MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin state Assembly passed a bill Thursday that would unlock $125 million to help municipalities and landowners cope with pollution from so-called forever chemicals. But Gov. Tony Evers isn’t on board. The Senate passed the Republican-authored legislation in November. The Assembly followed suit with a 61-35 vote on Thursday, the chamber’s … Read more
NEW YORK — The first person charged for violating a 2020 law that forbids conspiracies to taint international sports events through performance-enhancing drugs received a three-month prison sentence. Federal prosecutors used the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act to charge Eric Lira, a Texas-based therapist, with supplying human-growth hormone and other performance enhancers to a pair of Nigerian … Read more
TOPEKA, Kan. — The recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos are legally protected children is highlighting how support for the idea that a fetus should have the same rights as a person underpins far less dramatic laws and proposals from abortion foes across the U.S. Lawmakers in at least six states have proposed … Read more
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Lawmakers began scrambling for ways to protect Alabama in vitro fertilization services after multiple providers paused treatment in the wake of a state Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos could be considered children under a state law. Facing a wave of shock and anger from the decision, legislators prepared separate proposals in … Read more
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Supreme Court ruled last week that couples who were trying in vitro fertilization and lost frozen embryos in an accident at a south Alabama storage facility can sue under the state’s wrongful death law. Since then, three providers have paused the often-used fertility treatments while they sort out the legal … Read more
JACKSON, Miss. — A bill before Mississippi lawmakers might allow incarcerated people to sue jails and prisons if they encounter inmates from the opposite sex, such as those who are transgender, in restrooms or changing areas. State lawmakers advanced the proposal out of a House committee Thursday. It would require inmate restrooms, changing rooms and … Read more
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Supreme Court has ruled that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law, a ruling critics said could have sweeping implications for fertility treatments. The decision was issued in a pair of wrongful death cases brought by three couples who had frozen embryos destroyed in an accident at a … Read more
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia’s Republican-supermajority House of Delegates overwhelmingly passed legislation Wednesday to narrow the definitions of gender that Democrats label as a dystopian bill that would give women no additional rights and is a way for the GOP to suppress transgender people. The bill passed on an 87-12 vote and now goes to … Read more
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday sued the state of Tennessee over its decades-old felony aggravated prostitution law, arguing that it illegally imposes tougher criminal penalties on people who are HIV positive. The lawsuit, filed in western Tennessee, follows an investigation completed in December by the Justice Department that warned that the … Read more
Sturti | E+ | Getty Images Leaks aren’t just a problem for pipes. Billions of dollars a year drip from the U.S. retirement system when investors cash out their 401(k) plan accounts, potentially crippling their odds of growing an adequate nest egg. The issue largely affects job switchers — especially those with small accounts — … Read more
