In brief: Brown signs into law California abortion bill

Sacramento, Calif. – Giving California women more access to abortion, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill Wednesday that allows nurse practitioners and certain other nonphysicians to perform the procedure during the first trimester of pregnancy.

The governor acted on 32 bills in all, approving measures that will cap drug costs for cancer patients, expand the number of people on CalFresh, the state’s food stamp program, and promote breastfeeding.

Democratic Assemblywoman Toni Atkins introduced the abortion measure because of concern that not enough physicians perform abortions, especially in rural areas, to meet the needs of women seeking to terminate a pregnancy.

“Timely access to reproductive health services is critical to women’s health,” Atkins said in a statement. “AB 154 will ensure that no woman has to travel excessively long distances or wait for long periods in order to obtain an early abortion.”

Opponents of abortion said the new law will subject women to a lower level of medical care.

Plane deicing concerns prompt San Diego stop

San Diego – A Boeing 787 Dreamliner headed to Tokyo was diverted back to San Diego Wednesday because of a possible problem with the aircraft’s deicing system.

Japan Airlines officials told a television station the pilot received an error message for the deicing system. The pilot made the decision to go back to San Diego so repairs could be made.

The Dreamliner has suffered a few glitches, most notably overheating lithium-ion battery systems that caused the planes to be grounded worldwide for three months this year. Boeing redesigned the battery systems to the satisfaction of U.S. aviation regulators.

Longtime reviewer Kauffmann dies at 97

New York – Stanley Kauffmann, the longtime film and theater critic of the New Republic who in the 20th century helped define movie reviews as an intellectual form, has died. He was 97.

Kauffmann died from complications of pneumonia in New York. A tribute will be held honoring his work but there will be no funeral, per his request, a New Republic spokesman said Wednesday.

Over his 54 years at the magazine, Kauffmann assessed innumerable cinematic masterpieces and helped bring a number of seminal directors to light, particularly the New Hollywood filmmakers of the 1970s and European upstart auteurs such as Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard.