17 states challenge federal rules entitling workers to accommodations for abortion

17 states challenge federal rules entitling workers to accommodations for abortion

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Republican attorneys general from 17 states filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging new federal rules entitling workers to time off and other accommodations for abortions, calling the rules an illegal interpretation of a 2022 federal law. The lawsuit led by Tennessee and Arkansas comes since finalized federal regulations were published on Monday … Read more

Inflation Reduction Act home energy rebates may arrive soon

Inflation Reduction Act home energy rebates may arrive soon

Ryanjlane | E+ | Getty Images Rebates tied to home energy efficiency and created by the Inflation Reduction Act may start flowing to many consumers within months.   The federal government is issuing $8.8 billion for Home Energy Rebates programs through states, territories and tribes, which must apply for the funding. The U.S. Department of … Read more

Two shootings, two different responses — Maine restricts guns while Iowa arms teachers

Two shootings, two different responses — Maine restricts guns while Iowa arms teachers

Six months after a deadly mass shooting by an Army reservist, Maine lawmakers this week passed a wide-ranging package of new gun restrictions. Three months after a fatal school shooting, Iowa lawmakers this week passed legislation allowing trained teachers and staff to carry guns on school property. Two states. Two tragedies. Two different approaches to … Read more

Legislation allowing doctor-assisted suicide narrowly clears Delaware House, heads to state Senate

Legislation allowing doctor-assisted suicide narrowly clears Delaware House, heads to state Senate

DOVER, Del. — A bill allowing doctor-assisted suicide in Delaware narrowly cleared the Democrat-led House on Thursday and now goes to the state Senate for consideration. The bill is the latest iteration of legislation that has been repeatedly introduced by Newark Democrat Paul Baumbach since 2015, and it is the only proposal to make it … Read more

Weedkiller manufacturer seeks lawmakers’ help to squelch claims it failed to warn about cancer

Weedkiller manufacturer seeks lawmakers’ help to squelch claims it failed to warn about cancer

DES MOINES, Iowa — Stung by paying billions of dollars for settlements and trials, chemical giant Bayer has been lobbying lawmakers in three states to pass bills providing it a legal shield from lawsuits that claim its popular weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Nearly identical bills introduced in Iowa, Missouri and Idaho this year — with … Read more

Executor of O.J. Simpson’s estate plans to fight payout to the families of Brown and Goldman

Executor of O.J. Simpson’s estate plans to fight payout to the families of Brown and Goldman

LAS VEGAS — The executor of O.J. Simpson’s estate says he will work to prevent a payout of a $33.5 million judgment awarded by a California civil jury nearly three decades ago in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the families of Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. Simpson’s will was … Read more

Iowa asks state Supreme Court to let its restrictive abortion law go into effect

Iowa asks state Supreme Court to let its restrictive abortion law go into effect

DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa asked the state Supreme Court on Thursday to let its blocked abortion law go into effect and uphold it altogether, disputing abortion providers’ claims it infringes on women’s rights to exercise bodily autonomy. The law, which bans most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy and before many women know … Read more

Fiery debate over proposed shield law leads to rare censure in Maine House

Fiery debate over proposed shield law leads to rare censure in Maine House

AUGUSTA, Maine — Fiery debate over a bill to protect health care workers who provide abortion and gender-affirming care from out-of-state lawsuits crossed a line in the Maine House, leading lawmakers to formally censure a pair of colleagues on Thursday. Rep. Michael Lemelin, R-Chelsea, said the mass shooting last October in Lewiston, Maine, that claimed … Read more

Poland has a strict abortion law — and many abortions. Lawmakers are now tackling the legislation

Poland has a strict abortion law — and many abortions. Lawmakers are now tackling the legislation

WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s parliament is finally holding a long-awaited debate on liberalizing the country’s strict abortion law. The traditionally Catholic nation has one of the most restrictive laws in Europe — but the reality is that many women terminate pregnancies at home with pills mailed from abroad. Lawmakers in the lower house of parliament … Read more

What to know about the Arizona Supreme Court ruling that reinstates an 1864 near-total abortion ban

What to know about the Arizona Supreme Court ruling that reinstates an 1864 near-total abortion ban

PHOENIX — The Arizona Supreme Court has delivered a landmark decision in giving the go-ahead to enforce a long-dormant law that bans nearly all abortions, drastically altering the legal landscape within the state around terminating pregnancies. The law predating Arizona’s statehood provides no exceptions for rape or incest and allows abortions only if the mother’s … Read more