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Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin had hoped he could sign a bill restricting abortion rights in his state, but that dream died last year when Democrats won a special election that gained them control of the state senate.
Now local news station WRIC reports that Youngkin's own party is quietly shelving the legislation and doesn't even plan to give it a vote in the Republican-controlled Virginia House of Representatives.
"We don’t see a path for that bill to become law," Republican Delegate Rob Bell told WRIC this week, referring to Youngkin's proposed bill that would have banned most abortions in the state after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Democratic Virginia Delegate Don Scott took a victory lap and taunted his Republican colleagues for being "scared to death to go on the record against women, against choice in an election year."
READ MORE: Marjorie Taylor Greene mocked for lamenting plight of 'the average white male'
Abortion emerged as a major electoral issue after the United States Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision last year that for five decades had ensured women's reproductive rights.
Although several state legislatures have enacted abortion restrictions, ballot initiatives in both purple states like Michigan and red states like Kansas have shown voters have little appetite for strict abortion regulations.
Former President Donald Trump took time at his rally over the weekend in Waco, Texas to glorify the cause of the January 6 insurrectionists who attacked the U.S. Capitol, playing a video in defense of them.
But many Senate Republicans are calling it out as a bridge too far, reported NBC News.
"Some disagreed with his judgment in playing a video that exalts those who took part in the attack on the Capitol and were arrested, rejecting the narrative in pro-Trump circles that the rioters were 'peaceful' protesters. Other Republicans said it is an unwise political strategy for Trump to focus on the attempted insurrection as he seeks a comeback bid in 2024," reported Sahil Kapur and Scott Wong. "'People who violated the law should be prosecuted. And they have been,' Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who previously held the No. 2 spot in Senate Republican leadership, told NBC News. 'I just frankly don’t understand this, you know, retrospective look,' he said. 'When it comes to running for president or any other office, people don’t want you to relitigate all your grievances in the past. They want to know what your vision for the future is. And so I don’t think it’s a formula for success.'"
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) had an even blunter take on the issue: “January 6 was one of the worst days in American history. Everybody’s entitled to due process. If you’re trying to suggest that those who were involved in January the 6th are some kind of hero? No. There will be no effort on my part to whitewash January 6."
IN OTHER NEWS: Rand Paul staffer stabbed in the head and torso in broad daylight attack: reports
During the same rally, Trump also proclaimed that he would "destroy the deep state," a reference to a longtime belief among the former president's supporters that the civil service effectively functioned as a shadow government countermanding Trump's orders when he was in office.
Analyists already condemned the rally even before it took place for Trump's choice of venue, which some theorized to be a nod to extreme anti-government militia groups, who use "Waco" as a rallying cry following the 1993 FBI siege of the Branch Davidian religious cult compound.
A Rand Paul staffer suffered life-threatening injuries Saturday afternoon in a stabbing attack in Washington D.C., the Republican senator from Kentucky said in a statement.
Glynn Neal, 42 of Southeast, D.C. was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the attack, police said in a statement.
The victim’s status wasn’t immediately known.
“This past weekend a member of my staff was brutally attacked in broad daylight in Washington D.C. I ask you to join Kelley and me in praying for a speedy and complete recovery, and thinking the first responders, hospital staff and police for their diligent actions,” Paul said in a statement obtained by WUSA 9's Lorenzo Hall.
IN OTHER NEWS: New WSJ Poll is devastating for DeSantis and his ‘anti-woke’ policies
Officers at around 5:17 p.m. Saturday responded to the 1300 block of H. St. NE on the report of a stabbing, D.C. Metropolitan police said.
A witness told police they were with the victim walking eastbound in the 1300 block of H. St. NE when the suspect, who was hiding in a corner “popped out of the corner and proceeded to stab (the victim) multiple times,” police said in a news release.
The victim was able to grab the suspect’s arms, at which point the witness tackled the suspect to the ground, leading to a struggle.
“We are relieved to hear the suspect has been arrested,” Paul said.
“At this time, we would ask for privacy so everyone can focus on healing and recovery.”
The man suing Gwyneth Paltrow over what he claims was a hit-and-run ski accident on a posh US slope said Monday the accident had changed his "essence".
Terry Sanderson, a 76-year-old retired optometrist, said the 2016 collision in Utah had left him with four broken ribs and lasting psychological damage.
"I'm like living another life now," he told a court in Park City.
"My interaction with my family has been more difficult and I think.... I of course... I'm desperate to be close to my family and my girls.
"But something's wrong with my essence and what I bring to the table with them. Communication is not as smooth and it's been more difficult."
Sanderson is suing the "Shakespeare in Love" actress over the collision, which his lawyers say caused him damage to the tune of $3.3 million. He filed the suit in 2019 and the case has taken this long to reach court.
Paltrow has in turn countersued, for a symbolic $1, plus legal expenses.
The actress told the trial last week that Sanderson had ploughed into the back of her.
But on Monday, Sanderson took the stand to insist that it was he who was the victim.
"I got hit in my back so hard and it was right at my shoulder blades, a serious, serious smack. I’ve never been hit that hard, and I'm flying," he told the jury.
"Last thing I remember, everything was black."
Sanderson, who before the incident had suffered vision problems and a heart attack, said the collision knocked him out.
Asked about an email he sent to his daughters about the crash with a Hollywood celebrity with the subject line "I'm famous," Sanderson said: "My head was scrambled."
"I didn’t pick my words well. I was trying to add a little levity to a serious situation and it backfired."
He did not deny sending the email, but insisted: "It's the other personality that's inhabiting my body right now."
Stephen Owens, representing Paltrow, argued that any changes in Sanderson's personality were more to do with the natural ageing process.
Paltrow was skiing with her children and her partner, Brad Falchuk.
Last week she told the court "Mr. Sanderson categorically hit me on that ski slope, and that is the truth."
"I was skiing, and two skis came between my skis, forcing my legs apart, and then there was a body pressing against me, and there was a very strange grunting noise" she said.
In his opening statement last week, Paltrow's lawyer said Sanderson is "obsessed" with the lawsuit, and that the case was a "meritless claim of false allegation."
In addition to her Oscar-winning acting career, Paltrow has forged a second career marketing wellness products on her Goop website.
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