Month: February 2024

Political Wire: “Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the longest-serving Senate leader in history who maintained his power in the face of dramatic convulsions in the Republican Party for almost two decades, will step down from that position in November,” the AP reports. “McConnell, who turned 82 last week, was set to announce his decision Wednesday in the well…

WaPo: “Scott became one of Youngkin’s top critics soon after the governor took office in 2022, saying the Republican’s emphasis on race-related culture war issues such as banning critical race theory called into question Youngkin’s profession of Christian faith. The tough partisan approach quickly vaulted Scott to the position of House minority leader when Republicans…

WaPo: “A lawyer billed as the “star witness” in the case to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis (D) testified Tuesday that it was mere “speculation” when he told a defense attorney that Willis began a romantic relationship in 2019 with the outside lawyer she appointed to lead the case against Donald Trump, years earlier than…

WaPo: “The killing of a Georgia nursing student, allegedly by a Venezuelan migrant, has quickly intensified the country’s immigration debate as President Biden and leading Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump prepare trips to the border this week. The body of 22-year-old Laken Hope Riley was found in the woods near a jogging trail Thursday on the University of Georgia…

NY Times: “As several states have added or expanded laws related to terrorism, or are considering doing so, the case in Georgia is at the center of debate about the need for these measures, the dangers they pose and, more fundamentally, what constitutes terrorism. (One proposal in New York has suggested that blocking traffic, a…

WaPo: “A cancer diagnosis often comes with a host of difficult decisions, including what to do about the impact of treatment on a person’s fertility. Many individuals grappling with this dual burden turn to in vitro fertilization (IVF) as a way to preserve their reproductive options. That’s why cancer patients and oncologists are expressing shock…

HuffPo: “After years of demanding that the law recognize fetuses and embryos as living human beings, Republicans got what they asked for when the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that a clinic’s accidental destruction of frozen embryos amounted to the wrongful death of a child. But within a matter of days, it became apparent that the decision would make it…

WaPo: “As a Florida elementary school tries to contain a growing measles outbreak, the state’s top health official is giving advice that runs counter to science and may leave unvaccinated children at risk of contracting one of the most contagious pathogens on Earth, clinicians and public health experts said. Florida surgeon general Joseph A. Ladapo failed to…

WaPo: “Alabama doctors are puzzled over whether they will have to make changes to in vitro fertilization procedures. Couples have crammed into online support groups wondering if they should transfer frozen embryos out of state. And attorneys are warning that divorce settlements that call for frozen embryos to be destroyed may now be void. Throughout…

NY Times: “A Texas judge ruled on Thursday that a school district’s dress code, which it used to suspend a Black student last year for refusing to change the way he wears his hair, did not violate a state law meant to prohibit race-based discrimination against people based on their hairstyle…. The hearing on Thursday,…