Arizona

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has signed into law a bill that bans public funding of Planned Parenthood, a group that provides reproductive health services, including contraceptives and abortions.

The "Whole Woman's Health Funding Priority Act," or HB 2800, "closes loopholes in order to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not used to fund abortions, whether directly or indirectly," the Republican governor said in a statement.

Planned Parenthood, which runs 14 health centers in five metropolitan areas in the state, is funded by both public money and private donors across the country. While the group says public money is not used to fund abortion services, pro-life supporters maintain that the funding frees up other resources which are, in turn, used to provide abortions. more >>

Students at an elementary school in Phoenix, Ariz., will be allowed to pass out fliers promoting a Good News Club after-school program as the result of a settlement between district officials and a Christian lawyers association.

The Alliance Defense Fund announced Thursday that the Dysart Unified School District, which had rejected the fliers because of their "religious nature" last January, had reversed their decision.

"A Christian organization should have the same right to publicize its voluntary meetings as other groups do," said ADF Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco. "The district has done the right thing in approving the Good News Club fliers for distribution and revising its policies that banned religious fliers. That will allow the club and other similar groups to have the same access to publicize their events to students that all other groups enjoy." more >>

A megachurch in Phoenix, Ariz., kicked off a clean water campaign today by having its college students walk for 12 miles across the city to raise money to build water wells in developing countries.

Palmcroft Church is behind a campaign to raise thousands of dollars to bring clean water to those in Haiti and Ethiopia in order to fight water-borne diseases. The World Health Organization estimates that unsafe water and poor sanitation kill more people around the world than all forms of violence, including war.

Jeff Wolfe, a pastor at Palmcroft, told The Christian Post that the four-hour walk symbolizes the four hours – often both ways – that women and children have to walk to find clean water in developing countries. more >>

Arizona's tight abortion policies are set to be tightened ever more as lawmakers in the state Senate voted 20-10 this week in favor of banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The bill still needs to be approved in the House and signed by Gov. Jan Brewer before becoming law.

Although the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision allowed abortions on a nationwide level, it also provided the opportunity for states to introduce bills that ban late-term abortions except in cases where the mother's life is in danger. The Arizona bill looks to take advantage precisely of that ruling, and will only allow abortions after 20 weeks in cases of medical emergencies.

The bill passed in the Senate Tuesday, with a single Republican joining nine other Democrats in opposition otothe legislation. The House now needs to pass the bill as well before Gov. Brewer can sign it into law, but Republican State Rep. Kimberly Yee, who sponsored the bill, has expressed confidence that she has enough votes to do so. more >>

A team of experts came together to build the world's largest paper airplane, and while it only flew for six seconds, it was enough to generate worldwide attention.

The Pima Air & Space Museum in Arizona sponsored the project as a jump-start to get kids enthused about aeronautics, math, and physics. Arturo Valderamo, 12, won the contest and was able to be a part of the expert plane-building team. The crew named their 45-foot plane Desert Eagle.

Desert Eagle was taken by helicopter to an altitude of 4,000 feet before being released into the Arizona sky. It only took six seconds for the plane to reach the ground, and it reached a top speed of 98 miles per hour. Desert Eagle weighed nearly 800 pounds and had a wingspan of 24 feet. more >>

Susanne Eman, 33, of Arizona has a dream of becoming the largest woman in the world; she is on the way to achieving that goal and has announced her engagement to a chef. Together they hope to realize Eman's goal.

She currently weighs in at 756 pounds but wants to one day weigh 1200 pounds and claim the title of world's largest woman. Eman has two teenage sons and has recently announced her engagement to chef Parker Clack, who she believes will help her achieve her dream.

The two met online and "immediately clicked. We are a match made in heaven: I love eating and Parker loves cooking," Eman told the Daily Mail. "It's a perfect pairing. I still want to be the fattest woman in the world, and Parker is fine with that. He loves larger women and sees how happy I am when I'm eating," she explained. more >>