “Well now you hit it. Now you’re on it. I don’t think — look, I think some of the prominent voices in the party have embraced a more populist thinking. I don’t believe the overwhelming majority of people that ever vote Republican think any differently than they thought during our administration when we hewed to a conservative agenda or the years before or since.”

“Let me give you one anecdote. So I’m at a town hall meeting when I’m running for president. And at the end of the town hall meeting — it was well-attended, it was in Iowa — a farmer walked up to me and he said, ‘It was a great town hall meeting. I agree with everything you say.’ You know, and I argued for — this was literally in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack. And I argued for strong American support for Israel, strong American leadership in the world, continued support for Ukraine in their fight and limited government and bringing about reforms to put our fiscal house in order and right to life.

And this farmer says to me, he said, ‘I agree with absolutely everything you said.’ So I said, ‘Well, can I count on your vote?’ And he said, ‘No, I got to be for Trump this time.’ And he goes, ‘But I’ll see you in four years. You’re going to be a great president someday.’ I said, ‘Would you mind telling me, you know, why?’ And he said words I never forgot, which was in effect: He lamented Biden’s failed record. And I saw that he was drawn to the need for a rematch. And then he said, ‘Plus, if they can do that to a former president, they can do that to me.’ And the ‘lawfare’ stuff went into higher relief.

“So I didn’t see in this last election a Republican Party that was embracing big government or a vision to pull back from America’s commitments on the world stage or marginalizing the right to life. I didn’t see that traveling all over the country and I still don’t see it. I think there were other factors that gave the former president a decided advantage in the election. He’d earned it. He’d won it. And then he won it in the fall. But I don’t think the party’s changed.”

(At the funeral, former second lady Karen Pence refused to acknowledge the then-president elect or shake Melania Trump’s hands — footage that ended up going viral online.)

Pence: “My wife loves her husband. And I love my wife and I have great respect for her. And so — but I’ve been really moved at how many people around the country have thanked us both for that day.

“But again, you know, I want to emphasize, we’re eyes forward here. You know, I’d always thought the president was going to come around on the position he took on Jan. 6. If you read the end of my book, which I’d be flattered if you did, you’ll read we actually parted on very amicable terms, very good terms. But in the spring, when he returned to the rhetoric about how I could have done something that neither the Constitution nor the law would ever permit any vice president to do, then I just decided it was important to go our separate ways. But hope springs eternal. And we want to be a constructive force for the conservative agenda. I think that’s good for the administration. It’s good for the Congress. More importantly, it’s good for America.”

WASHINGTON — His group spent nearly $1 million on ads opposing Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump’s pick to lead the nation’s health agencies. He’s delivering speeches urging the president to stand with longstanding foreign allies and lobbying members of Congress while aides write letters and opinion columns.

This weekend, he posted an article he penned more than a decade ago on the limits of presidential power after Trump claimed that, “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.”

Mike Pence is emerging as one of the last Republicans in Washington willing to publicly criticize the new administration.

It’s an especially jarring role for the former vice president, whose refusal to break with Trump defined their time together in office until the two had a falling out over Trump’s refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election and his efforts to remain in power.

Pence and those who work with him at Advancing American Freedom, his political advocacy group, stress they are not looking to take on the “Never Trump” mantle. They intend to praise the administration when they agree with it, while raising concerns when they don’t, advocating for longtime conservative principles that have fallen out of favor as Trump’s “Make America Great Again” brand of populism has taken hold.

“We’re calling balls and strikes here,” Pence told The Associated Press.

Pence opposed Kennedy — who has since been confirmed as secretary of health and human services — due to Kennedy’s past comments voicing support for abortion rights. His group is now lobbying against Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Trump’s pick for labor secretary, accusing her of being pro-union, and plans to spend the coming months pushing to increase military spending, shrink the deficit, and make permanent 2017 tax cuts, as well as trying to convince Trump to stop slapping tariffs on allies.

The AP recently sat down with Pence to discuss his efforts and his relationship with Trump — including a closely watched handshake at the funeral of President Jimmy Carter and his wife’s lack of reaction as the 45th and 47th president took his seat.

Here is a transcript of that conversation, which has been lightly edited for space and clarity:

Pence: “To be an anchor to windward … I came across that line I think in a Herman Melville book a long time ago.”

“The wind blows in the direction of more government. And I think it’s a role of conservatives to anchor the party so that when the wind blows, you put the anchor to windward so you stay grounded and hopefully do some small part to hold, you know, hold the ship of state on the principles that really minted my career in this movement.”

“A strong defense, to American leadership of the free world, limited government, fiscal responsibility, growth, the right to life, traditional values — those were the values that drew me to the Republican Party. And I still think that they are the timeless ideals of the party of Lincoln. And so I want to do my part, even as a former elected official, to use whatever remains of my bully pulpit to be a champion for those principles.”

Pence: “Well, for me, it’s always principles first. It’s not personal. I went to the inauguration last month and I was very moved in the outpouring of kind words and expressions of appreciation from former colleagues, including many members of the new administration who I encountered in hallways. And I saw Secretary of State (Marco) Rubio. I gave him a hug, told him how proud I was of him. We had praised him from here when he was selected. I must have seen about or interacted with about half the incoming Cabinet.”

“We went to the Carter funeral. And the president and I had a very cordial exchange. You know, he was coming down the row in front of us at the National Cathedral and he said, ‘Hi, Mike.’ And I was standing up, extended my hand, and I said, ‘Congratulations, Mr. President.’ And I could see his countenance softened. And he said, ‘Thanks.’ And Melania reached out and I said, ‘Congratulations, Melania.’ And it was, you know, the people that know me know it’s not personal. I’ve long since forgiven the president for any differences that we had at the end of our administration. We still have those differences as the president still holds the view that, to my knowledge, that I had some authority that I did not have under the Constitution or laws of the country. But from my heart, I’ve prayed often for the president.”

“And so, to answer your question, I think that the way we want to approach this is with integrity to principle. And I’m very encouraged. I think the Trump administration is off to a great start … I’m very pleased about the president undoing Biden’s border policies and putting back into place the policies that we had negotiated and established that secured the border. But you know, with regard to the nomination of RFK … for me, it would begin and end with the right to life … I saw the nomination of an abortion rights supporter to be secretary of HHS to be a dramatic departure from 50 years of strong pro-life leadership at HHS under Republican administrations. So we thought it was important to speak out. And we got a lot of quiet encouragement about that.”

“Well, we got a lot of quiet encouragement from people that, for whatever reason, didn’t feel compelled to join us in that chorus. But I thought it was an important point for us to make. And, you know, we’ll continue to be a champion.”

Pence: “I never speculate on motives. You know, I’m not new to town. I’ve waged lonely battles before.”

“But you know, you have to be willing to step out and lead. And my hope is that even in the wake of this fight that, you know, the Senate has worked its will, the president will get his choice at HHS. My hope is that when the next issue of life comes up, that people will have been encouraged, emboldened to know that they’re not alone.”

Pence: “Well now you hit it. Now you’re on it. I don’t think — look, I think some of the prominent voices in the party have embraced a more populist thinking. I don’t believe the overwhelming majority of people that ever vote Republican think any differently than they thought during our administration when we hewed to a conservative agenda or the years before or since.”

“Let me give you one anecdote. So I’m at a town hall meeting when I’m running for president. And at the end of the town hall meeting — it was well-attended, it was in Iowa — a farmer walked up to me and he said, ‘It was a great town hall meeting. I agree with everything you say.’ You know, and I argued for — this was literally in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack. And I argued for strong American support for Israel, strong American leadership in the world, continued support for Ukraine in their fight and limited government and bringing about reforms to put our fiscal house in order and right to life.

And this farmer says to me, he said, ‘I agree with absolutely everything you said.’ So I said, ‘Well, can I count on your vote?’ And he said, ‘No, I got to be for Trump this time.’ And he goes, ‘But I’ll see you in four years. You’re going to be a great president someday.’ I said, ‘Would you mind telling me, you know, why?’ And he said words I never forgot, which was in effect: He lamented Biden’s failed record. And I saw that he was drawn to the need for a rematch. And then he said, ‘Plus, if they can do that to a former president, they can do that to me.’ And the ‘lawfare’ stuff went into higher relief.

“So I didn’t see in this last election a Republican Party that was embracing big government or a vision to pull back from America’s commitments on the world stage or marginalizing the right to life. I didn’t see that traveling all over the country and I still don’t see it. I think there were other factors that gave the former president a decided advantage in the election. He’d earned it. He’d won it. And then he won it in the fall. But I don’t think the party’s changed.”

(At the funeral, former second lady Karen Pence refused to acknowledge the then-president elect or shake Melania Trump’s hands — footage that ended up going viral online.)

Pence: “My wife loves her husband. And I love my wife and I have great respect for her. And so — but I’ve been really moved at how many people around the country have thanked us both for that day.

“But again, you know, I want to emphasize, we’re eyes forward here. You know, I’d always thought the president was going to come around on the position he took on Jan. 6. If you read the end of my book, which I’d be flattered if you did, you’ll read we actually parted on very amicable terms, very good terms. But in the spring, when he returned to the rhetoric about how I could have done something that neither the Constitution nor the law would ever permit any vice president to do, then I just decided it was important to go our separate ways. But hope springs eternal. And we want to be a constructive force for the conservative agenda. I think that’s good for the administration. It’s good for the Congress. More importantly, it’s good for America.”

TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey is going to build up a supply of medication used in abortions, Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy announced Tuesday during his state of the state address as he both pledged to work with President-elect Donald Trump and warned that the state is ready to push back against the incoming administration.

Murphy is one of a handful of Democratic governors who criticized Trump on the campaign trail yet now say they’re open to cooperation. But Murphy said he will not back down in the face of “anti-choice” policies supported by the Republican majorities in Congress. He said the state will stockpile mifepristone “so every woman can access this crucial form of reproductive care.”

“I will never back away from partnering with the Trump Administration where our priorities align,” Murphy said during his address before a joint meeting of the Democrat-led Legislature. “But just as importantly, I will never back down from defending our New Jersey values — if and when they are tested.”

New Jersey joins other Democrat-led states, including Massachusetts and California in stockpiling mifepristone, one of two drugs used in combination used to end pregnancies.

During an interview with NBC News last month, Trump said he doesn’t plan to restrict medication abortion but he also seemed to leave the door open, saying “things change.” Abortion rights groups are particularly concerned that Trump’s choice for attorney general, Pam Bondi, may revive the Comstock Act, an anti-vice law passed by Congress in 1873 that, among other things, bans the mailing of medication or instruments used in abortion.

Tuesday’s speech was Murphy’s second-to-last, and he emphasized his reluctance to become a lame-duck governor in the final stretch of his second term. Among the other proposals he unveiled, Murphy said he would direct schools to ban cellphones in grades K-12.

“Our children are inundated with screens,” he said. “And they are making it incredibly difficult for our kids, not only to learn, but to retain the substance of what they learn.”

Murphy is entering the final 12 months of his second term, coinciding with the dawn of a second Trump administration, just as the beginning of his governorship overlapped with Trump’s first term.

Murphy has defined himself as progressive and ran for reelection that way. But his 2021 victory was far narrower than many expected and his party’s losses in the Legislature saw the Democrats refocus on affordability issues like property tax relief.

“During this final chapter of our journey, our absolute top priority — as it has been since Day One — is delivering economic security and opportunity to every New Jerseyan,” Murphy said.

Now Murphy’s legacy — which includes a lengthy list of legislation thanks to the Democrat-led Legislature like tightening gun laws, legalizing recreational marijuana, taxing the wealthy and boosting education funding — is set against the backdrop of a pitched Democratic primary.

Term-limited from seeking another four years in office, Murphy will be turning the reins of the party over to the eventual winner of a six-person field running for governor in this year’s contest. New Jersey and Virginia are the only two states regularly scheduled with gubernatorial races this year.

Murphy’s vision for the state also coincides with a Democratic Party angling for a way forward and a vote-getting national message after last year’s loss to Trump and the GOP victories, narrow as they are, in Congress.

The speech, analogous to the presidential state of the union address but at the state level, amounts to a blueprint for how the governor wants the year to unfold.

Legislation he sought last year to bar debt collectors from divulging patients’ medical debts to consumer credit reporting agencies, for instance, was enacted. He also succeeded in getting legislation overhauling affordable housing requirements are managed in the state.

But the speech can also underscore how limited the governor’s power can be. Last year, he called for legislation to permit 16-year-olds to vote in school board elections. The measure hasn’t advanced in the Legislature, though he reiterated his call for the bill on Tuesday. He also called for an “artificial intelligence moonshot.” So far, a task force the governor established has issued a report calling for the state to embrace generative AI.

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously preserved access in June to mifepristone, which is used in nearly two-thirds of abortions. The case before the court threatened to cut back access to the drug, including in states where abortion is legal. Abortion is banned at all stages of pregnancy in 14 states, and after about six weeks of pregnancy in three others, often before women realize they’re pregnant.

SANTA FE, N.M. — The New Mexico Supreme Court on Thursday struck down abortion restrictions by conservative cities and counties at the request of the state attorney general.

The unanimous opinion reinforces the state’s position as having some of the most liberal abortion laws in the country. The ruling preserves access to abortion procedures across a state that has become a major destination for people from other states with bans who seek procedures elsewhere.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Taylor Cagnacci moved from California to Tennessee with hopes of starting a new chapter in a state that touts a low cost of living and natural beauty.

But she’s infuriated by Tennessee’s meager social services, which leave her and many other moms struggling in a state where abortion is banned with limited exceptions.

“I was going to have my child no matter what, but for other women, that’s kind of a crappy situation that they put you in,” said Cagnacci, a 29-year-old Kingsport mom who relies on Medicaid and a federally funded nutrition program. “You have to have your child. But where’s the assistance afterward?”

Tennessee has a porous safety net for mothers and young children, recent research and an analysis by The Associated Press found. It’s unknown how many women in the state have given birth because they didn’t have access to abortion, but it is clear that from the time a Tennessee woman gets pregnant, she faces greater obstacles to a healthy pregnancy, a healthy child and a financially stable family than the average American mom.

Like other states with strict abortion bans, Tennesseans of childbearing age are more likely to live in maternal care deserts and face overall doctor shortages. Women, infants and children are less likely to be enrolled in a government nutrition program known as WIC. And Tennessee is one of only 10 states that hasn’t expanded Medicaid to a greater share of low-income families.

“It’s survival, every day,” said Janie Busbee, founder of Mother to Mother, a Nashville-based nonprofit providing baby supplies for low-income moms. “If we took some of that stress off of them, then maybe they’d have time to dream.”

GOP state leaders in Tennessee and other states that banned abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 argue that they are bolstering services for families.

Tennessee boosted its Medicaid coverage for mothers in 2022 from 60 days postpartum to a year, which allowed an additional 3,000 moms to use the program each year.

The state also raised the Medicaid income limit for parents to the poverty level — nearly $26,000 for a family of three — and offers recipients 100 free diapers a month for babies under two. According to the governor’s office, these changes have resulted in thousands of new parents accessing government services.

“Pro-life is much more than defending the lives of the unborn,” Republican Gov. Bill Lee said in his 2023 annual address to lawmakers and echoed more recently on social media. “This is not a matter of politics. This is about human dignity.”

Yet, nonprofit leaders and mothers told the AP there are still significant gaps in the safety net.

Anika Chillis, a 39-year-old single mom in Memphis, has Medicaid, WIC and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as food stamps). While she’s deeply grateful for the help, she said it also can disappear — like when she temporarily lost WIC.

“It’s hard,” she said, sitting on a park bench as her 2-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter played nearby. “Groceries are constantly going up.” And being a single mom “makes it doubly hard on you.”

Tennessee fared poorly at WIC enrollment, Medicaid, having enough maternal care and requirements for paid family and medical leave, an October study found.

Other states with similarly restrictive abortion laws — such as Idaho, Alabama, Missouri, Georgia and Mississippi — ranked poorly on numerous measures, too. Researchers said restrictive states had a slightly higher average birth rate and a much lower average abortion rate than the least restrictive states.

“In general, these states that restrict abortion are the more fiscally conservative, the more socially conservative states,” said Dr. Nigel Madden, lead author of the study published in the American Journal of Public Health.

The Republican supermajority in the Tennessee legislature has long rebuffed efforts to expand Medicaid to people earning up to 138% of the federal poverty level — about $35,600 for a family of three. And TennCare faces criticism already, with a federal judge ruling earlier this year that the state unlawfully terminated coverage for thousands of families and had a “lethargic” response to nearly 250,000 children losing coverage because of paperwork problems caused by the state.

DiJuana Davis, 44, was among the plaintiffs. In 2019, the Nashville resident was supposed to have surgery to prevent pregnancy and ease her chronic anemia. Days before the procedure, she was informed her Medicaid coverage had been cut off and the hospital was canceling.

She later found out her renewal paperwork went to the wrong address, an error that left her uninsured for two months — during which she became pregnant and developed preeclampsia. Doctors induced labor to save her life, and her son was born prematurely.

“The system is broken,” she said, “and it needs to be fixed.”

More than 3% of the 83,000 babies born in Tennessee in 2023 had mothers who didn’t receive prenatal care. Only seven states had a higher share, according to an AP analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

After birth, doctor shortages impede ongoing care. Around a third of Tennesseans live in a primary care shortage area — a greater share than in all but 10 other states — according to an AP analysis of data from the Census Bureau and the Health Resources and Services Administration.

Moms described several aid programs as frustrating to navigate. Chillis was on WIC for several months after her son was born, but then went without because of mistake during the renewal process — eventually getting it restored with help from the nonprofit Tennessee Justice Center.

Chillis credits a nonprofit preschool provider with linking her to aid programs in the first place: “I don’t see a lot of advertisements about, you know, how you can join this program or go get this” service, she said. “People just don’t have the knowledge.”

Cagnacci, who is pregnant and has a 1-year-old, said she was on SNAP for a while but missed an appointment and was unclear about the steps after that. The process to get recertified was “such a headache” that she’s going without it.

“I just felt like it was purposely being made difficult so that I would just give up,” she said.

Women with young children in states where abortion is banned or limited to early weeks of pregnancy said it can be tough to get social services there, according to a survey by the health policy research organization KFF. Nearly half said it’s difficult for women in their state to get food stamps, for example, compared with 3 in 10 in states where abortion is generally available.

“People who claim to be pro-life, who advocated for these abortion bans, often suggest that these policies are designed to protect children, women and families,” said Madden, the researcher. But the weakness of the safety net shows “the hypocrisy of that argument.”

Tennessee’s new diaper program shows the deep political divisions surrounding aid programs. The Republican governor described it as an effort to strengthen families while Democratic state Sen. London Lamar said GOP leaders are “trying to put a little bow on an abortion ban.” And GOP state Sen. Mark Pody recently told the right-leaning news website Tennessee Conservative that “it is not the state’s responsibility to have a diaper for every single baby” and floated the possibility of cutting the program.

Of Tennessee’s 2.8 million households, 30% earn above the poverty level but not enough to afford the basic cost of living in their counties, according to a recent report. Often, they don’t qualify for government help.

“Some are working three jobs and still can’t survive,” said Busbee, of Mother to Mother.

A fragmented patchwork of charities can help, but they don’t cover the entire state. The Nashville Diaper Connection, for example, serves 30 counties, working with partners to provide 50 diapers a month, mostly to working families who make a bit too much for Medicaid. Other nonprofits are hindered in helping by government agencies’ income rules. And most charities are constrained by the ebb and flow of donations.

Nonprofit leaders fear their job may get harder with a new administration in Washington and a GOP-controlled Congress. Republicans could seek significant changes to federal assistance programs they’ve long criticized, like Medicaid and food stamps.

“We’ve been through four years of a Trump administration, and the goal under the Trump administration was to cut social services,” said Signe Anderson, the justice center’s senior director of nutrition advocacy. “I’m concerned … for families in Tennessee and across the country.”

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Kruesi reported from Nashville, Tennessee. AP data journalists Kasturi Pananjady and Nicky Forster contributed to this report.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.