speech training la

Voice and Communication Training

Do you feel your voice is too high or too low? Are you sometimes taken for the opposite gender? Do you feel your voice is too loud, breathy, raspy or unpleasant sounding?

As we go about our daily lives, our speaking voice is our “calling card.” We are often judged (and misjudged!) based on the quality of our voices and intonation patterns.

At LA Speech Therapy Solutions , we provide communication training through adult voice therapy, voice enhancement, public speaking improvement, voice feminization and voice masculinization. Our speech pathologists will look at a variety of aspects of communication, including vocal pitch, intonation and resonance, and nonverbal communication.

Assessment will involve the collection of a case and medical history, plus an assessment of voice and language. It is important for the therapist to eliminate any vocally abusive behaviors which are often found in voices that are too loud, too raspy, too flat, too monotone, or too high-pitched voice and annoying. In addition to the aesthetic component, these voices can lead to vocal nodules or other voice problems.

The following are some of the things that may be targeted:

Intonation (the rhythm of speech), rate (how fast or slow the person speaks), volume/intensity, speech sound production (articulation), pragmatics (social rules of communication).

Please call today for a phone consultation. We are here to help and to ensure that you reach your goals in a cost-effective and timely manner for a pleasing sounding voice.

Best Accent Reduction Training Program

• Call Now: (818) 421-7444
• CA Lic. #SP3548

Improve Your Accent to Speak Confidently and Be Better Understood

Work with a Licensed Speech Therapist and Los Angeles Best Accent Reduction Trainer, Derra Huxley, M.A, to improve your verbal communication skills.

Take Our Free Pronunciation Screening

See if the Accent Reduction program is right for you. It only takes a few minutes and there is no obligation.

Do people have a hard time understanding what you say?

If you speak English as your second language or are just starting to learn English, you might find certain sounds in the English language are harder to say than others. This is where I can help you!

Meet Derra Huxley, M.A.

Speech and language pathologist in los angeles, ca.

Derra specializes in Accent Reduction Training. She is trained and certified in using the nationally acclaimed Compton P-ESL Program through the Institute of Language and Phonology.  Derra has also created original materials that may be used throughout the course.

Derra works with business professionals, doctors, lawyers, actors, professors, and other people around the world who want to improve their pronunciation of Standard American English.

Our Services

Accent modification program.

Get started with our Accent Modification Program to attain clear communication skills.

Online Accent Reduction Training

Online Accent Reduction training enables you to learn from anywhere in the world to improve your speech.

Benefits of Accent Reduction

Find out how professionals, doctors, lawyers, actors, and professors can benefit from Accent Reduction.

Achieve Success in an English-Speaking Society

There are some simple ways to know whether your accent is standing between you and your success in an English-speaking society.

• Are you often misunderstood?
• Do people frequently ask you to repeat yourself?
• Do you feel that people are focusing more on your accent than on what you are saying?
• Do you fear that your accent is standing in the way of getting the job you want, or from being promoted at your work?
• Do you feel embarrassed and upset when people have difficulty understanding you?

I can help you to speak more confidently and be understood.

Goals for Accent Modification

The most important goals of accent modification are speaking English with improved pronunciation and being clearly understood by others. While retaining the charm of your native accent, you will be able to:

• Be understood at work and at school
• Enhance your social communication
• Achieve greater career and professional advancement
• Build your self-confidence

Benefits of Accent Reduction for Specific Professions

Health professionals, educational field, business environment, see what our clients are saying.

Learning with you was a very pleasant experience. I always felt comfortable to keep trying even when I had difficulty in making certain sounds. The information on your website says you are a patient, caring, and enthusiastic professional, and it is not a false advertisement!

I saw a friend today who I hadn’t seen for a few months. She didn’t know that I was taking accent reduction classes and told me, ‘Oh, my goodness, what happened to your accent? Did you lose it???’ …just wanted to thank you and share with you my little personal victory.

Derra always showed a great deal of interest in each session. At the beginning of each session, she was extremely well prepared, giving me the impression that she had been working hours before our meeting planning and designing the class.

The course materials are very well structured and provide an important resource even after I finish with the course. I can keep using them on my own and continue to improve my accent as much as I need or want to.”

S i g n u p w i t h A c c e n t R e d u c t i o n n o w a n d b e o n y o u r w a y t o s p e a k i n g w i t h c o n f i d e n c e ! A s k u s a b o u t o u r I n d i v i d u a l a n d C o r p o r a t e P l a n s .

Welcome to the first step towards your child's future

Partnering with families to help children live fulfilled lives- delivering the best personal outcomes

It is the aim of Speech Improvement Center to provide an exceptional standard of service to meet the therapy needs of children and adults throughout the US at home, clinic or in school.

Empowering Care: Discover Our Impressive Location, Patients Treated, and Dedicated Therapists!

Lives impacting each week.

Trusted, Secure & Professional

At SIC nothing is more important to us than each of our patients

Regulated Therapists

Speech Improvement Center is USA-based and licensed to practice by the Health and Care Professions Council and is a member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

Patient Confidentiality

Any information you provide to or discuss with your appointed Speech & Langauge Therapist is treated with patient confidentiality, and will not be shared with anyone else.

100% Safe & Secure

All information uploaded to Speech Improvement Center is stored in secure, private and fully encrypted cloud-based folders, accessible only by you and your assigned Speech Therapist.

We are a Los Angeles based private practice offering a holistic range of therapy services for children.

We specialize in child psychology, speech & language therapy, teen therapy, & support services for families and schools.

It is the aim of Speech Improvement Center to provide an exceptional standard of service to meet the therapy needs of children throughout the USA at the home, clinic or in school.

We work alongside parents/carers and teachers to support children to develop their communication. We use fun and motivating activities to help children make changes to their communication with the aim of impacting their ability to make friends, to learn at school and to be successful.

How Speech Improvement Center Works

Our speech and language therapists provide a routine or in-depth assessment to establish a child’s difficulties and to provide options on how best we will be able to help each child.

We can provide a range of different treatment options to help support each child’s difficulties. Treatment will be holistic and tailored to each child’s needs.

Once a child has achieved their individualised goals and has reached the highest of their ability we will discharge them from the service if the referrer is in agreement.

Miguel Carson

"They are really great staff and also my son speech therapy Ms. Rocio. Love that she haves the patience and does a great job. The staff are also so helpful."

Alisha Clark

"Ms. Onneka was excellent speech therapist. She was really engaged with my son. She made speech sessions fun for my son."

Kinsley Coleman

"Jordan and Dahlia have gone above and beyond to provide our daughter with the services she needs. That office just needs to hire more therapists."

Jessica Turner

"Monica Ramirez is great coordinator and assist with our ever changing schedule."

Insights, Inspiration, and Expertise

Navigating the path to success on your speech-language pathology journey: 7 guide to securing a slp job in orange, california, 8 effective ways to support children with autism transition, the 7 speech language pathologists (slp) play: exploring the ideal work environment for slps in anaheim, california.

• Training Program
• Therapy Services
• School Services
• Employment Opportunities
• Clinical Fellowship Year (CFY)
• New Grad Program
• Referral Program
• SLPA Field Work Hours
• Clinical Practicum
• 4 week Internship Program
• Speech Pathology Intern Day
• SLPA and RPE License Application Workshop
• What is a Speech Therapist?
• Our Locations

Speech-Language Pathology (SLP)

Speech-language pathologists (SLP) work to prevent, assess, diagnose, and treat speech, language, social communication, cognitive-communication, and swallowing disorders. Our speech-language pathologists provide specialized assessment and intervention to improve communication and swallowing disorders, using a child-centered, collaborative approach to meeting each individual child’s needs.

Areas of Expertise and Specialty Services

• Augmentative-Alternative Communication (AAC)
• Cognitive-communication impairments
• Communication vulnerability
• Feeding and swallowing impairments (Dysphagia)
• Flexible Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES)
• Modified Barium Swallow Studies (MBSS)
• Nasopharyngoscopy
• Speech/language disorders
• Speech/resonance treatment related to cleft lip/palate
• Speaking and swallowing for tracheostomy patients
• Videostroboscopy
• Voice disorders

Rehabilitation Services Student Program

We contract with several universities to provide student internships in the fields of:

• Physical Therapy
• Occupational Therapy
• Speech Pathology

Find out more about our Student Program .

Rehabilitation Services News

Advancing Care and Innovation for Pediatric Brain Tumors

When Can My Baby Have Solid Food?

Daniel’s Heroic Battle Against Medulloblastoma

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Khan to spend up to £25,000 on ‘anti-racism allyship’ training for policing board

Mayor of London accused of wasting money on ‘meaningless’ diversity course for members of group overseeing Met review

The policing office run by Sadiq Khan is set to spend up to £25,000 on “anti-racism allyship” training for members of the Metropolitan Police’s new scrutiny board.

The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime has advertised for a training provider to offer the diversity class to senior figures on the London Policing Board.

Last year, Mr Khan announced the creation of the board to “oversee and scrutinise” the Met’s review of culture and standards.

Its members include Stuart Lawrence, the brother of Stephen Lawrence , who was killed in a racially motivated attack in 1993, aged 18, and Neil Basu , a retired Met police officer who was once Britain’s most senior non-white policeman.

The contract advertised on the Government website by the Mayor’s Office placed its value at £10,000 to £25,000 prior to bids closing earlier this month.

A description posted to the site reads: “Mopac is seeking a highly qualified and experienced facilitator to lead a session on anti-racism allyship for members of the London Policing Board. This session will delve into the complexities of allyship and its role in their work.”

Any successful bidder will have the work for two years as part of plans to deliver further allyship sessions on issues relating to equality, diversion and inclusion “as needed”. Sessions are expected to be about three hours and will be delivered face-to-face.

The advert said the aim of the training would be to “empower all participants to actively contribute towards driving improvements to the Metropolitan Police Service in addressing racism”.

It continued: “The session should foster a safe and inclusive space for open and honest dialogue, encourage active participation and provide actionable strategies to enhance the participants’ allyship skills.

“It should reference the multiple intersecting forms of prejudice, including racism, misogyny, LGBT+ , disability and faith.”

Sir John Hayes, the chairman of the Common Sense Group of Tory backbenchers, accused the Mayor of “a disturbing misuse of public money” and said the training was likely to be “completely meaningless”.

He added: “Of course everyone’s against racial discrimination or anything similar. But to turn countering it into an ideology and create an industry around it is frankly an immense waste of money that should be spent on front-line policing.

“People expect money devoted to policing to protect them from criminal harm and catch criminals and stop crime .”

A spokesman for Mr Khan said: “This week was the 31st anniversary of the appalling racist murder of Stephen Lawrence, and the Mayor reiterated his view that the Met Police remains institutionally racist, as well as institutionally sexist and homophobic .

“The Met, under its new leadership, is now on a path of far-reaching systemic and cultural reform, and the independent London Policing Board will play a key role in supporting and holding the police to account, ensuring these fundamental reforms are delivered.”

The Government scrapped unconscious bias training at the end of 2020 after an official review found diversity courses do not change behaviour or improve workplace equality in the long term.

Despite Number 10 abandoning the training, examples have surfaced in the past couple of years of civil servants defying ministers to run diversity classes across departments.

A report by Baroness Casey last year concluded that Scotland Yard was institutionally racist, sexist and homophobic, warning the public was being let down by a force that no longer had a functioning neighbourhood policing service. The review found the Met was struggling to embed good behaviour among officers.

Last week, Gavin Stephens, the chairman of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said policing needed to avoid being defensive and admit the scale of problems surrounding institutional racism to gain the support of local communities.

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• Metropolitan Police Service,
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Social Skills

“As a hallmark feature of Autism, Social skills deficits may occur in different ways throughout the lifespan.” – Dr. Wiley

Our center offers weekly social skills programs for children and adolescents diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and other diagnoses resulting in communication deficits. Many of the children with these diagnoses have social and behavioral deficits, resulting in difficulties making and maintaining friendships. Our center addresses these concerns by providing the children with the opportunity to learn appropriate social language skills in a structured yet fun setting. Additionally , students participate in monthly Community Based Outing s (CBO) to facilitate generalization of learned skills in the natural environment . 

Take a Look at our Class Schedule

• Monday: Drama Kings and Queens (ages 5-15, higher level social skills)
• Tuesday: Traditional ATeam (ages 6-18, moderate levels of functioning)
• Tuesday: Job Social Skills (ages 18+, currently employed)
• Wednesday: Pre Social Skills (3-6, early social skills development)
• Friday: Teen Social Skills (ages 14-18, high level social skills)

Program Highlights

• All classes are led by licensed SLPs
• Students matched by age, ability, and level of maturity
• Virtual Weekly Classes, 2 hours/session
• Funded by Regional Centers

Program Details

• Weekly Parent Debriefings 
• AAC Social Skills Class
• Building meaningful relationships
• Manualized Evidence Based Approach
• Focus on age appropriate verbal and nonverbal conversation al skills 
• Emphasis on mindfulness, movement, meditation, and relaxation
• Weekly Parent Debriefings

Get started

Fill out the form below and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

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5170 Sepulveda Blvd. #260 Sherman Oaks, CA 91403 310.649.6199

15342 Hawthorne Blvd. #102 Lawndale, CA 90260 310.649.6199

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V. I. Lenin

The tasks of the working women’s movement in the soviet republic, speech delivered at the fourth moscow city conference of non-party working women, september 23, 1919.

Delivered: 23 September, 1919 First Published: Pravda No. 213, September 25, 1919 ; Published according to the text of the pamphlet, V. I. Lenin, Speech at the Working Women’s Congress, Moscow, 1919, verified with the Pravda text Source: Lenin’s Collected Works , 4th English Edition, Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1965, Volume 30, pages 40-46 Translated: George Hanna Transcription/HTML Markup: David Walters & Robert Cymbala Copyleft: V. I. Lenin Internet Archive (www.marx.org) 2002. Permission is granted to copy and/or distribute this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

Comrades, it gives me pleasure to greet a conference of working women. I will allow myself to pass over those subjects and questions that, of course, at the moment are the cause of the greatest concern to every working woman and to every politically-conscious individual from among the working people; these are the most urgent questions—that of bread and that of the war situation. I know from the newspaper reports of your meetings that these questions have been dealt with exhaustively by Comrade Trotsky as far as war questions are concerned and by Comrades Yakovleva and Svidersky as far as the bread question is concerned; please, therefore, allow me to pass over those questions.

I should like to say a few words about the general tasks facing the working women’s movement in the Soviet Republic, those that are, in general, connected with the transition to socialism, and those that are of particular urgency at the present time. Comrades, the question of the position of women was raised by Soviet power from the very beginning. It seems to me that any workers’ state in the course of transition to socialism is laced with a double task. The first part of that task is relatively simple and easy. It concerns those old laws that kept women in a position of inequality as compared to men.

Participants in all emancipation movements in Western Europe have long since, not for decades but for centuries, put forward the demand that obsolete laws be annulled and women and men be made equal by law, but none of the democratic European states, none of the most advanced republics have succeeded in putting it into effect, because wherever there is capitalism, wherever there is private property in land and factories, wherever the power of capital is preserved, the men retain their privileges. It was possible to put it into effect in Russia only because the power of the workers has been established here since October 25, 1917. From its very inception Soviet power set out to be the power of the working people, hostile to all forms of exploitation. It set itself the task of doing away with the possibility of the exploitation of the working people by the landowners and capitalists, of doing away with the rule of capital. Soviet power has been trying to make it possible for the working people to organise their lives without private property in land, without privately-owned factories, without that private property that everywhere, throughout the world, even where there is complete political liberty, even in the most democratic republics, keeps the working people in a state of what is actually poverty and wage-slavery, and women in a state of double slavery.

Soviet power, the power of the working people, in the first months of its existence effected a very definite revolution in legislation that concerns women. Nothing whatever is left in the Soviet Republic of those laws that put women in a subordinate position. I am speaking specifically of those laws that took advantage of the weaker position of women and put them in a position of inequality and often, even, in a humiliating position, i.e., the laws on divorce and on children born out of wedlock and on the right of a woman to summon the father of a child for maintenance.

It is particularly in this sphere that bourgeois legislation, even, it must be said, in the most advanced countries, takes advantage of the weaker position of women to humiliate them and give them a status of inequality. It is particularly in this sphere that Soviet power has left nothing whatever of the old, unjust laws that were intolerable for working people. We may now say proudly and without any exaggeration that apart from Soviet Russia there is not a country in the world where women enjoy full equality and where women are not placed in the humiliating position felt particularly in day-to-day family life. This was one of our first and most important tasks.

If you have occasion to come into contact with parties that are hostile to the Bolsheviks, if there should come into your hands newspapers published in Russian in the regions occupied by Koichak or Denikin, or if you happen to talk to people who share the views of those newspapers, you may often hear from them the accusation that Soviet power has violated democracy.

We, the representatives of Soviet power, Bolshevik Communists and supporters of Soviet power are often accused of violating democracy and proof of this is given by citing the fact that Soviet power dispersed the Constituent Assembly. We usually answer this accusation as follows; that democracy and that Constituent Assembly which came into being when private property still existed on earth, when there was no equality between people, when the one who possessed his own capital was the boss and the others worked for him and were his wage-slaves-that was a democracy on which we place no value. Such democracy concealed slavery even in the most advanced countries. We socialists are supporters of democracy only insofar as it eases the position of the working and oppressed people. Throughout the world socialism has set itself the task of combating every kind of exploitation of man by man. That democracy has real value for us winch serves the exploited, the underprivileged. If those who do not work are disfranchised that would be real equality between people. Those who do not work should not eat.

In reply to these accusations we say that the question must be presented in this way—how is democracy implemented in various countries? We see that equality is proclaimed in all democratic republics but in the civil laws and in laws on the rights of women—those that concern their position in the family and divorce—we see inequality and the humiliation of women at every step, and we say that this is a violation of democracy specifically in respect of the oppressed. Soviet power has implemented democracy to a greater degree than any of the other, most advanced countries because it has not left in its laws any trace of the inequality of women. Again I say that no other state and no other legislation has ever done for women a half of what Soviet power did in the first months of its existence.

Laws alone, of course, are not enough, and we are by no means content with mere decrees. In the sphere of legislation, however, we have done everything required of us to put women in a position of equality and we have every right to be proud of it. The position of women in Soviet Russia is now ideal as compared with their position in the most advanced states. We tell ourselves, however, that this is, of course, only the beginning.

Owing to her work in the house, the woman is still in a difficult position. To effect her complete emancipation and make her the equal of the man it is necessary for the national economy to be socialised and for women to participate in common productive labour. Then women will occupy the same position as men.

Here we are not, of course, speaking of making women the equal of men as far as productivity of labour, the quantity of labour, the length of the working day, labour conditions, etc., are concerned; we mean that the woman should not, unlike the man, be oppressed because of her position in the family. You all know that even when women have full rights, they still remain factually downtrodden because all housework is left to them. In most cases housework is the most unproductive, the most barbarous and the most arduous work a woman can do. It is exceptionally petty and does not include anything that would in any way promote the development of the woman.

In pursuance of the socialist ideal we want to struggle for the full implementation of socialism, and here an extensive field of labour opens up before women. We are now making serious preparations to clear the ground for the building of socialism, but the building of socialism will begin only when we have achieved the complete equality of women and when we undertake the new work together with women who have been ’emancipated from that petty, stultifying, unproductive work. This is a job that will take us many, many years.

This work cannot show any rapid results and will not produce a scintillating effect.

We are setting up model institutions, dining-rooms and nurseries, that will emancipate women from housework. And the work of organising all these institutions will fall mainly to women. It has to be admitted that in Russia today there are very few institutions that would help woman out of her state of household slavery. There is an insignificant number of them, and the conditions now obtaining in the Soviet Republic—the war and food situation about which comrades have already given you the details—hinder us in this work. Still, it must be said that these institutions that liberate women from their position as household slaves are springing up wherever it is in any way possible.

We say that the emancipation of the workers must be effected by the workers themselves, and in exactly the same way the emancipation of working women is a matter for the working women themselves. The working women must themselves see to it that such institutions are developed, and this activity will bring about a complete change in their position as compared with what it was under the old, capitalist society.

In order to be active in politics under the old, capitalist regime special training was required, so that women played an insignificant part in politics, even in the most advanced and free capitalist countries. Our task is to make politics available to every working woman. Ever since private property in laud and factories has been abolished and the power of the landowners and capitalists overthrown, the tasks of politics have become simple, clear and comprehensible to the working people as a whole, including working women. In capitalist society the woman’s position is marked by such inequality that the extent of her participation in politics is only an insignificant fraction of that of the man. The power of the working people is necessary for a change to be wrought in this situation, for then the main tasks of politics will consist of matters directly affecting the fate of the working people themselves.

Here, too, the participation of working women is essential —not only of party members and politically-conscious women, but also of the non-party women and those who are least politically conscious. Here Soviet power opens up a wide field of activity to working women.

We have had a difficult time in the struggle against the forces hostile to Soviet Russia that have attacked her. It was difficult for us to fight on the battlefield against the forces who went to war against the power of the working people and in the field of food supplies against the profiteers, because of the too small number of people, working people, who came whole-heartedly to our aid with their own labour. Here, too, there is nothing Soviet power can appreciate as much as the help given by masses of non-party working women. They may know that in the old, bourgeois society, perhaps, a comprehensive training was necessary for participation in politics and that this was not available to women. The political activity of the Soviet Republic is mainly the struggle against the landowners and capitalists, the struggle for the elimination of exploitation; political activity, therefore, is made available to the working woman in the Soviet Republic and it will consist in the working woman using her organisational ability to help the working man.

What we need is not only organisational work on a scale involving millions; we need organisational work on the smallest scale and this makes it possible for women to work as well. Women can work under war conditions when it is a question of helping the army or carrying on agitation in the army. Women should take an active part in all this so that the Red Army sees that it is being looked after, that solicitude is being displayed. Women can also work in the sphere of food distribution, on the improvement of public catering and everywhere opening dining-rooms like those that are so numerous in Petrograd.

It is in these fields that the activities of working women acquire the greatest organisational significance. The participation of working women is also essential in the organisation and running of big experimental farms and should not take place only in isolated cases. This i5 something that cannot be carried out without the participation of a large number of working women. Working women will be very useful in this field in supervising the distribution of food and in making food products more easily obtainable. This work can well be done by non-party working women and its accomplishment will do more than anything else to strengthen socialist society.

We have abolished private property in land and almost completely abolished the private ownership of factories; Soviet power is now trying to ensure that all working people, non-party as well as Party members, women as well as men, should take part in this economic development. The work that Soviet power has begun can only make progress when, instead of a few hundreds, millions and millions of women throughout Russia take part in it. We are sure that the cause of socialist development will then become sound. Then the working people will show that they can live and run their country without the aid of the landowners and capitalists. Then socialist construction will be so soundly based in Russia that no external enemies in other countries and none inside Russia will be any danger to the Soviet Republic.

Collected Works Volume 30 Collected Works Table of Contents Lenin Works Archive

VP Kamala Harris talks abortion in La Crosse, announces minimum nursing home staff levels

LA CROSSE — In a visit to a purple region of Wisconsin on Monday, Vice President Kamala Harris announced new rules for nursing home staffing and rallied voters around abortion as the race for the presidency remains extremely tight in the battleground state.

"This is a moment where we must stand up for foundational, fundamental values and principles," Harris told supporters during a campaign event at the La Crosse Center. "Here's the other piece that I will say: When we think about what is at stake, it is absolutely about freedom."

The trip to La Crosse reflects Democrats' efforts to make abortion a key factor in motivating turnout for President Joe Biden, including among voters in purple areas or even the traditionally red Milwaukee suburbs.

Women affected by abortion bans in other states campaigned for Biden in Waukesha County last week , and Harris brought a similar message to the area in January . Biden administration officials have also made frequent trips to Milwaukee and Madison this year, both Democratic strongholds.

Democrats have focused blame on former President Donald Trump, who has so far visited Wisconsin once this election cycle. Trump held a two percentage point lead over Biden in the most recent statewide poll by the Marquette University Law School, 51% to 49%, well within the poll's margin of error.

Trump in a video statement earlier this month said abortion restrictions should be left up to the states . Abortions are currently being provided in Wisconsin, but the state Supreme Court could soon weigh in .

"There is a clear line between where we are now and who is to blame," Harris said. "The former president was very clear with his intention — he would fill and appoint three members of the U.S. Supreme Court with the intention that they would overturn the protections of (Roe v. Wade)."

More: Wisconsin abortion laws: What to know after Arizona ruling

Harris announces new rules for staffing levels at nursing homes

Before speaking at the campaign event, Harris met with home health care workers at the Hmoob Cultural & Community Agency, where she announced two new federal rules.

One sets minimum staffing levels in nursing homes that receive federal funding through Medicare and Medicaid — about 3 1/2 hours of staffing per resident per day, a requirement that will be phased in. A registered nurse will also be required on site at all times.

Another rule provides that more Medicaid payments for home care services go toward workers' wages.

"The two announcements that we are making today recognize that we owe you, those workers, so much more than applauding you," Harris said, referencing praise for health care workers during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. "Let's recognize the gift that these talented professionals give to families and to all of us as a society."

Ron Johnson says nursing home rules should be handled locally

In Madison, Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson spoke to reporters about Harris' visit following a roundtable discussion hosted by the state's largest business lobby, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce.

"Anybody who's following me realizes I'm not a real fan of the federal government," Johnson said when asked about the new federal rules for nursing homes.

"So I would much rather allow or have the state government and local governments in charge of the requirements of nursing care facilities, and — anything to do with the citizens of this state, I'd rather have state governments and local governments handle that than some dictate from the federal government that causes more problems or exacerbates more problems than it solves."

New Marquette poll shows abortion is top issue for Democratic voters

In the latest Marquette University Law School poll released last week , 24% of Democratic voters said they consider abortion their most important issue in deciding who to vote for, followed by the economy. For independent and Republican voters, 5% of those groups saw abortion as their top issue.

"People will say to me, 'Well, Sarah, aren't folks just over that whole abortion issue? Haven't they just moved on?" Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski said before Harris' speech. "I am just as mad today as when I heard about the Supreme Court overturning Roe, and I know that I'm not alone."

While abortion was the leading issue among Democratic participants, the economy was the No. 1 issue for all respondents in the survey, followed by immigration and abortion policy. Voters saw Biden better at handling abortion and health care, and Trump better on the economy and immigration.

A majority of registered voters in Wisconsin, 54%, also said they favor a national ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy with exceptions for rape, incest and the life and health of the mother.

Johnson, in comments to reporters at the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, again called for a statewide referendum that would put the question of when to ban abortion to voters.

Democrats campaigning on abortion outside of blue strongholds

While Democrats have also highlighted abortion access in suburban Milwaukee, the La Crosse area is much more purple and voted for Biden in 2020. In 2020 , La Crosse County voted 56% for Biden, compared to Trump's 42%.

While Biden officials have stopped in Milwaukee and Madison most frequently, they've also visited Superior on the Minnesota border , Green Bay and the Menominee Nation in northeastern Wisconsin.

More: Did the 2020 presidential election in Wisconsin really come down to a few votes per ward?

La Crosse is located in the 3rd Congressional District, one of two truly competitive U.S. House districts in Wisconsin. The seat is currently held by Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden. Democrats are focusing more energy on the race compared to the last cycle.

Van Orden has raised much more money than his prospective Democratic challengers, small-business owner Rebecca Cooke and state Rep. Katrina Shankland from Stevens Point.

Neither were spotted at the campaign event, though Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan from Madison praised Shankland alongside other state legislators from the area in his remarks at the campaign event. Pocan has endorsed Shankland in the race.

Pocan called Van Orden a "chauvinist" and said western Wisconsin is "represented in Congress by someone who has been endorsed by the most extreme groups on abortion."

Jessie Opoien contributed to this report from Madison.

India’s prime minister accused of using hate speech after calling Muslims ‘infiltrators’

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India’s main opposition party accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using hate speech after he called Muslims “infiltrators” — some of his most incendiary rhetoric about the minority faith — days after the country began its weeks-long general election.

The remarks at a campaign rally Sunday drew fierce criticism that Modi was peddling anti-Muslim tropes. The Congress party filed a complaint Monday with the Election Commission of India, alleging he broke rules that bar candidates from engaging in any activity that aggravates religious tensions.

Critics of the prime minister — an avowed Hindu nationalist — say India’s tradition of diversity and secularism has come under attack since his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won power a decade ago. They accuse the party of fostering religious intolerance and sometimes violence. The party denies the accusations and says its policies benefit all Indians.

At a rally in the state of Rajasthan, Modi said that when the Congress party was in government, “they said Muslims have the first right over the country’s resources.” If it returns to power, the party “will gather all your wealth and distribute it among those who have more children,” he said as the crowd applauded.

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“They will distribute it among infiltrators,” he continued, saying, “Do you think your hard-earned money should be given to infiltrators?”

Mallikarjun Kharge, the Congress party’s president, described the prime minister’s comments as “hate speech” and party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi called them “deeply, deeply objectionable.”

The party sought action from the election commission, whose code of conduct forbids candidates from appealing “to caste or communal feelings” to secure votes. The first votes were cast Friday in the six-week election, which Modi and his Hindu nationalist BJP are expected to win, according to most surveys. The results come out on June 4.

Asaduddin Owaidi, a Muslim lawmaker and president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen party, said on Sunday: “Since 2002 till this day, the only Modi guarantee has been to abuse Muslims and get votes.”

While there have long been tensions between India’s majority Hindu community and Muslims, rights groups say that attacks against minorities have become more brazen under Modi.

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Muslims have been lynched by Hindu mobs over allegations of eating beef or smuggling cows, considered holy to Hindus. Muslim businesses have been boycotted, their homes and businesses bulldozed and places of worship set on fire. There have been open calls for their genocide.

Modi’s remarks referred to a 2006 statement by then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of the Congress party. Singh said that India’s lower castes, tribes, women and, “in particular the Muslim minority” deserved to share in the country’s development equally.

“They must have the first claim on resources,” Singh said. A day later, his office clarified that Singh was referring to all of the disadvantaged groups.

In its petition to the election commission, the Congress party said that Modi and the BJP have repeatedly used religion and religious symbols and sentiments in their election campaign with impunity. “These actions have been further bolstered by the commission’s inaction in penalizing the prime minister and the BJP for their blatant violations of electoral laws,” it said.

“In the history of India, no prime minister has lowered the dignity of his post as much as Modi has,” Kharge, Congress’ president, wrote on social media platform X.

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The commission can issue warnings and suspend candidates for a certain amount of time over violations of the code of conduct.

“We decline comment,” a spokesperson for the commission told the Press Trust of India news agency on Monday.

In his speech, Modi also repeated a Hindu nationalist trope that Muslims were overtaking the Hindu population by having more children. Hindus make up 80% of India’s 1.4 billion people, while the country’s 200 million Muslims are 14%. Official data shows that fertility rates among Muslims have dropped the fastest among religious groups in recent decades, from 4.4 in 1992-93 to 2.3 in 2019-21, just higher than Hindus at 1.94.

Modi’s BJP has also previously referred to Muslims as infiltrators and cast them as illegal migrants who crossed into India from Bangladesh and Pakistan. Several states run by the BJP have made laws that restrict interfaith marriage, citing the unproven conspiracy theory of “ love jihad,” which claims Muslim men use marriage to convert Hindu women.

Through it all, Modi has largely stayed silent, and critics say that has emboldened some of his most extreme supporters and enabled more hate speech against Muslims.

Pathi writes for the Associated Press.

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