Transgender activists this week have been occupying state capitol buildings across the country to protest legislation placing restrictions on gender transition procedures for children and the teaching of gender identity in the classroom.

The protests came the same week police identified a transgender individual as the shooter responsible for murdering six people, including three 9-year-old children, in Monday’s shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville.

A crowd of LGBTQ activists on Friday marched on the Florida Capitol after the state’s Republican-controlled House passed a bill that would restrict the way teachers and students can use preferred pronouns in schools. The legislation also bolsters the ability of concerned parents, students and others to object to instructional materials and school library books.

The measure passed on International Transgender Day of Visibility, when several transgender marches were held nationwide. Students packed the Florida Capitol and shouted in protest, chanting ‘This is what democracy looks like’ and called to take control of the schools.

Two days earlier in Kentucky, state police confirmed 19 people were arrested at the Capitol as large crowds gathered to protest Republican lawmakers overriding Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto of legislation that bans puberty blockers, hormones and gender transition surgeries for children under 18.

The bill also bans lessons on gender identity and sexual orientation, requires trans students to use the bathroom of their biological sex and stops school districts from requiring teachers to use a student’s pronouns if they don’t align with their sex at birth.

At the same time Wednesday, hundreds of protesters descended on the Missouri Capitol after the Republican-led state Senate passed legislation barring transgender youth under 18 from receiving gender-affirming health care such as puberty blockers and hormone treatments. The state Senate also passed a bill preventing transgender students from participating on sports teams that align with their gender identity.

‘We show up clearly today in love and in community, certainly, but we also show up in righteous anger and in rage,’ Katy Erker-Lynch, executive director of PROMO, an LGBTQ public policy and advocacy organization, said at the protest.

Two days earlier in Texas, swaths of trans activists stormed the Capitol as the state House was debating a similar bill banning gender transition procedures for children. Protesters chanted ‘protect trans kids’ and lay on the floor in an apparent effort to obstruct those trying to walk by.

The Texas protest occurred the same day of the Nashville shooting at The Covenant School. Police say the shooter was Audrey Hale, a 28-year-old transgender individual who was a former student at the private Christian school. Hale, who was killed after firing at responding officers, left behind a manifesto, according to authorities, who did not rule out that gender identity may have been a motivation.

On Thursday, dozens of protesters swarmed the Tennessee Capitol, demanding lawmakers take action on gun violence as they appeared to mourn Hale’s death.

‘Every death is a tragedy, y’all. Seven lives,’ one protester could be heard saying in footage posted to social media.

Seven people were killed in the shooting, including Hale.

A newly formed non-profit is bringing the spirit of ‘don’t tread on me’ to the kitchen, taking a stand against an ongoing campaign to ban gas-powered stoves.

Hands Off My Stove is sponsored by the U.S. Oil and Gas Association and was created as a response to government proposals at the local, state, and federal level to restrict what stoves Americans can use in their homes to prepare their meals.

‘People are really upset about this because the kitchen is the center of everyone’s home — it’s where we raise our families and where we teach our kid and people see this as environmentalists kicking in their door and tattling on them to the government,’ Tim Stewart, president of the U.S. Oil and Gas Association, told Fox News Digital. ‘They feel like it is a gross invasion of their privacy and their personal space, and they want someone to tell them how to fight back. This is about choice and freedom, and it is about privacy.’

The push to regulate and ultimately eliminate natural gas-powered stoves gained national attention in January, when a member of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), a government agency, said a ban on gas stoves was ‘on the table’ because of the health risks they pose to consumers. However, the CPSC backed down after public outrage and ridicule. 

Soon thereafter, the Energy Department proposed an energy-efficiency regulation that officials acknowledge is so stringent that less than 50% of the gas stoves currently in use today would make the cut.

The Energy Department ‘proposes efficiency standards all the time — for lightbulbs, washers and dryers, refrigerators, and more,’ a department spokesperson recently told Fox News Digital. ‘Does it mean they’re coming to ban those appliances? Of course not. Instead, the department is building on decades-long efforts with industry to ensure our appliances work more efficiently and save Americans money.’

The department has also proposed a rule called the ‘Energy Conservation Standards for Consumer Conventional Cooking Products.’

According to Hands Off My Stove’s website, however, gas stoves are both cost effective and environmentally friendly — and proposals to ban them infringe on individual rights.

‘We are defending the rights of cooks and homeowners from the elitist policy makers and politicians who think they have the right to tell you how to make dinner,’ the group’s mission statement says. ‘We are pushing back against the climate activists who believe global warming happens because you made pasta last night. We have had enough, and we are fighting back.’ 

Beyond the federal level, Democrat-led states and cities are considering or actively implementing local gas stove restrictions as the GOP seeks to thwart such efforts at the federal level.

‘Much of the public attention has been focused on the federal government banning new appliances, but most of the nefarious activity is happening at the local level where environmental groups are pushing state and local elected officials to ban new gas hookups,’ said Stewart. ‘Hands Off My Stove is a grassroots effort designed to give people the ability not just have a say but the ability to push back hard.’

In New York, lawmakers and Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul have been reportedly negotiating a measure banning gas stoves and other natural gas-powered appliances from being installed in new buildings and new residential construction.

‘The other side hates to be mocked and hates to be questioned,’ said Stewart. ‘So, our messages will be funny and forceful without being mean spirited. We will point out hypocrisy of those who keep trying to tell us how they think we are supposed to live. Serial Stove User Stacy Abrams is the perfect example.’

Abrams, a failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate and prominent voting rights activist, recently joined an environmental group pushing to ban gas stoves. However, she’s featured a gas-powered stove in a campaign ad and other online videos in which she can be seen preparing food.

According to Stewart, Hands Off My Stove, whose stated mission is to ‘preserve our right to choose to cook our meals any way we want without government interference,’ its efforts must be driven by grassroots activists.

‘We can help get everyone started and give them information and ideas, but they have to take it from there,’ said Stewart. ‘It really does need to be grassroots effort and we are asking people to kick in $1 a month… Over the next few weeks, we will get to work running some great local advocacy efforts and protecting people’s right to choose and share that with everyone so they can do the same in their community if they are at risk.’

Over the last several months, the Energy Department has introduced a series of energy efficiency regulations impacting various home appliances such gas stoves, ovens, clothes washers, refrigerators, and air conditioners. Now the Biden administration is preparing to implement a sweeping nationwide ban that would prohibit retailers from selling incandescent light bulbs.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced Friday it will immediately begin accepting the gender identity of foreign nationals requesting immigration benefits even if they do not match the gender marker on their supporting documents.

The agency, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security and deals primarily with lawful immigration in the U.S., said it is updating its policy manual to clarify that ‘USCIS will accept the self-identified gender marker for individuals requesting immigration benefits.’  

‘The gender marker they select does not need to match the gender marker indicated on their supporting documentation,’ according to the USCIS announcement March 31, which the White House designated ‘Trans Day of Visibility.’

The agency, which is tasked with scrutinizing and processing legal immigration applications and renewals along with other documents, said nationals requesting immigration services do not need to submit proof of their gender identity when submitting a request to change their marker, with some exceptions. 

The Biden administration has marked that day, with President Biden urging Americans to ‘join us in lifting up the lives and voices of transgender people throughout our nation and to work toward eliminating violence and discrimination against all transgender, gender-nonconforming and nonbinary people.’

Currently, the markers available on forms are male and female, but the agency said it is requesting an additional marker of ‘X’ for ‘another or unspecified gender identity.’

The latest changes originated from a request for input from the public in 2021 on how USCIS could lift barriers to benefits and services. Some of the responses indicated that providing evidence for a gender change was a barrier.

The move echoes similar changes by the State Department, which no longer requires medical documentation to change gender markers on passports and also allows citizens to select ‘X’ as a gender.

Law enforcement officials have worked out the details of how former President Trump will be escorted to his alleged hush money scandal-related arraignment on Tuesday.

A source told Fox News that Trump is expected to arrive at the 100 Centre Street courthouse in New York City at around 11 a.m. on Tuesday morning. 

The arraignment – which is expected to last 15 to 30 minutes – is scheduled for 2:15 p.m. before Judge Juan Merchan. The security detail will be extensive, with officials expecting to magnetically search everyone in the courthouse twice.

No other business will be done at the courthouse until the arraignment concludes. The entire building will be cleared and inspected to ensure safety.

For security reasons, there is not expected to be a ‘perp walk’ or public arrival by the former president. Trump will also likely not be arrested in handcuffs, as his legal team made an arrangement with the DA’s office.

Judge Juan Merchan, who previously oversaw the case and trial of the Trump Organization and its former CFO Allen Weisselberg, is expected to read Trump’s charges and ask him to enter his plea. Trump will be escorted out after.

The details of the indictment have not been released, as they typically remain under seal before the arraignment takes place. The charges are expected to relate to Trump’s 2016 alleged hush money scandal, which the DA’s office has been investigating for five years.

If the charges relate to the hush money scandal, prosecutors are expected to argue that the $130,000 sum given to Stormy Daniels and the $150,000 given to former Playboy model Karen McDougal were improper donations to the Trump campaign, which helped his candidacy during the 2016 election.

The former president has expressed his disapproval of the indictment by DA Alvin Bragg, saying it is politically motivated.

‘This is Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history,’ Trump said in a statement. ‘From the time I came down the golden escalator at Trump Tower, and even before I was sworn in as your President of the United States, the Radical Left Democrats- the enemy of the hard-working men and women of this Country- have been engaged in a Witch-Hunt to destroy the Make America Great Again movement.’

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will visit New Mexico next month at what will likely be an announcement by former U.S. Rep. Yvette Herrell to campaign for her old seat.

The Roswell Daily Record reported Friday that McCarthy will attend a rally April 10 for Herrell at the Heritage Farm & Ranch Museum in Las Cruces.

‘I’m inviting you to join Speaker Kevin McCarthy and me in Las Cruces as we launch a new campaign to restore our values and flip this district,’ Herrell wrote on her campaign Facebook page this week.

Paul Smith, a spokesperson for Herrell, confirmed to the newspaper a campaign announcement will take place but offered no other details.

The Republican from Alamogordo, who represented the 2nd Congressional District since 2021, lost re-election last year to Democrat Gabe Vasquez by 1,350 votes.

She filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Elections Commission just two weeks after the loss. The filing would permit her to raise funds in the 2024 election cycle.

A representative for Vasquez did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the newspaper.

The 2nd Congressional District includes the state’s eastern border with Texas to its western border with Arizona and from southern Albuquerque down to communities along the U.S.-Mexican border.

Missouri’s state attorney general is investigating gender-affirming care provided by Planned Parenthood, according to a lawsuit filed Friday by the St. Louis health provider.

Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey demanded documents from Planned Parenthood after finding out that the clinic provides ‘life-altering gender transition drugs to children with any therapy assessment,’ spokeswoman Madeline Sieren said in a statement. She described that as a departure from standard care.

Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri sued in response, trying to block access to its records. In court filings, the healthcare provider argued Bailey has no authority to investigate the clinic, which is inspected by the state health department.

A Planned Parenthood doctor described Bailey’s investigation as a ‘fishing expedition’ targeting the clinic, which provides gender-affirming care to adults, and teens ages 16 and older. Dr. Colleen McNicholas, the health center’s chief medical officer, told The Associated Press that the attorney general’s investigation is ‘an attempt to help him work outside of the legislative process and eliminate access to transgender care for Missourians.’

The Attorney General’s Office cited its ongoing investigation into a transgender youth clinic run by Washington University, ‘or others in the state providing similar services,’ as the reason for the document request, according to a letter to Planned Parenthood dated March 10.

Sieren criticized Planned Parenthood for withholding its records.

‘We look forward to prevailing in this request for information and learning what is truly going on with Planned Parenthood in connection with gender transition issues,’ Sieren said in a Friday statement.

In February, Bailey launched an investigation into the Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital following allegations of mistreatment by a former employee. The ex-staffer alleged that physicians there did not warn patients and parents enough about potential side effects of puberty blockers and hormones, and that doctors pressured parents to consent to treatment.

Planned Parenthood argues in its lawsuit that its clinic has nothing to do with the Washington University center.

The lawsuit comes amid a national push to restrict transgender health care, drag shows, bathroom access and how LGBTQ+ topics are discussed in schools. The lawsuit was filed Friday as rallies were scheduled in cities nationwide as part of Transgender Day of Visibility.

As the state’s top prosecutor, Bailey is following his predecessor’s lead in using the office to take a stand on social issues. Last week, he announced plans to file an emergency rule to restrict healthcare for transgender children. It would require an 18-month waiting period, 15 therapy sessions and additional mental health treatment before Missouri doctors can provide gender-affirming care to minors.

‘I am dedicated to using every legal tool at my disposal to stand in the gap and protect children from being subject to inhumane science experiments,’ Bailey said in a statement announcing the planned rule.

His office has not yet filed the rule.

Transgender medical treatment for children has been available in the U.S. for over a decade and is endorsed by major medical associations. Many clinics use treatment plans pioneered in Amsterdam 30 years ago, according to a recent review in the British Psych Bulletin. Since 2005, the number of youth referred to gender clinics has increased as much as tenfold in the U.S., U.K, Canada and Finland, the review said.

McNicholas, of Planned Parenthood, said Bailey is using the ‘same playbook’ that anti-abortion activists and elected officials have used to restrict abortions.

Missouri banned almost all abortions in 2022, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Before that, Republicans fought for years to regulate abortion out of existence in the state. The GOP-led state legislature proposed anti-abortion bills yearly. When increasingly restrictive bans on the procedure were tossed in court, Republican governors stepped in.

‘If we are to learn anything from our past experience with the state targeting us for the provision of lawful abortion care, we know that other folks who are providing this care are certainly going to be targets,’ McNicholas said. ‘If not now, then soon.’

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has said nothing about former President Donald Trump’s indictment this week, even as several House Republicans have condemned the charges as politically motivated.

Since Trump’s indictment was reported Thursday, McConnell has issued no public statements on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s criminal case against the former president and leading Republican 2024 candidate. Neither has Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the No. 2 Republican in the Senate.

McConnell’s office told Fox News Digital that it did not have a comment as of Friday. Thune’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

McConnell and Trump are not on good terms — McConnell said in December that Trump is ‘diminished’ and blamed the former president for the GOP’s disappointing performance in the 2022 midterm elections. Trump, who holds a grudge against the Senate GOP leader for refusing to go along with his claims that the 2020 election was stolen, called McConnell a ‘tremendous liability for the Republican Party’ in an interview with Fox News.

McConnell’s silence stands in stark contrast to his counterpart in the House of Representatives. After news of the indictment broke, Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., slammed Bragg and said that he ‘has irreparably damaged our country in an attempt to interfere in our Presidential election.’

‘As he routinely frees violent criminals to terrorize the public, he weaponized our sacred system of justice against President Donald Trump,’ McCarthy said of Bragg. ‘The American people will not tolerate this injustice, and the House of Representatives will hold Alvin Bragg and his unprecedented abuse of power to account.’

McCarthy’s lieutenant, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., called the indictment a ‘sham’ and accused ‘extremist Democrats’ of ‘weaponizing government to attack their political opponents.’

The criminal charges against Trump came after a years-long investigation into payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal in 2016 allegedly to keep them quite about their previous affairs with Trump while he was running for president.

Trump has denied the affairs and any wrongdoing. Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York opted out of charging Trump related to the Daniels payment in 2019.

The Federal Election Commission also tossed its investigation into the matter in 2021.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and other Republicans sent a letter to Bragg last week demanding that he turn over documents related to his Trump investigation and testify before Congress, asserting that the DA’s investigation must be politically motivated.

Bragg’s office blasted back Friday, accusing the House lawmakers of ‘unlawful political interference’ in an ongoing criminal case.

While McConnell and Thune have said nothing so far, other Senate GOP leaders have spoken out against the indictment. The No. 3 Republican, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wy., called it a ‘politically motivated prosecution by a far-left activist.’

‘If it was anyone other than President Trump, a case like this would never be brought. Instead of ordering political hit jobs, New York prosecutors should focus on getting violent criminals off the street,’ Barrasso said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Republican Policy Committee Chairman Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., each gave similar statements.

Trump is expected to be arraigned in a Manhattan court on Tuesday, a law enforcement source told Fox News. Sources familiar say Trump will surrender himself and be taken into custody without handcuffs. Detectives with Bragg’s office will handle the arrest.

Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Marta Dhanis contributed to this report.

Some House Democrats who previously condemned former President Donald Trump for threatening to jail political opponents had a different reaction after a Manhattan grand jury’s decision to bring criminal charges against the leading Republican presidential candidate.

‘Threatening to jail political opponents is something despots do. This is dangerous and beneath our great country,’ Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., the House Minority Whip, said on Twitter during an October 2016 presidential debate between Trump and former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

At the time Clark made her comments, Clinton was embroiled in an email scandal that threatened to derail her candidacy. Trump leaned hard into the scandal in the closing weeks of the campaign, with the phrase ‘lock her up’ becoming a common rallying cry at many Trump campaign events.

But Clark has indicated no such issues following Trump’s indictment, saying in a Thursday statement ‘no one is above the law’ and that the process must continue ‘unimpeded and free from’ political interference. 

‘Fundamental to the strength and survival of democracy is the principle that no one is above the law – including a former President of the United States,’ Clark said. ‘We must allow the judicial process to continue unimpeded and free from any form of political interference or intimidation. This is not a time for partisanship, but for all Americans to act peacefully and put their faith in the justice system.’

‘Core to our democracy is the rule of law,’ Clark tweeted earlier this month. ‘And yet the former president is calling for violence and the Speaker of the House is coming to his defense. This extreme behavior is dangerous and unpatriotic.’

After a years-long investigation from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, a Manhattan grand jury voted Thursday to indict Trump. The exact charges of the indictment are still under seal, but Trump attorney Joe Tacopina said Thursday evening Trump could face more than 30 counts next week when he’s arraigned.

In August 2018, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., shared a quote from a New York Times article that warned Trump would turn ‘authoritarian’ if Republicans were able to win that year’s midterm elections.

‘If Republicans hold both houses of Congress this November, Trump will go full authoritarian, abusing institutions like the I.R.S., trying to jail opponents and journalists… and he’ll do it with full support from his party,’ read the quote, which Pelosi shared on Twitter.

But after news of the Trump indictment, Pelosi shifted her tone, suggesting that in a statement that her political opponent Trump would have to ‘prove’ his innocence in court and that ‘no one is above the law.’

‘The Grand Jury has acted upon the facts and the law,’ Pelosi said. ‘No one is above the law, and everyone has the right to a trial to prove innocence. Hopefully, the former President will peacefully respect the system, which grants him that right.’

Many criticized Pelosi’s claim that Trump has the right to a trial ‘to prove innocence.’ A cardinal principal of the justice system in the United States is that any person accused of a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Pelosi recently lashed out at Trump’s social media posts about the possibility of being arrested, calling the former president ‘reckless’ and accusing him of fomenting ‘unrest.’

Like Pelosi, Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., shared the same New York Times article in August 2018. Casten recently took aim at House Speaker Kevin McCarty for opposing the indictment of Trump, arguing McCarthy should ‘treat [his] job with the dignity it deserves’ in a post on Twitter.

‘This is transparent political hackery unbefitting of the Speaker of the House,’ Casten said earlier this month in response to McCarthy. ‘You don’t what the charges are but you know exactly what violence he is capable of when he can count on people like you to cower rather than act.’

Following the indictment of Trump, Casten put out a one word reaction on Twitter: ‘Boom.’

Casten took further aim at McCarthy in a followup tweet on Thursday after the speaker claimed Bragg ‘has irreparably damaged our country in an attempt to interfere in our Presidential election.’

‘You know nothing about the charges. But thank you for reminding us of your unredeemable cowardice,’ Casten wrote.

Casten, who has represented Illinois in the House since 2019, also took aim at the Republican Party in a separate tweet, saying he wouldn’t have been elected if Republicans ‘had put country over Trump in 2016.’

‘I have not yet read the indictment. But I never would have ended up in this job if anyone of any power in the @GOP had put country over Trump in 2016,’ he wrote. ‘Their continuing obsequious, ignorant cowardice tonight disgusts me. And I’m glad good people stood up even as they sat.’

Like Clark, Rep. Val Hoyle, D-Ore., was also critical of Trump’s rhetoric during the October 2016 debate with Hillary Clinton, taking to Twitter to share a quote from Jefferson Smith, a former Oregon lawmaker, in apparent shock of Trump’s remarks.

‘A man running for president threatened to put his political opponents in jail,’ read the quote Hoyle shared at the time.

‘Yep. That just happened,’ Hoyle said in reference to remarks made by Trump.

But Hoyle has gone silent following the indictment of Trump. As of Friday, Hoyle has yet to comment on the matter via social media or through a press release on her website.

Hoyle’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital about the indictment.

Another prominent House Democrat, Rep. Eric Swalwell of California, was also critical of Trump’s calls to jail Clinton following the 2016 election, arguing that such rhetoric threatened to make the U.S. a ‘banana republic.’

‘Glad he’s not making us a banana republic by jailing foes,’ Swalwell said of Trump in November 2016, adding that he was still ‘angry’ Trump ‘lied so blatantly on this & other things to win.’

However, after the Trump indictment was revealed Thursday, Swalwell did not denounce the decision, but said it marked a ‘somber day’ in America and that Trump ‘deserves every protection provided to him’ by law.

‘The indictment of a former president is a somber day for America,’ Swalwell wrote in a tweet. ‘It’s also a time to put faith in our judicial system. Donald Trump deserves every protection provided to him by the Constitution. As that unfolds, let us neither celebrate nor destroy. Justice benefits us all.’

In recent weeks, Swalwell targeted McCarthy for the speaker’s apparent lack of support for an indictment of Trump.

‘The guy who created a committee to look into ‘weaponization of government’ is using his powers in government to stop an independent prosecution of his boss,’ Swalwell said of McCarthy on Twitter earlier this month.

Bragg requested that Trump surrender to his office Friday, but a source familiar told Fox News Digital that timeline was extended due to arrangements needed to be made by Secret Service. The source told Fox News Digital Trump will ‘most likely’ surrender on Tuesday.

The indictment of the Trump comes after Bragg has been investigating Trump for hush money payments made leading up to the 2016 presidential election. These include the $130,000 payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, and the $150,000 payment made to former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

Fox News reported and revealed in 2018 a series of hush money payments made to both McDougal and Daniels, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York and the Federal Election Commission both investigated those payments.

Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York opted out of charging Trump related to the Daniels payment in 2019, even as Michael Cohen, a former Trump attorney, implicated him as part of his plea deal. The Federal Election Commission also tossed its investigation into the matter in 2021.

Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Lorraine Taylor contributed to this article.

The New Mexico Supreme Court blocked local anti-abortion ordinances Friday pending the outcome of a case centered on constitutional rights to equal protection and due process.

The ruling granted a request by Democratic state Attorney General Raúl Torrez and follows the state’s recent adoption of a new abortion rights bill signed by Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham just weeks ago that overrides any local ordinances aimed at limiting access to abortion procedures and medications.

The state already had one of the country’s most liberal abortion access laws, but two counties and three cities in eastern New Mexico recently adopted restrictions that reflect deep-seated opposition to offering the procedure. Torrez’s petition and the legislation that was passed during the recent 60-day aim to override those ordinances and prevent other counties from adopting abortion restrictions.

The goal is for New Mexico to remain a safe haven for women seeking abortions, Torrez said in a statement Friday.

The legislation and the petition ‘will make it clear that everyone in the state of New Mexico has a protected, constitutional right to make their own healthcare decisions,’ he said. ‘Given the attacks we are seeing in Texas and across the country, I am proud to stand with our Legislature and the governor to continue this fight.’

Democratic governors in 20 states this year launched a network intended to strengthen abortion access in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision nixing a woman’s constitutional right to end a pregnancy. The decision shifted regulatory powers over the procedure to state governments.

In 2021, the Democratic-led New Mexico Legislature repealed a dormant 1969 statute that outlawed most abortion procedures as felonies, ensuring access to abortion even after the federal court rolled back guarantees. The governor also signed a series of executive orders that, among other things, barred state cooperation with other states that might interfere with abortion access.

The changes over the last two years have prompted more providers to relocate to New Mexico and bring patients with them.

Mississippi’s only abortion clinic also relocated to southern New Mexico. Tele-health provider Choix, based in San Francisco, became licensed last year to operate in New Mexico.

One of the largest abortion providers that had operated in Texas opened a new clinic in New Mexico’s largest city last week. Officials with Whole Woman’s Health said that out of the first 19 patients scheduled to walk through the doors of the Albuquerque clinic, 18 were from Texas.

Whole Woman’s Health started a fundraising effort last summer to help with the costs of moving equipment and supplies from Texas to New Mexico and for the purchase of a building to serve as its new home.

New Mexico’s governor also has pledged to spend $10 million to build a new abortion clinic in the southern part of the state near El Paso, Texas.

In its order, the New Mexico Supreme Court outlined a schedule for the ongoing case over the ordinances in the cities of Hobbs, Clovis and Eunice and in Lea and Roosevelt counties. It said briefs due in April should address what, if any, effect the new abortion rights law will have on the case.

In an earlier brief filed with the court, a coalition of anti-abortion organizations argued that the attorney general bypassed ordinary litigation procedures by filing the emergency petition in hopes of having the court declare a new constitutional right to abortion without the benefit of a lower court taking up the issue.

The groups argue that the New Mexico Constitution expressly guarantees ‘the right to life, not the right to end unborn life.’

Former Attorney General Bill Barr reacted to the indictment of former President Trump over his alleged 2016 hush money scandal on Friday, calling it ‘an abomination.’

Trump was indicted by a grand jury on Thursday. He is the first ex-president in U.S. history to be indicted.

Barr appeared on Fox Business to discuss the indictment with host Larry Kudlow.

‘Obviously, we don’t have the indictment, so there’s a little bit of speculation involved,’ Barr began. ‘But based on the news reports, if they’re accurate, this is an abomination.’

‘It’s the epitome of the abuse of prosecutorial power to bring a case that would not be brought against anyone else. They are going after the man, not a crime. And the legal theory, frankly, is pathetically weak,’ he argued.

‘They are going after the man, not a crime. And the legal theory, frankly, is pathetically weak.’

— Former Attorney General Bill Barr

The former attorney general delved into the legal arguments that will likely be made by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

‘The claim is that [recording the Cohen reimbursements as legal payments] is false and therefore violated a misdemeanor statute in the first instance against false documents,’ Barr said. ‘I actually don’t think that’s a valid claim in this case, because the statute actually requires that it be done with the intent to defraud.’

‘They’re assuming that the payments were a campaign finance violation because they were effectively a contribution to the Trump campaign. I can tell you that’s not the law. I don’t think that’s how the Justice Department would view it,’ Barr added.

The office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has been investigating the alleged hush money scandal for years. The purported payments include the $130,000 sum given to Stormy Daniels, plus the $150,000 given to former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

President Biden declined to comment on the indictment when asked about it on Friday.

Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.