Back when Janet Napolitano was selected to be Obama's homeland security chief, I reported that her stepping down as governor in Arizona would deal a hefty blow to her state's Democratic Party, and its agenda, because Republican Secretary of State Jan Brewer would take over the executive branch and ally with a GOP-dominated state legislature. News last night illustrated the consequences: Brewer has approved new abortion restrictions--including a 24-hour waiting period before a woman can have the procedure and a requirement that a doctor give her information about her fetus's probable characteristics--as well as a provision granting health care providers the right to refuse to distribute emergency contraception for moral or religious reasons. Brewer also signed a law allowing people to carry guns in bars. ("You know, a saloon girl or two were even known to keep a derringer in their garter belt, just in case," she told the National Rifle Association last month.) Napolitano had rejected similar measures.
Brewer and the legislature aren't allied on everything, though. She wielded her veto power on a law that would have legalized sparklers.
--Seyward Darby