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T H U R S DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 , 2 0 21
Omicron variant found in California Newsom urges people to be calm but vigilant after discovery of nation’s first confirmed case By MADISON HIRNEISEN THE CENTER SQUARE STAFF REPORTER
(The Center Square) — Shortly after the presence of the omicron variant was confirmed in California on Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom advised state residents to remain calm yet vigilant as scientists continue to gain information about the latest virus strain out of southern Africa. The governor addressed reporters at a vaccine clinic Wednesday in Merced County about an hour after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the nation’s first confirmed case caused by the omicron variant
was discovered in California. The San Francisco resident who tested positive had recently returned to the state after visiting South Africa has “mild symptoms,” the CDC said. Gov. Newsom reported Wednesday that the individual is between 18-49 and fully vaccinated, though the person was not in the window to receive a booster shot. The governor acknowledged Wednesday that there remains a lot of uncertainty around the new variant, noting that scientists are still gathering information about omicron. In the meantime, he advised all eligible Californians to get their vaccine and booster shots as soon as possible and
continue to follow COVID-19 safety protocols. “There’s more panic than information about this new variant, and that just means we have to keep our mind open but maintain our vigilance,” Gov. Newsom said Wednesday. The CDC said Wednesday said no one who was in close contact with the San Francisco resident who tested positive had contracted the virus yet. But California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said the state expects to see additional cases surface over time. “It’s not unexpected that we actually do have a case here in California,” Dr. Ghaly said. “We
do expect that, over time, we will have additional cases, and that’s why we need to keep our guard up.” The health secretary said that this breakthrough infection does not mean the vaccine is not working. Rather, he said, it’s doing exactly what it was designed to do. “We have been talking for months about the fact that vaccinations do one really, really important thing – protect against severe disease, against hospitalization and death,” Dr. Ghaly said. “And the evidence that an individual with omicron identified by sequencing actually has mild symptoms, is improving, is a testimony to the importance
of the vaccinations.” Gov. Newsom has warned residents that “winter is coming” to promote the vaccine and booster shots in recent weeks. He has also reminded residents of last year’s winter surge, which led to thousands of hospitalizations and deaths, the closure of businesses and weeks of lockdown. Gov. Newsom said Wednesday that the state’s case rate and infections are not as “acute” as last year. He told reporters that as long as the state continues its “nation-leading efforts” in keeping cases low, he does not expect the emergence of omicron Please see OMICRON on A2
Rally held against abortion ban Oral arguments at U.S. Supreme Court stir community response; elected officials join local gathering
By ANNELISE HANSHAW NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Officials and community members rallied in De la Guerra Plaza Wednesday to advocate for access to abortions — a component of health care challenged by a case brought before the U.S. Supreme Court earlier that morning. Leaders at the Planned Parenthood Central Coast Action Fund organized the rally when they heard the Supreme Court was hearing Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case that challenges Roe v. Wade and looks at Mississippi’s law of banning abortions past 15 weeks pregnancy. A who’s-who of electeds attended the rally and slipped their hands into neon gloves with the words “bans off” printed on the palms. Nearly the entire Santa Barbara City Council showed support. Goleta’s Mayor Pro Tempore James Kyriaco attended. The first mayor of Goleta, Margaret Connell, arrived, and Santa Barbara Unified School District board member Laura Capps stood proudly in a hot pink shirt. State Sen. Monique Limón, D-Santa Barbara, spoke fiercely to the crowd, clenching her fists as she declared, “We say no to bans on our body.” Afterward, she told the NewsPress the rally is about reacting to the day’s oral arguments in the Supreme Court before awaiting a decision — one many believe will come in July. “That decision will impact what local governments even can do because it’s not just California that’s a thing, right? The state can pass laws to do it, but will the local community support reproductive health centers?” she said. The Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling could give states power to ban abortion. After hearing oral arguments Wednesday, Sen. Limón and Action Fund leaders fear Roe
KENNETH SONG/NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
Elected officials, Planned Parenthood Central Coast Action Fund employees, a leader from Students for Reproductive Justice at UCSB and representatives from Clergy for Choice hold up their hands during a period of silence in a rally for abortion access in De la Guerra Plaza Wednesday afternoon.
v. Wade, which prohibits states from banning abortions, may be overturned or restricted. “Let’s be clear: for three months before we landed here today, the Supreme Court has allowed people in Texas to travel across the country, to suffer in silence, to live without constitutional rights and bodily autonomy,” Dr. Jenna Tosh, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Central Coast, said. “And today, for those of you who listened to the oral arguments, I know it was apparent that there is a plan to dismantle, either gut or wholly overturn, Roe v. Wade.” California is preparing to ramp up abortive services statewide to serve people traveling for an abortion, and 26 states are likely to ban abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned, she said, likely referencing a study by the
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Guttmacher Institute. She spotlighted the Women’s Health Protection Act, federal legislation passed by the House of Representatives that declares abortion care a right. The Senate has yet to vote on the bill. Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, lauded the House’s actions as he stood in front of the Supreme Court Wednesday morning with demonstrators. “It’s important that the Supreme Court hear us loud and clear, to not take us back but rather take us forward. And to remind everybody that the House Democrats have passed the Women’s Health Protection Act, and the Senate needs to do their part now,” he said. The bill’s findings includes an Please see PROTEST on A2
Neon gloves bearing the words “bans off” accessorize speakers and other leaders during the demonstration.
NEWS-PRESS FILE PHOTO
“There’s more panic than information about this new variant, and that just means we have to keep our mind open but maintain our vigilance,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday.
Supreme Court hears abortion ban case By DAVE MASON NEWS-PRESS MANAGING EDITOR
A case that many feel strikes at the heart of Roe v. Wade went before the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday morning. Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization concerns a law that the Republican majority of the Mississippi Legislature enacted in 2018. It bans abortions “if the probable gestataional age of the unborn human” is determined to be more than 15 weeks. Justices heard two hours of oral arguments. The question is whether the court, which is expected to give its decision in June, would uphold the 15 weeks, which is short of the fetal viability of about 23 weeks; overturn Roe v. Wade entirely, which leaves the issue in the hands of states; or declare the Mississippi law as unconstitutional in the face of Roe v. Wade. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who’s part of the court’s conservative majority but has sided with the liberals on some issues, suggested the court didn’t need to determine the entire fate of Roe v. Wade and could limit the scope of its decision to the question of 15 weeks vs. 23 weeks. “What we have before us is a 15-week standard,” Justice Roberts told Julie Rikelman, who was arguing on behalf of Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the last abortion clinic in Mississippi. Ms. Rikelman is an attorney and the senior director at the Center for Reproductive Rights. Various national media reporters observing the oral arguments said their impression is that the 6-3 conservative majority, in its questions of the lawyers representing the two sides, is suggesting the court may weaken Roe v. Wade or overturn it entirely. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, one of former President Donald Trump’s conservative appointments, asked Mississippi Solicitor General Scott Stewart
whether he was arguing that the Constitution is neither pro-life nor pro-choice but leaves the issue to be decided by states or maybe Congress. But Justice Sonia Sotomayor, one of the court’s three liberal justices, cautioned that people would question the court’s legitimacy if Roe v. Wade is overturned. She asked whether the court could survive public perception that the Constitution and its reading or interpretation are political acts. The liberal justices warned against overturning a major Supreme Court precedent so soon after the change in the court’s membership. Wednesday’s oral arguments began with Mr. Stewart, a former clerk of Justice Clarence Thomas. Mr. Stewart referred to Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the 1992 case in which justices considered whether to drop the trimester approach in determining fetal viability. The justices declined to do that, but shortened viability from 28 weeks to about 23 weeks. “Roe versus Wade and Planned Parenthood versus Casey haunt our country,” Mr. Stewart told the justices. “They have no home in our history or traditions. They’ve damaged the democratic process. They’ve poisoned the law. They’ve choked off compromise. “For 50 years, they’ve kept this court at the center of a political battle that it can never resolve,” Mr. Stewart said. “And 50 years on, they stand alone. Nowhere else does this court recognize a right to end human life.” Mr. Stewart said the Mississippi law allows “robust exceptions for a woman’s life and health. It leaves months to obtain an abortion. “Yet the courts below struck the law down,” he said. In her opening argument, Ms. Rikelman said, “Mississippi’s ban on abortion two months before viability is flatly unconstitutional under decades of precedent. Mississippi asks the court to Please see ABORTION on B4
INSIDE
L O T T E RY RESULTS
Classified................. B4 Life...................... B1-2 Obituaries............... A4
Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: N/A Meganumber: N/A
Wednesday’s DAILY 4: 8-5-5-4
Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 7-8-26-30-39 Meganumber: 17
Wednesday’s FANTASY 5: 9-28-30-34-35
Wednesday’s DAILY DERBY: 06-05-02 Time: 1:40.80
Wednesday’s POWERBALL: N/A Meganumber: N/A
Sudoku................... B3 Sports . .................... A4 Weather................. A4
Wednesday’s DAILY 3: 0-2-3 / Wednesday’s Midday 8-1-0