Calif. governor rents billboards in red states to tout abortion access

Gavin Newsom's reelection campaign has rented billboards in six states with abortion bans, escalating the Democrat's battle with conservative Republican governors and courting a First Amendment fight with Mississippi. The ads began appearing in Indiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota and Texas on Thursday. Each state dramatically limited abortion rights after the Supreme Court's June decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. Between 1973 and this summer, when the Court's previous rulings on abortion rights were in effect, states were prohibited from enforcing bans prior to the viability of the fetus, typically interpreted as 24 weeks. In Mississippi, the online magazine Slate and the nonprofit MayDay Health have rented out billboards which, respectively, advertise a podcast about abortion rights and a way to access at-home abortion medication.