Voters in Arizona and Montana will be able to decide in November whether they want to protect the right to an abortion in their state constitutions.

The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a 200-word summary that abortion advocates used to collect signatures for a ballot measure is valid, clearing the way for the issue to appear on the ballot.

Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen on Tuesday certified Montana’s constitutional initiative for the November ballot.

Under both measures, abortions would be allowed until fetal viability — the point at which a fetus could survive outside the womb, typically around 24 weeks.

In Arizona, there are some exceptions for post-viability abortions to save the mother’s life or to protect her physical or mental health. Montana’s measure allows later abortions if needed to protect the mother’s life or health.

Montana’s initiative would enshrine in the constitution a 1999 state Supreme Court ruling that found the constitutional right to privacy includes the right of a patient to receive an abortion from a provider of their choice. Supporters sought to protect the right as Republican lawmakers passed bills to restrict abortion rights.

Voters in more than a half-dozen states will be deciding abortion measures this fall. The U.S. Supreme Court removed the nationwide right to abortion with a 2022 ruling, which sparked a national push to have voters decide.

Tuesday’s Arizona decision came ahead of a Thursday ballot printing deadline.

Arizona’s justices sided with Republican lawmakers in a separate case concerning the ballot measure to allow a voter information pamphlet to refer to an embryo or fetus as an “unborn human being.” That language will not appear on the ballots.

Gaetz wins contested GOP primary in Florida

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz has defeated an opponent backed by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to win the Tuesday’s Republican primary in one of Florida’s most conservative congressional districts.

Gaetz defeated former Navy pilot Aaron Dimmock, who was backed by a McCarthy-controlled political committee. Gaetz is considered a lock to beat Democrat Gay Valimont in a district that tends to support Republicans by more than a 2-1 ratio.

Gaetz led the effort to oust McCarthy last year, and McCarthy in turn used his political action committee to spend $3 million against Gaetz. The committee aired commercials alleging that Gaetz paid for sex with a 17-year-old, an allegation currently being investigated by the House Ethics Committee. Gaetz maintains his innocence.

Barring an upset, Gaetz is set to win his fifth term in Congress, where he’s built a national reputation as a disruptor and a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump.

Also Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott has handily won Florida’s Republican primary against two other opponents, moving on to face Democratic former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell in November.

Utah sues feds over public land rights

Utah’s attorney general said Tuesday he’s asked to file a lawsuit with the U.S. Supreme Court challenging a federal agency’s control over vast tracts of public land covering about one-third of the state.

The legal action — considered a longshot attempt to assert state powers over U.S. Bureau of Land Management property — marks the latest jab in a long-running feud between states and the U.S. government over who should control huge swaths of the West and the enormous oil and gas, timber, and other resources they contain.

Federal agencies combined have jurisdiction over almost 70% of Utah.

The lawsuit seeks to assert state control over about half of that federal land — some 29,000 square miles, or an area nearly as large as South Carolina. Those parcels are under land bureau management and used for energy production, grazing, mining, recreation and other purposes.

Utah’s world-famous national parks — and also the national monuments managed by the land bureau — would remain in federal hands under the lawsuit.

Feds probe alleged Tenn. prison violations

The U.S. Department of Justice has launched an investigation into Tennessee’s largest prison where officials say violence and sexual abuse have gone unaddressed for years, federal prosecutors announced on Tuesday about the privately operated facility.

Between July 2022 and June 2023, the Trousdale Turner Correctional Center in Hartsville saw at least 196 assaults, 90 incidents of sexual misconduct, two murders and 15 other deaths that the facility characterized as “accidental,” Assistant U.S. Attorney General for Civil Rights Kristen Clarke said in a videoconference. In just a single three-week period in early 2024, there were five stabbings, she said.

“In our country, people do not surrender their constitutional rights at the prison door,” Clarke said. “Every person held in a jail

or prison retains the fundamental right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment.”

She noted that although Brentwood, Tenn.-based CoreCivic owns and operates the Trousdale prison, it is the state of Tennessee that is ultimately responsible for ensuring that prisoners’ rights are not violated there.

A statement from the Tennessee Department of Correction said they are aware of the investigation and will cooperate fully.

Arizona Democratic House recount settled

Yassamin Ansari, a former Phoenix City Council member, clinched the Democratic nomination for an open congressional district in Arizona, defeating her opponent by 39 votes after the tight race triggered a recount in the state that’s expected to be pivotal in November’s general election.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Jennifer Ryan-Touhill announced the results of the primary race in a courtroom in downtown Phoenix on Tuesday, declaring Ansari the winner over former state lawmaker Raquel Terán.

Ansari thanked voters in a post on social media after the results were made public. In a post on X, Terán conceded the race, saying she called Ansari to congratulate her.

Ansari will face Republican Jeff Zink in the general election in November. Zink was unsuccessful in his bid for the seat in 2022 when he was defeated by Democrat Ruben Gallego.

Illinois bans corporal punishment in schools

This school year, Illinois will become just the fifth state in the nation to prohibit corporal punishment in all schools.

Legislation that Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law this month bans physical punishment in private schools while reiterating a prohibition on the practice in public schools implemented 30 years ago.

When the ban takes effect in January, Illinois will join New Jersey, Iowa, Maryland and New York in prohibiting paddling, spanking or hitting in every school.

State Rep. Margaret Croke, a Chicago Democrat, was inspired to take up the issue after an updated call by the American Association of Pediatrics to end the practice, which it says can increase behavioral or mental health problems and impair cognitive development. The association found that it’s disproportionately administered to Black males and students with disabilities.

“It was an easy thing to do. I don’t want a child, whether they are in private school or public school, to have a situation in which corporal punishment is being used,” Croke said.

— From news services