COLUMBUS, Mont. (AP) — Preliminary testing of water and air quality along a stretch of the Yellowstone River where train cars carrying hazardous materials fell into the waterway following a bridge collapse did not indicate any threat to the public, state and federal officials said Sunday.

The seven mangled cars that carried hot asphalt and molten sulfur remained in the rushing river a day after the bridge gave way near the town of Columbus, about 40 miles (about 64 kilometers) west of Billings, Montana. The area is in a sparsely populated section of the Yellowstone River Valley, surrounded by ranch and farmland.

Preliminary results of water quality sampling did not show petroleum hydrocarbons, which would have come from the asphalt, or sulfur, Kevin Stone, a spokesperson for the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, said. Both do not dissolve when they enter water, he explained.

“Water quality testing will continue until the cleanup is complete and at this time there are no known risks to the public drinking water,” he said.

The water testing is being done by contractors working for the train's operator, Montana Rail Link, while the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and the federal Environmental Protection Agency are overseeing it, Stone said.

Meanwhile, contractors monitoring the air downwind of the derailment for the EPA have not detected any toxic gases, said Rich Mylott, a spokesperson for the agency’s regional office.

Water testing began Saturday and will continue throughout the cleanup of the derailment site, Montana Rail Link spokesperson Andy Garland said in a statement.

“Montana Rail Link remains committed to addressing any potential impacts to the area as a result of this incident,” he said.

The amount of cargo that spilled from the cars in the river is still not known, said David Stamey, the head of Stillwater County Disaster and Emergency Services.

Garland said both hot asphalt and molten sulfur harden and solidify quickly when mixed with water and modeling suggests that the substances are not likely to move very far downstream.

Crews were still trying to figure out the best way to remove the cars since the crash was so extensive and there was a lot of damage to them, Stamey said.

The Federal Railroad Administration was leading the investigation into the cause of the derailment but did not have any preliminary information about the probe to share, spokesperson Daniel Griffin said.

The bridge collapse also took out a fiber-optic cable providing internet service to many customers in the state, the high-speed provider Global Net said. It was still providing service on a back-up route but some users do not have service or were experiencing very slow connections on Sunday, the company said in a recorded update on its phone line.

The Yellowstone&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/climate-floods-montana-and-environment-4bdc704074dfe199b3e6f3c5c9e402b0">saw record flooding in 2022</a>&nbsp;that caused&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/floods-united-states-climate-and-environment-waterfalls-225c370e39aa935d89693a438b704476">extensive damage to Yellowstone National Park</a>&nbsp;and adjacent towns in Montana. The river where the bridge collapsed flows away from Yellowstone National Park, which is about 110 miles (177 kilometers) southwest.

Robert Bea, a retired engineering professor at the University of California Berkeley who has analyzed the causes of hundreds of major disasters, said repeated years of heavy river flows provided a clue to the possible cause.

“The high water flow translates to high forces acting directly on the pier and, importantly, on the river bottom,” Bea said Saturday. “You can have erosion or scour that removes support from the foundation. High forces translate to a high likelihood of a structural or foundation failure that could act as a trigger to initiate the accident.”

An old highway bridge that paralleled the railroad bridge — together, they were called the Twin Bridges — was removed in 2021 after the Montana Department of Transportation determined it was in imminent danger of falling. The railroad bridge is inspected twice a year and the most recent inspection was performed in May, Garland said.

The Federal Railroad Administration will review the inspection reports to see if they complied with federal safety standards, Griffin said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/6/1687632668209.png" alt="Photo Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks" />
 <figcaption>Photo Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks</figcaption>
 </figure>COLUMBUS, Mont. (AP) — Preliminary testing of water and air quality along a stretch of the Yellowstone River where train cars carrying hazardous materials fell into the waterway following a bridge collapse did not indicate any threat to the public, state and federal officials said Sunday.The seven mangled cars that carried hot asphalt and molten sulfur remained in the rushing river a day after the bridge gave way near the town of Columbus, about 40 miles (about 64 kilometers) west of Billings, Montana. The area is in a sparsely populated section of the Yellowstone River Valley, surrounded by ranch and farmland.Preliminary results of water quality sampling did not show petroleum hydrocarbons, which would have come from the asphalt, or sulfur, Kevin Stone, a spokesperson for the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, said. Both do not dissolve when they enter water, he explained.“Water quality testing will continue until the cleanup is complete and at this time there are no known risks to the public drinking water,” he said.The water testing is being done by contractors working for the train's operator, Montana Rail Link, while the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and the federal Environmental Protection Agency are overseeing it, Stone said.Meanwhile, contractors monitoring the air downwind of the derailment for the EPA have not detected any toxic gases, said Rich Mylott, a spokesperson for the agency’s regional office.Water testing began Saturday and will continue throughout the cleanup of the derailment site, Montana Rail Link spokesperson Andy Garland said in a statement.“Montana Rail Link remains committed to addressing any potential impacts to the area as a result of this incident,” he said.The amount of cargo that spilled from the cars in the river is still not known, said David Stamey, the head of Stillwater County Disaster and Emergency Services.Garland said both hot asphalt and molten sulfur harden and solidify quickly when mixed with water and modeling suggests that the substances are not likely to move very far downstream.Crews were still trying to figure out the best way to remove the cars since the crash was so extensive and there was a lot of damage to them, Stamey said.The Federal Railroad Administration was leading the investigation into the cause of the derailment but did not have any preliminary information about the probe to share, spokesperson Daniel Griffin said.The bridge collapse also took out a fiber-optic cable providing internet service to many customers in the state, the high-speed provider Global Net said. It was still providing service on a back-up route but some users do not have service or were experiencing very slow connections on Sunday, the company said in a recorded update on its phone line.The Yellowstone&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/climate-floods-montana-and-environment-4bdc704074dfe199b3e6f3c5c9e402b0">saw record flooding in 2022</a>&nbsp;that caused&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/floods-united-states-climate-and-environment-waterfalls-225c370e39aa935d89693a438b704476">extensive damage to Yellowstone National Park</a>&nbsp;and adjacent towns in Montana. The river where the bridge collapsed flows away from Yellowstone National Park, which is about 110 miles (177 kilometers) southwest.Robert Bea, a retired engineering professor at the University of California Berkeley who has analyzed the causes of hundreds of major disasters, said repeated years of heavy river flows provided a clue to the possible cause.“The high water flow translates to high forces acting directly on the pier and, importantly, on the river bottom,” Bea said Saturday. “You can have erosion or scour that removes support from the foundation. High forces translate to a high likelihood of a structural or foundation failure that could act as a trigger to initiate the accident.”An old highway bridge that paralleled the railroad bridge — together, they were called the Twin Bridges — was removed in 2021 after the Montana Department of Transportation determined it was in imminent danger of falling. The railroad bridge is inspected twice a year and the most recent inspection was performed in May, Garland said.The Federal Railroad Administration will review the inspection reports to see if they complied with federal safety standards, Griffin said.

No sign of threat after hazardous train plunged into Yellowstone River

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Planned Parenthood plans to close three Iowa locations but provide more services at others in response to increasing demands for abortions, staff shortages and increasing costs.

The consolidation at Planned Parenthood North Central States, which provides abortions in Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa, comes as states that provide abortions have seen a sharp increase in people coming from states that have prohibited or sharply restricted the procedure, The Des Moines Register&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/health/2023/06/23/iowa-planned-parenthood-adjusts-for-increased-abortion-demand-pregnancy-supreme-court/70349946007/">reported</a>.

Leaders of the organization say they’ve performed 9% more abortions since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-supreme-court-decision-854f60302f21c2c35129e58cf8d8a7b0">Roe v. Wade last summer</a>.

“The shifting legal sands make it hard for patients to keep up, and that creates a chilling effect to accessing health care,” said Ruth Richardson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States. “This new landscape is unfair — but in all honesty, it’s been unfair for quite some time for structurally marginalized communities.”

Under the new plan in Iowa, some staff members will work at more than one location, which will prevent health centers from being routinely closed because of staff shortages, said Mazie Stilwell, spokesperson for the organization.

Abortion services will increase in Ames, Cedar Rapids, at the Susan Knapp Health Center in Des Moines, and in Omaha, Nebraska.

The Council Bluffs center will close sometime in the next year, with patients redirected to Omaha. The Rosenfield Health Center in south Des Moines will be phased out in favor of the Susan Knapp Health Center and the Ames location.

The Cedar Falls center, which has been closed because of staffing shortages, will permanently close.

“I must emphasize that, while the number of Planned Parenthood health centers will decrease, these changes will increase the number of patients that we can see,” Stilwell said.

Abortion is currently legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks of pregnancy. On June 16, the Iowa Supreme Court&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iowa-abortion-law-260563ff773b721c8a51ef6cb2c4e3b8">declined to reinstate a law</a>&nbsp;that would have banned abortions&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-laws-government-and-politics-health-77c9ba98c4f4ab46fdbd5bcc47b5b938">once cardiac activity</a>&nbsp;can be detected, usually around six weeks of pregnancy and before many women know they are pregnant.

Iowa Republicans are widely expected to attempt to pass a new law during the next session to further restrict abortion.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/6/1687782662720.png" alt="Planned Parenthood in Omaha -google image" />
 <figcaption>Planned Parenthood in Omaha -google image</figcaption>
 </figure>DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Planned Parenthood plans to close three Iowa locations but provide more services at others in response to increasing demands for abortions, staff shortages and increasing costs.The consolidation at Planned Parenthood North Central States, which provides abortions in Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa, comes as states that provide abortions have seen a sharp increase in people coming from states that have prohibited or sharply restricted the procedure, The Des Moines Register&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/health/2023/06/23/iowa-planned-parenthood-adjusts-for-increased-abortion-demand-pregnancy-supreme-court/70349946007/">reported</a>.Leaders of the organization say they’ve performed 9% more abortions since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-supreme-court-decision-854f60302f21c2c35129e58cf8d8a7b0">Roe v. Wade last summer</a>.“The shifting legal sands make it hard for patients to keep up, and that creates a chilling effect to accessing health care,” said Ruth Richardson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States. “This new landscape is unfair — but in all honesty, it’s been unfair for quite some time for structurally marginalized communities.”Under the new plan in Iowa, some staff members will work at more than one location, which will prevent health centers from being routinely closed because of staff shortages, said Mazie Stilwell, spokesperson for the organization.Abortion services will increase in Ames, Cedar Rapids, at the Susan Knapp Health Center in Des Moines, and in Omaha, Nebraska.The Council Bluffs center will close sometime in the next year, with patients redirected to Omaha. The Rosenfield Health Center in south Des Moines will be phased out in favor of the Susan Knapp Health Center and the Ames location.The Cedar Falls center, which has been closed because of staffing shortages, will permanently close.“I must emphasize that, while the number of Planned Parenthood health centers will decrease, these changes will increase the number of patients that we can see,” Stilwell said.Abortion is currently legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks of pregnancy. On June 16, the Iowa Supreme Court&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iowa-abortion-law-260563ff773b721c8a51ef6cb2c4e3b8">declined to reinstate a law</a>&nbsp;that would have banned abortions&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-laws-government-and-politics-health-77c9ba98c4f4ab46fdbd5bcc47b5b938">once cardiac activity</a>&nbsp;can be detected, usually around six weeks of pregnancy and before many women know they are pregnant.Iowa Republicans are widely expected to attempt to pass a new law during the next session to further restrict abortion.

Planned Parenthood to close some centers in Iowa, increase service in Omaha

By&nbsp;CINDY GONZALEZ <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/woman-who-shouted-shame-following-critical-gun-bill-passage-is-banned-from-nebraska-capitol/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

OMAHA — More than 2,600 Nebraska property owners have received an average of $13,418 to help stay in their homes since the state early last year launched the pandemic-related Nebraska Homeowner Assistance Fund.

The program — which aimed to prevent Nebraskans from losing their houses over COVID-19 hardships —&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/02/02/nebraska-offers-homeowners-help-after-ricketts-turns-down-more-aid-for-renters/">launched in February</a>&nbsp;2022 with a $50 million allotment from the U.S. Treasury Department.

It was part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. So far the state has distributed about $31 million.

Now officials are about to close the application portal. They are urging income-qualified homeowners to submit requests for funding by June 30.

“We want to make sure we spend and allocate all the money to people who need it,” said Robin Ambroz of the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.nifa.org/">Nebraska Investment Finance Authority</a>, which is administering the fund.

Those who visit the online portal after June 30 will get a chance to join a waiting list and be considered after those already in the queue — as long as funds remain available, Ambroz said.&nbsp;

To qualify for the assistance, household income can’t be more than 100% of a person’s&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://9242548.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9242548/HAF-Income-Limits.pdf">median income in their home county.&nbsp;</a>

At least one member of the home must have suffered financially because of the pandemic after Jan. 21, 2020. Reasons for hardship can include, for example, loss of employment or job hours and medical debt related to the pandemic.

In addition to covering mortgage delinquencies to prevent foreclosure, the funding can be used to cover past due utilities, internet service, insurance and property taxes.

(This homeowner assistance program is separate from the pandemic-related emergency rental assistance program, which targeted Nebraskans who lease, not own.)

The $50 million from the federal government for Nebraska homeowners allows up to 15% for administration fees. Homeowners are eligible to receive up to $40,000 per household (The cap originally was $30,000 but was later raised.).

So far, the average amount granted to 2,621 households receiving help has been $13,418, Ambroz said.

Funds are sent directly to the mortgage lender, utility or other service provider.&nbsp;

Ambroz said the June 30 portal closure date was tied to the program fund dipping below a certain level. She said officials want to ensure that applicants in the pipeline get attention. NIFA officials expect to have distributed all available funding before the official close of the program, in September 2025.

“I think it has gone really well,” Ambroz said of the program. “There’s been a lot of demand.”

By&nbsp;CINDY GONZALEZ <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/woman-who-shouted-shame-following-critical-gun-bill-passage-is-banned-from-nebraska-capitol/">Nebraska Examiner</a>OMAHA — More than 2,600 Nebraska property owners have received an average of $13,418 to help stay in their homes since the state early last year launched the pandemic-related Nebraska Homeowner Assistance Fund.The program — which aimed to prevent Nebraskans from losing their houses over COVID-19 hardships —&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/02/02/nebraska-offers-homeowners-help-after-ricketts-turns-down-more-aid-for-renters/">launched in February</a>&nbsp;2022 with a $50 million allotment from the U.S. Treasury Department.It was part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. So far the state has distributed about $31 million.Now officials are about to close the application portal. They are urging income-qualified homeowners to submit requests for funding by June 30.“We want to make sure we spend and allocate all the money to people who need it,” said Robin Ambroz of the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.nifa.org/">Nebraska Investment Finance Authority</a>, which is administering the fund.Those who visit the online portal after June 30 will get a chance to join a waiting list and be considered after those already in the queue — as long as funds remain available, Ambroz said.&nbsp;To qualify for the assistance, household income can’t be more than 100% of a person’s&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://9242548.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9242548/HAF-Income-Limits.pdf">median income in their home county.&nbsp;</a>At least one member of the home must have suffered financially because of the pandemic after Jan. 21, 2020. Reasons for hardship can include, for example, loss of employment or job hours and medical debt related to the pandemic.In addition to covering mortgage delinquencies to prevent foreclosure, the funding can be used to cover past due utilities, internet service, insurance and property taxes.(This homeowner assistance program is separate from the pandemic-related emergency rental assistance program, which targeted Nebraskans who lease, not own.)The $50 million from the federal government for Nebraska homeowners allows up to 15% for administration fees. Homeowners are eligible to receive up to $40,000 per household (The cap originally was $30,000 but was later raised.).So far, the average amount granted to 2,621 households receiving help has been $13,418, Ambroz said.Funds are sent directly to the mortgage lender, utility or other service provider.&nbsp;Ambroz said the June 30 portal closure date was tied to the program fund dipping below a certain level. She said officials want to ensure that applicants in the pipeline get attention. NIFA officials expect to have distributed all available funding before the official close of the program, in September 2025.“I think it has gone really well,” Ambroz said of the program. “There’s been a lot of demand.”

More than 2,600 Nebraska homeowners get help from $50 million pandemic relief fund

When I told friends and family I was reporting on the first chicken meat&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cultivated-meat-lab-grown-cell-based-a88ab8e0241712b501aa191cdbf6b39a">grown from animal cells</a>, their first comment was “Eww." Their second comment was: “How does it taste?"

The short answer (you've probably heard this sentence before in other contexts): Tastes like chicken.

The longer answer, which folds in the “Eww” response, is more nuanced. Yes, it's strange to think of eating a totally new kind of meat — chicken that doesn't come from a chicken, meat that will be sold as “cell-cultivated” chicken after the U.S. Agriculture Department on Wednesday gave the green light to two California firms, Upside Foods and Good Meat.

But it's also interesting (and exciting!) to taste test the first offerings of a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cultivated-meat-grown-cells-d92a4efa67309eb670d6b13bcca11604">new era in meat production</a>, which aims to eliminate harm to billions of animals slaughtered for food — and to dramatically reduce the environmental effects of grazing, growing feed for those animals and dealing with their animal waste.

I'm a lifelong meat eater. I'm also a victim of the “meat paradox,” a term scientists use to describe the psychological conflict that occurs in people who like to eat meat but don't like to contemplate the animals that died providing it.

As someone who has reported on food-borne illness outbreaks and slaughterhouse safety, I'm keenly aware that the chicken on my dinner plate probably suffered to get there. And that fact makes me uneasy if I dwell on it too much.

So I was open to trying a different kind of meat — and also curious to see if it would taste like the real thing.

I've tried&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/4b739c1d79a14d70acd2df836eb613fd">plant-based options</a>&nbsp;like the Beyond Meat sausage and the Impossible Burger and liked them, even though I didn't think they were perfect substitutes. To be honest, the Beyond Meat sausage tasted good, but a little mealy. And the Impossible Burger was dry, although I may have cooked it too long. In both cases, I enjoyed the taste of the products but was still aware that I wasn’t actually eating pork or beef.

What about the artificiality of it all? It didn't bother me that this new cultivated meat is made from cells that grow to epic proportions in big steel vats, only to be shaped and formed — “extruded” is the somewhat unfortunate verb that came to mind — into familiar cutlets, filets and nuggets that would look right at home on the dinner table.

But as with all food, in the end it would come down to taste. And in this case, to the larger question behind it: Is this new material in fact chicken, or is it an&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/super-bowl-boneless-wings-culinary-lie-7bae0f861af227f53318e5ddfcce771f">impostor</a>?

TIME FOR THE ALL-IMPORTANT MOUTH TEST

In January, I traveled to the Upside Foods manufacturing plant in Emeryville, California. There, chef Jess Weaver sauteed a cultivated chicken breast in a white wine butter sauce with tomatoes, capers and green onions.

The aroma was enticing, just like any filet cooked in butter would be. And the taste was light and delicate with a tender texture, just like any chicken breast I’d make at home – if, that is, I were a chef trained at the Culinary Institute of America.

Last week, I visited the Alameda, California, plant where Good Meat is poised to begin production of its chicken products. Chef Zach Tyndall was ready with a smoked chicken salad with mayonnaise, golden raisins and walnuts. He followed it with a chicken “thigh” dish — darker meat served on a bed of potato puree with a mushroom-vegetable demi-glace, golden beets and tiny purple cauliflower florets.

The taste was richer than a chicken breast, more like the dark meat of a thigh. And the texture was both tender and chewy, like a well-cooked chicken thigh should be.

“It needs to be as lifelike as possible for it to catch on,” he said.

While “lifelike” is an interesting word, from my side of the fork I think this will catch on. There are still huge hurdles — how to scale up manufacturing and pare back costs, experts say, and the lingering question of whether chicken without the bird is, in fact, chicken — but if you're basing it on authentic taste, I'll leave you with this:

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/6/1687363360861.png" alt="A prepared dish of Good Meat's cultivated chicken is shown at the Eat Just office in Alameda, Calif., Wednesday, June 14, 2023. The Agriculture Department issued final approvals Wednesday, June 21 to California firms Upside Foods and Good Meat to sell the products, known as “lab grown” or “cultivated” meat. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)" />
 <figcaption>A prepared dish of Good Meat's cultivated chicken is shown at the Eat Just office in Alameda, Calif., Wednesday, June 14, 2023. The Agriculture Department issued final approvals Wednesday, June 21 to California firms Upside Foods and Good Meat to sell the products, known as “lab grown” or “cultivated” meat. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)</figcaption>
 </figure>By JONEL ALECCIA, AP Health WriterWhen I told friends and family I was reporting on the first chicken meat&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cultivated-meat-lab-grown-cell-based-a88ab8e0241712b501aa191cdbf6b39a">grown from animal cells</a>, their first comment was “Eww." Their second comment was: “How does it taste?"<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fgoodmeat%2Fposts%2Fpfbid0114d5rGCnk48cEZR848wMs58K9WnD55tTqPXEmghghAiDg2eY758Jwfd7eHqJpidl&show_text=true&width=500" width="500" height="732" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe></div>The short answer (you've probably heard this sentence before in other contexts): Tastes like chicken.The longer answer, which folds in the “Eww” response, is more nuanced. Yes, it's strange to think of eating a totally new kind of meat — chicken that doesn't come from a chicken, meat that will be sold as “cell-cultivated” chicken after the U.S. Agriculture Department on Wednesday gave the green light to two California firms, Upside Foods and Good Meat.But it's also interesting (and exciting!) to taste test the first offerings of a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cultivated-meat-grown-cells-d92a4efa67309eb670d6b13bcca11604">new era in meat production</a>, which aims to eliminate harm to billions of animals slaughtered for food — and to dramatically reduce the environmental effects of grazing, growing feed for those animals and dealing with their animal waste.FACING UP TO THE ‘MEAT PARADOX’ I'm a lifelong meat eater. I'm also a victim of the “meat paradox,” a term scientists use to describe the psychological conflict that occurs in people who like to eat meat but don't like to contemplate the animals that died providing it.As someone who has reported on food-borne illness outbreaks and slaughterhouse safety, I'm keenly aware that the chicken on my dinner plate probably suffered to get there. And that fact makes me uneasy if I dwell on it too much.So I was open to trying a different kind of meat — and also curious to see if it would taste like the real thing.I've tried&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/4b739c1d79a14d70acd2df836eb613fd">plant-based options</a>&nbsp;like the Beyond Meat sausage and the Impossible Burger and liked them, even though I didn't think they were perfect substitutes. To be honest, the Beyond Meat sausage tasted good, but a little mealy. And the Impossible Burger was dry, although I may have cooked it too long. In both cases, I enjoyed the taste of the products but was still aware that I wasn’t actually eating pork or beef.What about the artificiality of it all? It didn't bother me that this new cultivated meat is made from cells that grow to epic proportions in big steel vats, only to be shaped and formed — “extruded” is the somewhat unfortunate verb that came to mind — into familiar cutlets, filets and nuggets that would look right at home on the dinner table.But as with all food, in the end it would come down to taste. And in this case, to the larger question behind it: Is this new material in fact chicken, or is it an&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/super-bowl-boneless-wings-culinary-lie-7bae0f861af227f53318e5ddfcce771f">impostor</a>?TIME FOR THE ALL-IMPORTANT MOUTH TEST In January, I traveled to the Upside Foods manufacturing plant in Emeryville, California. There, chef Jess Weaver sauteed a cultivated chicken breast in a white wine butter sauce with tomatoes, capers and green onions.The aroma was enticing, just like any filet cooked in butter would be. And the taste was light and delicate with a tender texture, just like any chicken breast I’d make at home – if, that is, I were a chef trained at the Culinary Institute of America.Last week, I visited the Alameda, California, plant where Good Meat is poised to begin production of its chicken products. Chef Zach Tyndall was ready with a smoked chicken salad with mayonnaise, golden raisins and walnuts. He followed it with a chicken “thigh” dish — darker meat served on a bed of potato puree with a mushroom-vegetable demi-glace, golden beets and tiny purple cauliflower florets.The taste was richer than a chicken breast, more like the dark meat of a thigh. And the texture was both tender and chewy, like a well-cooked chicken thigh should be.That, says Tyndall, is the whole point.“It needs to be as lifelike as possible for it to catch on,” he said.While “lifelike” is an interesting word, from my side of the fork I think this will catch on. There are still huge hurdles — how to scale up manufacturing and pare back costs, experts say, and the lingering question of whether chicken without the bird is, in fact, chicken — but if you're basing it on authentic taste, I'll leave you with this:Please pass the “chicken.”

Is it chicken? Here’s how the first bite of ‘cell-cultivated’ meat tastes

By SARA HERSCHANDER of The Chronicle of Philanthropy via Associated Press

KANSAS CITY —After years of rising rents, a group of Kansas City, Missouri, renters came together in 2019 to form KC Tenants, armed with an annual budget of $30,000 and demands for a bill of rights to protect renters from rising prices, unjust evictions, and landlord abuse.

Four years and one pandemic later, KC Tenants is a nonprofit tenants union with a budget that grew almost twentyfold and a track record of advocacy victories. For instance, the group got its bill of rights enacted by the city and is working to make sure all tenants have the right to a lawyer when facing evictions.

Tenants unions are membership-based groups that advocate for the collective rights of renters, often at the local level. Many operate similarly to labor unions by charging member dues, offering member benefits, and appointing tenant leaders.

The progress at KC Tenants comes as a growing number of foundations are working with a revitalized tenants movement to confront the nation’s housing crisis. The current wave of organizing is the country’s most significant since the 1970s, when inflation and momentum from the Civil Rights Movement led to rent strikes across the country and new policies like rent control.

Now rents are rising again, and tenant organizers, who led the fight for pandemic-era eviction moratoriums, have turned toward new permanent protections for tenants.

The pandemic “exposed a live wire about the lack of protections and vulnerabilities tenants face,” says Jennifer Angarita, of Funders for Housing and Opportunity, a grantmakers group. After losing their jobs during the pandemic, many tenants struggled to pay rent and would have lost their homes without eviction moratoriums.

Angarita says an increase in national grantmakers’ support for local tenant movements is part of a broader shift in philanthropy that prioritizes support for the people most closely affected by social issues.

In 2021, HouseUS, a national organizing fund that supports local tenants movements, launched with $7.5 million. It received $5.5 million from the Ford Foundation and $2 million from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which has since awarded another $4 million. The fund — which supports KC Tenants, Colorado Homes for All, the Nevada Housing Justice Alliance, and others — has continued to attract money from other large foundations. It raised more than $4 million in the past three years from grant makers such as the Oak Foundation, which provided $2 million, and the Melville Charitable Trust, which gave $200,000.

“Nothing pulls people in quite like momentum,” says Kevin Simowitz, co-director of HouseUS.

The national tenants movement has helped make recent changes across the nation:

— Keep LA Housed, Inquilinos Unidos, and others won Los Angeles City Council approval for protections that require landlords to provide clear causes, like nonpayment of rent, for evictions and relocation assistance for tenants displaced by rising rents.

— In New York, Housing Justice for All, a coalition of nonprofits, successfully fought for new laws and protections such as limitations on security deposit charges and requirements to notify tenants before making certain rent increases.

— The Miami Workers Center, a tenant collective, won approval for a countywide bill of rights protecting renters from housing discrimination based on prior evictions and a guarantee they’ll be notified if a building shifts ownership.

“Communities have been preparing for a moment when they can realize change, and I think we have it now,” says Meshie Knight, senior program officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “I see philanthropy as being able to contribute to that reimagination of a new and more equitable future.”

During the pandemic, KC Tenants became an advocate for emergency tenant protections, including a temporary eviction moratorium in the state. The group, with a budget of nearly $600,000 from both local and national grants, now employs seven full-time staff members plus tenant members who’ve led protests outside of judges’ homes and courthouses, and pursued more traditional legislative advocacy trying to keep renters in their homes.

“We were engaging in direct action to shut down evictions by whatever means we could find,” says Tara Raghuveer, founding director of KC Tenants. “Along the way, we started organizing neighborhood tenant unions.”

It’s that kind of nimbleness — and those victories — that persuaded some foundations that tenant unions should continue their work after the spread of COVID-19 eased.

At Ford, support for tenant groups is part of a shift in thinking about how philanthropy can help working class and middle class Americans as they seek a place to live. In the past, its housing grants focused on increasing the quantity of affordable housing through land-use and development efforts. Now, many of its housing grants go to organizations that advocate for tenants in a broader push for racial and economic justice, says Ethan Frey, Ford’s program officer for civic engagement and government.

He says the foundation’s restructuring emerged from the sentiment that “more work needed to be done to build political will and make more transformative changes to our housing system.”

While previous waves of tenant organizing were often led by national tenant organizations, local tenant unions have largely spearheaded the movement in recent years, Frey says. Many groups grew from the ground up during the pandemic, when they began generating momentum for citywide eviction protections.

In 2021, the HouseUS fund began ramping up its support for Missouri tenant movements outside of Kansas City. With the guidance and financial oversight of KC Tenants, HouseUS has provided $100,000 yearly since 2021 to help create a nonprofit tenants union in Cape Girardeau in rural southeast Missouri.

It’s been an uphill battle to persuade rural tenants to join the union, says Aaron Lerma, an organizer leading the campaign. Many tenants were concerned about being blacklisted from renting in the small city.

However, Lerma says, he’s seeing a growing willingness among residents to help direct what comes next — and a sense that it might lead to real change.

“That sense of fear has also contributed to a lot of hopelessness in our communities,” Lerma says. “We have to generate our own hope about what’s possible.”

Lerma spent six months knocking on doors before holding the group’s first meeting in June 2022. At that meeting, tenants shared their priorities for improving housing conditions. Cape Girardeau tenant leaders have been able to build credibility with other residents through policy work and by being their advocates. For instance, when Cape Girardeau renters are evicted or a landlord refuses to make repairs, they now have someone to call.

The group recently negotiated an agreement with the town’s inspection-services supervisor to restructure Cape Girardeau’s code-inspection department. The town plans to hire more inspectors so it can do more to enforce safe housing standards. Cape Girardeau Tenants, which now has around 60 members and 10 tenant leaders, is considering what’s next, including the possibility for a tenants bill of rights.

Denise St. Omer is a board member of the Kansas City-based Hadley Project, which provides funding to community nonprofits, including KC Tenants. The project was an early supporter of KC Tenants before there was much major foundation funding. She says work done by groups like KC Tenants helped change the future.

“We have short historical memories, but the rights and privileges that we take for granted now came about as a result of grassroots organizing that was deeply unpopular at the time,” St. Omer says. “These are individuals experiencing housing instability. They’re not being invited to participate in the decision-making process. They have to use their collective power to get a seat at the table.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/6/1687623828500.png" alt="Photo courtesy KC Tenants" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy KC Tenants</figcaption>
 </figure>By SARA HERSCHANDER of The Chronicle of Philanthropy via Associated PressKANSAS CITY —After years of rising rents, a group of Kansas City, Missouri, renters came together in 2019 to form KC Tenants, armed with an annual budget of $30,000 and demands for a bill of rights to protect renters from rising prices, unjust evictions, and landlord abuse.Four years and one pandemic later, KC Tenants is a nonprofit tenants union with a budget that grew almost twentyfold and a track record of advocacy victories. For instance, the group got its bill of rights enacted by the city and is working to make sure all tenants have the right to a lawyer when facing evictions.Tenants unions are membership-based groups that advocate for the collective rights of renters, often at the local level. Many operate similarly to labor unions by charging member dues, offering member benefits, and appointing tenant leaders.The progress at KC Tenants comes as a growing number of foundations are working with a revitalized tenants movement to confront the nation’s housing crisis. The current wave of organizing is the country’s most significant since the 1970s, when inflation and momentum from the Civil Rights Movement led to rent strikes across the country and new policies like rent control.Now rents are rising again, and tenant organizers, who led the fight for pandemic-era eviction moratoriums, have turned toward new permanent protections for tenants.The pandemic “exposed a live wire about the lack of protections and vulnerabilities tenants face,” says Jennifer Angarita, of Funders for Housing and Opportunity, a grantmakers group. After losing their jobs during the pandemic, many tenants struggled to pay rent and would have lost their homes without eviction moratoriums.Angarita says an increase in national grantmakers’ support for local tenant movements is part of a broader shift in philanthropy that prioritizes support for the people most closely affected by social issues.In 2021, HouseUS, a national organizing fund that supports local tenants movements, launched with $7.5 million. It received $5.5 million from the Ford Foundation and $2 million from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which has since awarded another $4 million. The fund — which supports KC Tenants, Colorado Homes for All, the Nevada Housing Justice Alliance, and others — has continued to attract money from other large foundations. It raised more than $4 million in the past three years from grant makers such as the Oak Foundation, which provided $2 million, and the Melville Charitable Trust, which gave $200,000.“Nothing pulls people in quite like momentum,” says Kevin Simowitz, co-director of HouseUS.The national tenants movement has helped make recent changes across the nation:— Keep LA Housed, Inquilinos Unidos, and others won Los Angeles City Council approval for protections that require landlords to provide clear causes, like nonpayment of rent, for evictions and relocation assistance for tenants displaced by rising rents.— In New York, Housing Justice for All, a coalition of nonprofits, successfully fought for new laws and protections such as limitations on security deposit charges and requirements to notify tenants before making certain rent increases.— The Miami Workers Center, a tenant collective, won approval for a countywide bill of rights protecting renters from housing discrimination based on prior evictions and a guarantee they’ll be notified if a building shifts ownership.“Communities have been preparing for a moment when they can realize change, and I think we have it now,” says Meshie Knight, senior program officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “I see philanthropy as being able to contribute to that reimagination of a new and more equitable future.”During the pandemic, KC Tenants became an advocate for emergency tenant protections, including a temporary eviction moratorium in the state. The group, with a budget of nearly $600,000 from both local and national grants, now employs seven full-time staff members plus tenant members who’ve led protests outside of judges’ homes and courthouses, and pursued more traditional legislative advocacy trying to keep renters in their homes.“We were engaging in direct action to shut down evictions by whatever means we could find,” says Tara Raghuveer, founding director of KC Tenants. “Along the way, we started organizing neighborhood tenant unions.”It’s that kind of nimbleness — and those victories — that persuaded some foundations that tenant unions should continue their work after the spread of COVID-19 eased.At Ford, support for tenant groups is part of a shift in thinking about how philanthropy can help working class and middle class Americans as they seek a place to live. In the past, its housing grants focused on increasing the quantity of affordable housing through land-use and development efforts. Now, many of its housing grants go to organizations that advocate for tenants in a broader push for racial and economic justice, says Ethan Frey, Ford’s program officer for civic engagement and government.He says the foundation’s restructuring emerged from the sentiment that “more work needed to be done to build political will and make more transformative changes to our housing system.”While previous waves of tenant organizing were often led by national tenant organizations, local tenant unions have largely spearheaded the movement in recent years, Frey says. Many groups grew from the ground up during the pandemic, when they began generating momentum for citywide eviction protections.In 2021, the HouseUS fund began ramping up its support for Missouri tenant movements outside of Kansas City. With the guidance and financial oversight of KC Tenants, HouseUS has provided $100,000 yearly since 2021 to help create a nonprofit tenants union in Cape Girardeau in rural southeast Missouri.It’s been an uphill battle to persuade rural tenants to join the union, says Aaron Lerma, an organizer leading the campaign. Many tenants were concerned about being blacklisted from renting in the small city.However, Lerma says, he’s seeing a growing willingness among residents to help direct what comes next — and a sense that it might lead to real change.“That sense of fear has also contributed to a lot of hopelessness in our communities,” Lerma says. “We have to generate our own hope about what’s possible.”Lerma spent six months knocking on doors before holding the group’s first meeting in June 2022. At that meeting, tenants shared their priorities for improving housing conditions. Cape Girardeau tenant leaders have been able to build credibility with other residents through policy work and by being their advocates. For instance, when Cape Girardeau renters are evicted or a landlord refuses to make repairs, they now have someone to call.The group recently negotiated an agreement with the town’s inspection-services supervisor to restructure Cape Girardeau’s code-inspection department. The town plans to hire more inspectors so it can do more to enforce safe housing standards. Cape Girardeau Tenants, which now has around 60 members and 10 tenant leaders, is considering what’s next, including the possibility for a tenants bill of rights.Denise St. Omer is a board member of the Kansas City-based Hadley Project, which provides funding to community nonprofits, including KC Tenants. The project was an early supporter of KC Tenants before there was much major foundation funding. She says work done by groups like KC Tenants helped change the future.“We have short historical memories, but the rights and privileges that we take for granted now came about as a result of grassroots organizing that was deeply unpopular at the time,” St. Omer says. “These are individuals experiencing housing instability. They’re not being invited to participate in the decision-making process. They have to use their collective power to get a seat at the table.____

Foundations buoy a new movement of renters’ activism

Helena (AP) —Republican lawmakers in Montana are sharing that they received letters with white powder as federal agents investigate mysterious substances similarly mailed to GOP officials in two other states.

In a Friday night tweet, Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/GovGianforte/status/1672428285349834753">said he has received</a>&nbsp;“disturbing” reports of anonymous threats sent to legislators. The Montana attorney general&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/AustinKnudsenMT">posted on Facebook</a>&nbsp;that the local sheriff's office collected evidence after his mother, a state representative, opened one letter with a “white powder substance” sent to her home address.

“PLEASE BE CAUTIOUS about opening your mail,” Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen said in the post directed toward legislators. “If you receive a suspicious package, contact law enforcement immediately.”

Republican officials in Tennessee and Kansas have recently received similar letters. A legislative office building in Nashville&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tennessee-white-powder-building-evacuated-82ba88e307efd5c1b4f0b95469f7b28d">temporarily locked down</a>&nbsp;on Thursday after the House Speaker said multiple Republican leaders got mail with “a white powder substance.” The letters included “obvious threats made by a liberal activist specifically targeting Republicans,” according to a House Republican Caucus spokesperson who did not provide further details.

The FBI said Thursday that ongoing lab tests did not indicate any risk to public safety.

About 100 such letters have been&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-letters-white-powder-f59cfa50f3f35a5301e34c8d9b3cc0a1">sent to lawmakers and public officials across Kansas</a>, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. Preliminary tests did not detect any common dangerous toxins and no injuries have been reported.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/6/1686969013876.jpeg" alt="Letter sent to Kansas Rep. Paul Waggoner" />
 <figcaption>Letter sent to Kansas Rep. Paul Waggoner</figcaption>
 </figure>Helena (AP) —Republican lawmakers in Montana are sharing that they received letters with white powder as federal agents investigate mysterious substances similarly mailed to GOP officials in two other states.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">I&#39;ve received disturbing reports that Montana legislators are receiving anonymous, threatening letters containing white powder. The state will bring to bear whatever resources are needed to support law enforcement officers as they investigate.&mdash; Governor Greg Gianforte (@GovGianforte) <a href="https://twitter.com/GovGianforte/status/1672428285349834753?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 24, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>In a Friday night tweet, Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/GovGianforte/status/1672428285349834753">said he has received</a>&nbsp;“disturbing” reports of anonymous threats sent to legislators. The Montana attorney general&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/AustinKnudsenMT">posted on Facebook</a>&nbsp;that the local sheriff's office collected evidence after his mother, a state representative, opened one letter with a “white powder substance” sent to her home address.<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FAustinKnudsenMT%2Fposts%2Fpfbid0sJiqqGKYU6L4ErUC3BZqj4FQLsNxqw8xSqs1EnbJLQz7XnV9KfQQkvmPT9P2cXiBl&show_text=true&width=500" width="500" height="247" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe></div>“PLEASE BE CAUTIOUS about opening your mail,” Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen said in the post directed toward legislators. “If you receive a suspicious package, contact law enforcement immediately.”Republican officials in Tennessee and Kansas have recently received similar letters. A legislative office building in Nashville&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tennessee-white-powder-building-evacuated-82ba88e307efd5c1b4f0b95469f7b28d">temporarily locked down</a>&nbsp;on Thursday after the House Speaker said multiple Republican leaders got mail with “a white powder substance.” The letters included “obvious threats made by a liberal activist specifically targeting Republicans,” according to a House Republican Caucus spokesperson who did not provide further details.The FBI said Thursday that ongoing lab tests did not indicate any risk to public safety.About 100 such letters have been&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-letters-white-powder-f59cfa50f3f35a5301e34c8d9b3cc0a1">sent to lawmakers and public officials across Kansas</a>, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. Preliminary tests did not detect any common dangerous toxins and no injuries have been reported.

Letters with mysterious powder sent to lawmakers in 2 other states

WASHINGTON (AP) —President Biden spoke Saturday with President Emmanuel Macron of France, Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany, and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of the United Kingdom, according to a statement on the White House web site. The leaders discussed the situation in Russia and affirmed their unwavering support for Ukraine.

The greatest challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin in his more than two decades in power&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-rebellion-wagner-prigozhin-live-updates-414e48fd171aef3a1851216962c9a544">fizzled out</a>&nbsp;relatively peacefully Saturday after the rebellious mercenary commander who ordered his troops to march on Moscow abruptly reached a deal with the Kremlin to go into exile and sounded the retreat.

The dramatic if brief revolt shifted the landscape for the Kremlin and the 16-month-old war in Ukraine and prompted Russia to pull soldiers back from the battlefield to defend the capital, a stunning recognition of the threat posed by Wagner Group soldiers under the command of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-prigozhin-wagner-profile-e1939a58f216551b1a20157cc3803085">Yevgeny Prigozhin</a>.

Under the deal announced by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Prigozhin will go to neighboring Belarus and charges of mounting an armed rebellion will be dropped. The government said it also would not prosecute fighters who took part, while those who did not join in were to be offered contracts by the Defense Ministry.

Putin had vowed earlier to punish those behind the armed uprising led by his onetime protege, whose forces seized a key military facility in southern Russia before advancing on the capital. In a televised speech to the nation, he called the rebellion a “betrayal” and “treason.”

In allowing Prigozhin and his forces to go free, Peskov said, Putin’s “highest goal” was “to avoid bloodshed and internal confrontation with unpredictable results.”

Moscow had braced for the arrival of the Wagner forces by erecting checkpoints with armored vehicles and troops on the city’s southern edge. Red Square was shut down, and the mayor urged motorists to stay off some roads.

About 3,000 Chechen soldiers were pulled from fighting in Ukraine and rushed there early Saturday, state television in Chechnya reported, signaling the Kremlin’s desperation as the Wagner troops advanced to, according to Prigozhin, just 200 kilometers (120 miles) from Moscow.

But after the deal was struck, Prigozhin announced that he had decided to retreat to avoid “shedding Russian blood.” His troops were ordered back to their field camps in Ukraine, where they have been fighting alongside Russian regular soldiers.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/putin-russia-ukraine-war-prigozhin-infighting-0e051f0a43522f57ef1810a8b03f6e62">Prigozhin has demanded the ouster of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu</a>, long the target of his withering criticism for his conduct of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine">the war in Ukraine</a>. On Friday, he accused forces under Shoigu's command of attacking Wagner camps and killing “a huge number of our comrades.”

Prigozhin did not say whether the Kremlin had responded to his demand. Peskov said the issue could not have been discussed during the negotiations, which were conducted by the president of Belarus, and is the “exclusive prerogative of the commander in chief.”

If Putin were to agree to Shoigu’s ouster, it could be politically damaging for the president after he branded Prigozhin a backstabbing traitor.

Early Saturday, Prigozhin’s private army appeared to control the military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don, a city 660 miles (over 1,000 kilometers) south of Moscow, which runs Russian operations in Ukraine, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said.

A nighttime video from the city posted on Russian messaging app channels showed people cheering Wagner troops as they left Rostov-on-Don. Prigozhin was seen riding in one of the vehicles, and people greeted him and some ran to shake his hand as he lowered the window. The regional governor later said that all of the troops had left the city.

Wagner troops and equipment also were in Lipetsk province, about 360 kilometers (225 miles) south of Moscow.

Authorities declared a “counterterrorist regime” in Moscow and its surrounding region, enhancing security and restricting some movement. On the southern outskirts, troops erected checkpoints, arranged sandbags and set up machine guns. Crews dug up sections of highways to slow the march.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin declared Monday a non-working day for most residents as part of the heightened security, a measure that remained in effect even after the retreat.

The dramatic developments came exactly 16 months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Europe’s largest conflict since World War II, which has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions and reduced cities to rubble.

Ukrainians hoped the Russian infighting would create opportunities for their army to take back territory seized by Russian forces.

Ben Barry, senior fellow for land warfare at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said that even with a deal, Putin’s position has probably been weakened and “these events will have been of great comfort to the Ukrainian government and the military.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Saturday, shortly before Prigozhin announced his retreat, that the march exposed weakness in the Kremlin and “showed all Russian bandits, mercenaries, oligarchs” that it is easy to capture Russian cities “and, probably, arsenals.”

Switching into Russian in his daily video address, Zelenskyy said “the man from the Kremlin” was “very afraid.” He repeated his calls for the West to supply Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets and ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-wagner-yevgeny-prigozhin-putin-580f5401a0e9c1ed744ce4645ce4d03f">Prigozhin</a>&nbsp;had vowed earlier that his fighters, whom he said number some 25,000, would not surrender because “we do not want the country to live on in corruption, deceit and bureaucracy.”

“Regarding the betrayal of the motherland, the president was deeply mistaken. We are patriots of our homeland,” he said in an audio message on his Telegram channel.

He posted video of himself at the military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don and claimed his forces had taken control of the airfield and other military facilities in the city without any deaths or even “a single gunshot.”

Russian media, however, reported that several helicopters and a military communications plane were downed by Wagner troops. The Kremlin referred a question about the losses to the Defense Ministry, which has not commented.

The short-lived rebellion came as Russia is “fighting the toughest battle for its future,” Putin said, with the West piling sanctions on Moscow and arming Ukraine.

“The entire military, economic and information machine of the West is waged against us,” Putin said.

State-controlled TV networks led their newscasts with Putin’s statement and reported the tense situation in Rostov-on-Don. Broadcasters also carried statements from top Russian officials and lawmakers voicing support for Putin, condemning Prigozhin and urging him to back down.

Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, who in the past has sided with Prigozhin in his criticisms of Russia’s military, also expressed support for Putin’s “every word.”

“The mutiny needs to be suppressed,” Kadyrov said.

Wagner troops have played a crucial role in the Ukraine war, capturing the eastern city of Bakhmut, an area where the bloodiest and longest battles have taken place. But Prigozhin has increasingly criticized the military brass, accusing it of incompetence and of starving his troops of munitions.

In announcing the rebellion, Prigozhin accused Russian forces of attacking the Wagner camps in Ukraine with rockets, helicopter gunships and artillery. He alleged that Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff, ordered the attacks following a meeting with Shoigu in which they decided to destroy the military contractor.

The Defense Ministry denied attacking the camps.

The 62-year-old Prigozhin, a former convict, has longstanding ties to Putin and won lucrative Kremlin catering contracts that earned him the nickname “Putin’s chef.”

He gained attention in the U.S. when he and a dozen other Russian nationals were charged with operating a covert social media campaign aimed at fomenting discord ahead of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential election victory. Wagner has sent military contractors to Libya, Syria, several African countries and eventually Ukraine.

The rebellion appeared likely to further hinder Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine, as Kyiv’s forces probed Russian defenses in the initial stages of a counteroffensive.

Orysia Lutsevych, the head of the Ukraine Forum at the Chatham House think tank in London, said the infighting could create confusion and potential division among Russian military forces.

“Russian troops in Ukraine may well now be operating in a vacuum, without clear military instructions, and doubts about whom to obey and follow,″ Lutsevych said. “This creates a unique and unprecedented military opportunity for the Ukrainian army.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/9/1663760963726.jpeg" alt="“The entire military, economic and information machine of the West is waged against us,” Putin said.-Photo Russian Presidential Press Service via AP" />
 <figcaption>“The entire military, economic and information machine of the West is waged against us,” Putin said.-Photo Russian Presidential Press Service via AP</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) —President Biden spoke Saturday with President Emmanuel Macron of France, Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany, and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of the United Kingdom, according to a statement on the White House web site. The leaders discussed the situation in Russia and affirmed their unwavering support for Ukraine.The greatest challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin in his more than two decades in power&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-rebellion-wagner-prigozhin-live-updates-414e48fd171aef3a1851216962c9a544">fizzled out</a>&nbsp;relatively peacefully Saturday after the rebellious mercenary commander who ordered his troops to march on Moscow abruptly reached a deal with the Kremlin to go into exile and sounded the retreat.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Spoke today with Ukrainian Foreign Minister <a href="https://twitter.com/DmytroKuleba?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DmytroKuleba</a> to discuss the situation in Russia. U.S. support for Ukraine remains steadfast. The United States will stay in close coordination with Ukraine as the situation develops.&mdash; Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecBlinken/status/1672714392683823104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 24, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The dramatic if brief revolt shifted the landscape for the Kremlin and the 16-month-old war in Ukraine and prompted Russia to pull soldiers back from the battlefield to defend the capital, a stunning recognition of the threat posed by Wagner Group soldiers under the command of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-prigozhin-wagner-profile-e1939a58f216551b1a20157cc3803085">Yevgeny Prigozhin</a>.Under the deal announced by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Prigozhin will go to neighboring Belarus and charges of mounting an armed rebellion will be dropped. The government said it also would not prosecute fighters who took part, while those who did not join in were to be offered contracts by the Defense Ministry.Putin had vowed earlier to punish those behind the armed uprising led by his onetime protege, whose forces seized a key military facility in southern Russia before advancing on the capital. In a televised speech to the nation, he called the rebellion a “betrayal” and “treason.”In allowing Prigozhin and his forces to go free, Peskov said, Putin’s “highest goal” was “to avoid bloodshed and internal confrontation with unpredictable results.”Moscow had braced for the arrival of the Wagner forces by erecting checkpoints with armored vehicles and troops on the city’s southern edge. Red Square was shut down, and the mayor urged motorists to stay off some roads.About 3,000 Chechen soldiers were pulled from fighting in Ukraine and rushed there early Saturday, state television in Chechnya reported, signaling the Kremlin’s desperation as the Wagner troops advanced to, according to Prigozhin, just 200 kilometers (120 miles) from Moscow.But after the deal was struck, Prigozhin announced that he had decided to retreat to avoid “shedding Russian blood.” His troops were ordered back to their field camps in Ukraine, where they have been fighting alongside Russian regular soldiers.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/putin-russia-ukraine-war-prigozhin-infighting-0e051f0a43522f57ef1810a8b03f6e62">Prigozhin has demanded the ouster of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu</a>, long the target of his withering criticism for his conduct of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine">the war in Ukraine</a>. On Friday, he accused forces under Shoigu's command of attacking Wagner camps and killing “a huge number of our comrades.”Prigozhin did not say whether the Kremlin had responded to his demand. Peskov said the issue could not have been discussed during the negotiations, which were conducted by the president of Belarus, and is the “exclusive prerogative of the commander in chief.”If Putin were to agree to Shoigu’s ouster, it could be politically damaging for the president after he branded Prigozhin a backstabbing traitor.Early Saturday, Prigozhin’s private army appeared to control the military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don, a city 660 miles (over 1,000 kilometers) south of Moscow, which runs Russian operations in Ukraine, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said.A nighttime video from the city posted on Russian messaging app channels showed people cheering Wagner troops as they left Rostov-on-Don. Prigozhin was seen riding in one of the vehicles, and people greeted him and some ran to shake his hand as he lowered the window. The regional governor later said that all of the troops had left the city.Wagner troops and equipment also were in Lipetsk province, about 360 kilometers (225 miles) south of Moscow.Authorities declared a “counterterrorist regime” in Moscow and its surrounding region, enhancing security and restricting some movement. On the southern outskirts, troops erected checkpoints, arranged sandbags and set up machine guns. Crews dug up sections of highways to slow the march.Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin declared Monday a non-working day for most residents as part of the heightened security, a measure that remained in effect even after the retreat.The dramatic developments came exactly 16 months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Europe’s largest conflict since World War II, which has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions and reduced cities to rubble.Ukrainians hoped the Russian infighting would create opportunities for their army to take back territory seized by Russian forces.Ben Barry, senior fellow for land warfare at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said that even with a deal, Putin’s position has probably been weakened and “these events will have been of great comfort to the Ukrainian government and the military.”Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Saturday, shortly before Prigozhin announced his retreat, that the march exposed weakness in the Kremlin and “showed all Russian bandits, mercenaries, oligarchs” that it is easy to capture Russian cities “and, probably, arsenals.”Switching into Russian in his daily video address, Zelenskyy said “the man from the Kremlin” was “very afraid.” He repeated his calls for the West to supply Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets and ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-wagner-yevgeny-prigozhin-putin-580f5401a0e9c1ed744ce4645ce4d03f">Prigozhin</a>&nbsp;had vowed earlier that his fighters, whom he said number some 25,000, would not surrender because “we do not want the country to live on in corruption, deceit and bureaucracy.”“Regarding the betrayal of the motherland, the president was deeply mistaken. We are patriots of our homeland,” he said in an audio message on his Telegram channel.He posted video of himself at the military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don and claimed his forces had taken control of the airfield and other military facilities in the city without any deaths or even “a single gunshot.”Russian media, however, reported that several helicopters and a military communications plane were downed by Wagner troops. The Kremlin referred a question about the losses to the Defense Ministry, which has not commented.The short-lived rebellion came as Russia is “fighting the toughest battle for its future,” Putin said, with the West piling sanctions on Moscow and arming Ukraine.“The entire military, economic and information machine of the West is waged against us,” Putin said.State-controlled TV networks led their newscasts with Putin’s statement and reported the tense situation in Rostov-on-Don. Broadcasters also carried statements from top Russian officials and lawmakers voicing support for Putin, condemning Prigozhin and urging him to back down.Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, who in the past has sided with Prigozhin in his criticisms of Russia’s military, also expressed support for Putin’s “every word.”“The mutiny needs to be suppressed,” Kadyrov said.Wagner troops have played a crucial role in the Ukraine war, capturing the eastern city of Bakhmut, an area where the bloodiest and longest battles have taken place. But Prigozhin has increasingly criticized the military brass, accusing it of incompetence and of starving his troops of munitions.In announcing the rebellion, Prigozhin accused Russian forces of attacking the Wagner camps in Ukraine with rockets, helicopter gunships and artillery. He alleged that Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff, ordered the attacks following a meeting with Shoigu in which they decided to destroy the military contractor.The Defense Ministry denied attacking the camps.The 62-year-old Prigozhin, a former convict, has longstanding ties to Putin and won lucrative Kremlin catering contracts that earned him the nickname “Putin’s chef.”He gained attention in the U.S. when he and a dozen other Russian nationals were charged with operating a covert social media campaign aimed at fomenting discord ahead of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential election victory. Wagner has sent military contractors to Libya, Syria, several African countries and eventually Ukraine.The rebellion appeared likely to further hinder Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine, as Kyiv’s forces probed Russian defenses in the initial stages of a counteroffensive.Orysia Lutsevych, the head of the Ukraine Forum at the Chatham House think tank in London, said the infighting could create confusion and potential division among Russian military forces.“Russian troops in Ukraine may well now be operating in a vacuum, without clear military instructions, and doubts about whom to obey and follow,″ Lutsevych said. “This creates a unique and unprecedented military opportunity for the Ukrainian army.”----------

Biden, NATO allies monitor on again, off again Russian rebellion

COLUMBUS, Mont. (AP) — A bridge that crosses the Yellowstone River in Montana collapsed early Saturday, plunging portions of a freight train carrying hazardous materials into the rushing water below.

The train cars were carrying hot asphalt and molten sulfur, Stillwater County Disaster and Emergency Services said. Officials shut down drinking water intakes downstream while they evaluated the danger after the 6 a.m. accident. An Associated Press reporter witnessed a yellow substance coming out of some of the tank cars.

David Stamey, the county's chief of emergency services, said there was no immediate danger for the crews working at the site, and the hazardous material was being diluted by the swollen river. There were three asphalt cars and four sulfur cars in the river.

The train crew was safe and no injuries were reported, Montana Rail Link spokesman Andy Garland said in a statement. The asphalt and sulfur both solidify quickly when exposed to cooler temperatures, he said.

Railroad crews were at the scene in Stillwater County, near the town of Columbus, about 40 miles (about 64 kilometers) west of Billings. The area is in a sparsely populated section of the Yellowstone River Valley, surrounded by ranch and farmland. The river there flows away from Yellowstone National Park, which is about 110 miles (177 kilometers) southwest.

“We are committed to addressing any potential impacts to the area as a result of this incident and working to understand the reasons behind the accident,” Garland said.

The bridge collapse also took out a fiber-optic cable providing internet service to many customers in the state, the high-speed provider Global Net said.

“This is the major fiber route ... through Montana,” a recording on the company's phone line said Saturday. “This is affecting all Global Net customers. Connectivity will either be down or extremely slow.”

In neighboring Yellowstone County, officials said they instituted emergency measures at water treatment plants due to the “potential hazmat spill” and asked residents to conserve water.

The cause of the collapse is under investigation. The river was swollen with recent heavy rains, but it's unclear whether that was a factor.

The Yellowstone&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/climate-floods-montana-and-environment-4bdc704074dfe199b3e6f3c5c9e402b0">saw record flooding in 2022</a>&nbsp;that caused&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/floods-united-states-climate-and-environment-waterfalls-225c370e39aa935d89693a438b704476">extensive damage to Yellowstone National Park</a>&nbsp;and adjacent towns in Montana. Robert Bea, a retired engineering professor at the University of California Berkeley who has analyzed the causes of hundreds of major disasters, said repeated years of heavy river flows provided a clue to the possible cause.

“The high water flow translates to high forces acting directly on the pier and, importantly, on the river bottom,” Bea said. “You can have erosion or scour that removes support from the foundation. High forces translate to a high likelihood of a structural or foundation failure that could act as a trigger to initiate the accident.”

An old highway bridge that paralleled the railroad bridge — together, they were called the Twin Bridges — was removed in 2021 after the Montana Department of Transportation determined it was in imminent danger of falling. It wasn't immediately clear when the railroad bridge was constructed or when it was last inspected.

Bea said investigators would also want to look at whether there was wear or rust in bridge components as well as a record of maintenance, repair and inspections.

Federal Railroad Administration officials were at the scene.

Kelly Hitchcock of the Columbus Water Users shut off the flow of river water into an irrigation ditch downstream from the collapsed bridge to prevent contents from the tank cars from reaching nearby farmland. The Stillwater County Sheriff’s Office called the group Saturday morning to warn it about the collapse, Hitchcock said.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency notes that sulfur is a common element used as a fertilizer as well as an insecticide, fungicide and rodenticide.

COLUMBUS, Mont. (AP) — A bridge that crosses Yellowstone River in Montana collapsed early Saturday morning, causing portions of a freight train carrying hazardous materials to plunge into the flooded river below, officials said.

The train cars were carrying asphalt and sulfur, said David Stamey, Stillwater County’s chief of emergency services. Officials shut down drinking water intakes downstream while they evaluated the danger. An Associated Press reporter witnessed a yellow liquid pouring out of tank cars.

However, Stamey said there was no immediate danger for the crews working at the site, and the hazardous material was being diluted by the swollen river.

The train crew was safe and no injuries were reported after the bridge collapse, according to a statement from Andy Garland, spokesman for the Montana Rail Link.

Garland said “several” tank cars were partially submerged in the river early Saturday, and railroad crews were at the scene in Stillwater County, near the town of Columbus, about 40 miles (about 64 kilometers) west of Billings.

The cause of the collapse is under investigation, he said.

The site is in a sparsely populated area in the Yellowstone River Valley. It about 110 miles (177 kilometers) northeast of Yellowstone National Park.

The Montana Disaster Emergency Services has been notified. Federal Railroad Administrators officials were at the scene.

The river was swollen with recent heavy rains although it is unclear whether that contributed to the bridge collapse.

Kelly Hitchcock of the Columbus Water Users shut off the flow of river water into an irrigation ditch downstream from the collapsed bridge to prevent contents from the tank cars from reaching nearby farmland.

Hitchcock said the Stillwater County Sheriff’s Office called the group Saturday morning to warn it about the collapse.

The Yellowstone saw record flooding in 2022 that caused extensive damage to Yellowstone National Park and adjacent towns in Montana.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/6/1687632668209.png" alt="The train crew was safe and no injuries were reported after the bridge collapse-photo courtesy Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks" />
 <figcaption>The train crew was safe and no injuries were reported after the bridge collapse-photo courtesy Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks</figcaption>
 </figure>COLUMBUS, Mont. (AP) — A bridge that crosses the Yellowstone River in Montana collapsed early Saturday, plunging portions of a freight train carrying hazardous materials into the rushing water below.The train cars were carrying hot asphalt and molten sulfur, Stillwater County Disaster and Emergency Services said. Officials shut down drinking water intakes downstream while they evaluated the danger after the 6 a.m. accident. An Associated Press reporter witnessed a yellow substance coming out of some of the tank cars.David Stamey, the county's chief of emergency services, said there was no immediate danger for the crews working at the site, and the hazardous material was being diluted by the swollen river. There were three asphalt cars and four sulfur cars in the river.The train crew was safe and no injuries were reported, Montana Rail Link spokesman Andy Garland said in a statement. The asphalt and sulfur both solidify quickly when exposed to cooler temperatures, he said.Railroad crews were at the scene in Stillwater County, near the town of Columbus, about 40 miles (about 64 kilometers) west of Billings. The area is in a sparsely populated section of the Yellowstone River Valley, surrounded by ranch and farmland. The river there flows away from Yellowstone National Park, which is about 110 miles (177 kilometers) southwest.“We are committed to addressing any potential impacts to the area as a result of this incident and working to understand the reasons behind the accident,” Garland said.The bridge collapse also took out a fiber-optic cable providing internet service to many customers in the state, the high-speed provider Global Net said.“This is the major fiber route ... through Montana,” a recording on the company's phone line said Saturday. “This is affecting all Global Net customers. Connectivity will either be down or extremely slow.”In neighboring Yellowstone County, officials said they instituted emergency measures at water treatment plants due to the “potential hazmat spill” and asked residents to conserve water.The cause of the collapse is under investigation. The river was swollen with recent heavy rains, but it's unclear whether that was a factor.The Yellowstone&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/climate-floods-montana-and-environment-4bdc704074dfe199b3e6f3c5c9e402b0">saw record flooding in 2022</a>&nbsp;that caused&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/floods-united-states-climate-and-environment-waterfalls-225c370e39aa935d89693a438b704476">extensive damage to Yellowstone National Park</a>&nbsp;and adjacent towns in Montana. Robert Bea, a retired engineering professor at the University of California Berkeley who has analyzed the causes of hundreds of major disasters, said repeated years of heavy river flows provided a clue to the possible cause.“The high water flow translates to high forces acting directly on the pier and, importantly, on the river bottom,” Bea said. “You can have erosion or scour that removes support from the foundation. High forces translate to a high likelihood of a structural or foundation failure that could act as a trigger to initiate the accident.”An old highway bridge that paralleled the railroad bridge — together, they were called the Twin Bridges — was removed in 2021 after the Montana Department of Transportation determined it was in imminent danger of falling. It wasn't immediately clear when the railroad bridge was constructed or when it was last inspected.Bea said investigators would also want to look at whether there was wear or rust in bridge components as well as a record of maintenance, repair and inspections.Federal Railroad Administration officials were at the scene.Kelly Hitchcock of the Columbus Water Users shut off the flow of river water into an irrigation ditch downstream from the collapsed bridge to prevent contents from the tank cars from reaching nearby farmland. The Stillwater County Sheriff’s Office called the group Saturday morning to warn it about the collapse, Hitchcock said.The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency notes that sulfur is a common element used as a fertilizer as well as an insecticide, fungicide and rodenticide.___COLUMBUS, Mont. (AP) — A bridge that crosses Yellowstone River in Montana collapsed early Saturday morning, causing portions of a freight train carrying hazardous materials to plunge into the flooded river below, officials said.The train cars were carrying asphalt and sulfur, said David Stamey, Stillwater County’s chief of emergency services. Officials shut down drinking water intakes downstream while they evaluated the danger. An Associated Press reporter witnessed a yellow liquid pouring out of tank cars.However, Stamey said there was no immediate danger for the crews working at the site, and the hazardous material was being diluted by the swollen river.The train crew was safe and no injuries were reported after the bridge collapse, according to a statement from Andy Garland, spokesman for the Montana Rail Link.Garland said “several” tank cars were partially submerged in the river early Saturday, and railroad crews were at the scene in Stillwater County, near the town of Columbus, about 40 miles (about 64 kilometers) west of Billings.“We are committed to addressing any potential impacts to the area as a result of this incident and working to understand the reasons behind the accident,” Garland said.In neighboring Yellowstone County, officials said they instituted emergency measures at water treatment plants due to the “potential hazmat spill” and asked residents to conserve water.The cause of the collapse is under investigation, he said.The site is in a sparsely populated area in the Yellowstone River Valley. It about 110 miles (177 kilometers) northeast of Yellowstone National Park.The Montana Disaster Emergency Services has been notified. Federal Railroad Administrators officials were at the scene.The river was swollen with recent heavy rains although it is unclear whether that contributed to the bridge collapse.Kelly Hitchcock of the Columbus Water Users shut off the flow of river water into an irrigation ditch downstream from the collapsed bridge to prevent contents from the tank cars from reaching nearby farmland.Hitchcock said the Stillwater County Sheriff’s Office called the group Saturday morning to warn it about the collapse.The Yellowstone saw record flooding in 2022 that caused extensive damage to Yellowstone National Park and adjacent towns in Montana.The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency notes that sulfur is a common element used as a fertilizer as well as an insecticide, fungicide and rodenticide.

Bridge fails: Train carrying molten sulfur plunges into Yellowstone River 

By GEOFF MULVIHILL, KIMBERLEE KRUESI and CLAIRE SAVAGE&nbsp;

WASHINGTON (AP) —One year ago, the U.S. Supreme Court rescinded&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-supreme-court-decision-854f60302f21c2c35129e58cf8d8a7b0">a five-decade-old right to abortion,</a>&nbsp;prompting a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-health-new-york-state-government-ohio-mississippi-6fd7b3684b858d8a86c3443537e34687">seismic shift</a>&nbsp;in debates about politics, values, freedom and fairness.

Twenty-five million women of childbearing age now live in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-status-list-state-protection-ban-4466aefe6141745b71c824522aac47b9">states where the law makes abortions harder to get</a>&nbsp;than they were before the ruling.

Decisions about the law are largely in the hands of state lawmakers and courts. Most Republican-led states have restricted abortion. Fourteen ban abortion in most cases at any point in pregnancy. Twenty Democratic-leaning states have protected access to abortion.

Here’s a look at what’s changed since the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling.

LAWS HAVE BEEN ENACTED IN 25 STATES TO BAN OR RESTRICT ABORTION ACCESS

Last summer, as women and medical providers&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-racing-the-political-clock-41770e51cbdca610f31b00bde1410fb2">began to navigate</a>&nbsp;a landscape without legal protection for abortion, Nancy Davis’ doctors advised her to terminate her pregnancy. The fetus she was carrying had no skull and was expected to die soon after birth.

But doctors in Louisiana, where Davis lived, would not provide the abortion due to a new law banning it throughout pregnancy in most cases.

Davis became one of the women whose stories, told on news sites and network news, in newspapers and blogs,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-health-legislature-john-bel-edwards-baton-rouge-217b965dcb28a77d4bc46054b351a76e">illustrated the shifting ground</a>&nbsp;doctors and their patients tried to navigate.

At the same time, abortion opponents who worked for decades to abolish a practice they see as murder cheered the Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling. Anti-abortion groups said&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/what-is-roe-v-wade-33c08858dc8b0aa5f0450858b51a648a">the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling</a>&nbsp;that legalized abortion nationwide was undemocratic because it prevented states from enacting bans.

“The Dobbs decision was a democratic victory for life that generations fought for,” said E.V. Osment, a spokeswoman for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a major anti-abortion group.

While some states scrambled to pass new restrictions, others already had enacted laws that were designed to take effect if the court overturned Roe.

More than 25 million women ages 15 to 44, or about 2 in 5 nationally, now live in states where there are more restrictions on abortion access than there were before Dobbs. More than 5.5 million more live in states where restrictions have been adopted but are on hold pending court challenges. Bans on abortion no later than 12 weeks into pregnancy are on the books in nearly every state in the Southeast — though some are not in effect.

Many laws that make exceptions for medical emergencies do not clearly define those situations. After Davis went public with her challenges last year,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-health-legislature-john-bel-edwards-baton-rouge-217b965dcb28a77d4bc46054b351a76e">Louisiana lawmakers debated</a>&nbsp;whether doctors in the state were right to deny her an abortion under a law that has exceptions for “medically futile” pregnancies and when there’s a substantial risk of death or impairment for the woman. But the Legislature made no changes to clarify the law.

Davis is among a number of women who ended up traveling out of state to have a legal surgical abortion. She got help from a fund that raises money for women to travel for such purposes.

With her fiancé by her side, Davis flew to New York in September, when she was about four months pregnant. The whole experience was heartbreaking, she said.

“A mother’s love starts as soon as she knows she’s pregnant. That attachment starts instantly,” she said. “It was days I couldn’t sleep. It was days I couldn’t eat.”

ABORTION ACCESS HAS BEEN PROTECTED IN 20 STATES

As some states restricted abortion, others locked in access. Clinics moved across state lines, added staff and lengthened hours to accommodate women leaving their home states to end their pregnancies.

In 25 states, abortion remains generally legal up to at least 24 weeks of pregnancy. In 20 of those states, protections have been solidified through constitutional amendments or laws. Officials in many of those states, including&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-us-supreme-court-health-california-df6dd40a7e2af65a1c6a4042e4ffa485">California</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-transgender-colorado-law-0ac4525f076692b479c9c16f3a1f72b3">Colorado</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-rights-bill-minnesota-e22e5375c46d4bc2c6ca5f804137b1b5">Minnesota</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-transgender-rights-new-mexico-195c27ab1a60a8d7c07a71f157c07384">New Mexico</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/new-york-abortion-pill-stockpile-b8192dee6ac02b1b3f066d6a6300a41f">New York</a>, have explicitly invited women from places where the procedure is banned.