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How a pregnancy complication reshaped an Arkansas woman's view of abortion bans

A majority of Republicans continue to oppose abortion, but there's been a shift in opinion among other Americans. More Democrats and independents now say abortion should be legal, and there are even conservatives questioning their own views in response to state bans. Special correspondent Sarah Varney brings us the story of one Arkansas woman whose own pregnancy changed how she sees abortion.

More US states push to ban kratom drink deemed ‘gas-station heroin’

16 June 2026 at 14:00

At least eight states have banned the plant-derived product as more people use it and some claim it’s addictive

In 2024, Maizie Hepner, 24, started visiting a bar in Dubuque, Iowa that did not serve alcohol and instead offered beverages containing kava and kratom, psychoactive substances derived from plants.

The drinks were marketed as “herbal tea mocktails”. Hepner, who works as a server and bartender, said. “I asked the guy who owns” Kava Kava “if it was addictive, and he said, ‘Absolutely not’”.

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© Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

© Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

© Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

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