State of the States WEST VIRGINIA


ABORTION PILL BAN The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that West Virginia can restrict access to the abortion pill. West Virginia lawmakers


passed a near-total abortion ban in September 2022, on the heels of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. GenBioPro, which makes


a generic form of the abortion drug mifepristone, challenged the abortion ban, arguing that the Federal Food and Drug Administration’s regulation of the abortion drug should preempt the state law. Gov. Patrick Morrisey,


who defended the abortion ban in his prior role as state attorney general, called the new ruling a “big win” and a “pro-life victory.”


MONTANA


FISHING BAN Nearly a dozen rivers in western Montana and a handful of rivers inside Yellowstone National Park were closed last month to angling after 2 p.m. to protect fish during the hottest hours of the day. The state’s Fish, Wildlife


& Parks Department (FWP) blamed the closures on earlier-than-usual warm temperatures and low water flows. About one-third of the state is in moderate or severe drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. FWP initiates closures when river temperatures reach 73


26 NEWSMAX | SEPTEMBER 2025


degrees Fahrenheit for three consecutive days. Trout are particularly susceptible to disease from late July through late August, when there are meager flows and rising temperatures. Water temperatures above 77 degrees Fahrenheit can be lethal to trout.


NORTH CAROLINA


CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL OK’D The state’s first standalone children’s hospital will create a campus estimated to bring 8,000 jobs to the area. The University of North


Carolina Health and Duke Health will build the 500- bed pediatric hospital and linked facilities in the state’s Research Triangle region, about 20 miles southwest of downtown Raleigh in the Wake County town of Apex. Apex has a population of 77,000, which is already surging thanks to the region’s strong technology economy. The 230-acre campus will include a children’s outpatient care center, over 100 behavioral health beds, and a research and education center operated by Duke University and University of North Carolina medical schools.


KANSAS


WATER CRISIS LOOMS The leaders of the state’s new Water Program Task Force say they are committed to solving the state’s long-running water crisis. Sen. Kenny Titus, a


Republican attorney from Wamego,


and Rep. Jim Minnix, a Republican farmer from Scott City who chairs the House Water Committee, will co-chair a bipartisan group that includes business leaders and conservationists and report to Democrat Gov. Laura Kelly.


Their challenges include


stabilizing the Ogallala Aquifer, reducing sediment in reservoirs, and ensuring access to reliable and safe drinking water and wastewater systems. Some areas of the state


have less than 25 years of usable water left, and 150 communities are at or above acceptable nitrate levels in drinking water, the governor said.


ARKANSAS


AG: HANDLE PANHANDLING Attorney General Tim Grifin criticized municipalities for not curbing unsafe panhandling. Grifin called


on city and county oficials to do more to enforce the state’s anti-loitering law that replaced a law targeting panhandlers that was struck down by a federal judge in 2020 for violating the First Amendment. Under the act, anyone who “lingers or remains” on a sidewalk, road, or parking lot in a manner that is “harassing or threatening” could face 30 days in prison


‘NEXT GEN’ 911 When an emergency happens in Collier County, Florida, the 911 calls go to one of the most high-tech communications centers in the U.S., where callers can send text and video from the scene to dispatchers. Today, most calls to 911


originate with cellphones, with dispatchers in new “Next Gen” centers like Collier County using geo- tracking to get accurate geographic locations from callers.


The Collier County GRIFFIN


Sheriff’s Ofice covers 911 calls from an area of about 2,030 square miles in a region that is often ravaged by hurricanes. Today 61 full- time employees and three part-timers staff two emergency operations


centers around the clock that rely on data from connected buildings, devices, vehicles, and even smartwatches to send first responders to the exact scene from where the emergency call was made.


and a $500 fine. “This is the responsibility


of cities and counties and communities, not the attorney general’s ofice,” Grifin said. But he added, “If this is not fixed, I’m going to take action myself.”


FLORIDA


©ISTOCK


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