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The number of women getting abortions in the U.S. actually went up in the first three months of 2024 compared with before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, a report released Wednesday found, reflecting the lengths that Democratic-controlled states went to expand access. A major reason for the increase is that some Democratic-controlled states enacted laws to protect doctors who use telemedicine to see patients in places that have abortion bans, according to the quarterly #WeCount report for the Society of Family Planning, which supports...
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Among the throngs of tourists in cowboy attire who flock to Nashville's famed downtown honky-tonks, a small but unsettling group has distracted locals and visitors from the neon lights lately with Nazi salutes and white supremacist rhetoric. For weeks, neo-Nazis have livestreamed antisemitic antics for shock value in Nashville — waving swastika flags through crowded streets, singing hate songs on the downtown courthouse steps and even briefly disrupting a Metro Council meeting with jeers. Their continued presence has...
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee's GOP-controlled Statehouse on Thursday gave their final approval to legislation criminalizing adults who help minors receive gender-affirming care without parental consent, clearing the way for the first-in-the-nation proposal to be sent to Gov. Bill Lee's desk for his signature. The bill mirrors almost the same language from a so-called anti-abortion trafficking proposal Tennessee Republican lawmakers approved just a day prior. In that version, supporters are hoping to stop adults from helping young people o...
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — For decades, only three people knew Gloria Johnson had had an abortion. But a year of watching women and doctors agonize under Tennessee's strict abortion ban kicked up a fire in the longtime Democrat. She watched in dismay as her Republican colleagues in the General Assembly dismissed concerns that the law was harming women. Many GOP lawmakers argued that only on rare occasions was an abortion needed to save a life. So without telling her legislative staff or family in advance, the then-60-year-old state r...
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — In Republican-led states across the U.S., conservative legislators are refusing to reevaluate abortion bans — even as doctors and patients insist the laws' exceptions are dangerously unclear, resulting in denied treatment to some pregnant women in need. Instead, GOP leaders accuse abortion rights advocates of deliberately spreading misinformation and doctors of intentionally denying services in an effort to undercut the bans and make a political point. At the same time, however, some states are taking steps that the...
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The resignation letter was short and direct. "I can no longer be under an oath to uphold the New Constitution of Ohio," wrote Sabrina Warner in her letter announcing she was stepping down from the state's Republican central committee. It was just days after Ohio voters resoundingly approved an amendment last November to the state constitution ensuring access to abortion and other forms of reproductive health care. For many, the vote was a victory after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a constitutional right to abortion i...
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says an Oklahoma hospital did not violate federal law when doctors told a woman with a nonviable pregnancy to wait in the parking lot until her condition worsened enough to qualify for an abortion under the state's strict ban. Jaci Statton, 26, was among several women last year who challenged abortion restrictions that went into effect in Republican-led states after the Supreme Court revoked the nationwide right to abortion in 2022. Rather than join a lawsuit, Statton filed a complaint with the...
Do No Harm, a nonprofit that launched last year to oppose diversity initiatives in medicine, has evolved into a significant leader in statehouses seeking to ban gender-affirming care for transgender youths, producing model legislation that an Associated Press analysis found has been used in at least three states. The nonprofit, not widely known outside conservative medical and political circles, describes itself on its website as a collection of doctors and others uniting to "protect healthcare from a radical, divisive, and discriminatory...
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — In an extraordinary act of political retaliation, Tennessee Republicans on Thursday expelled two Democratic lawmakers from the state Legislature for their role in a protest calling for more gun control in the aftermath of a deadly school shooting in Nashville. A third Democrat was narrowly spared by a one-vote margin. The split votes drew accusations of racism, with lawmakers ousting Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, who are both Black, while Rep. Gloria Johnson, who is white, survived the vote on her expulsion. Rep...
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The abortion bans taking effect after the nation's highest court overturned Roe v. Wade vary greatly in how they define when a pregnancy can be ended. Some laws prohibit abortion at the point of the "first detectable heartbeat" while others restrict abortion at 15, 22 or 24 weeks of pregnancy. This means determining how far along someone is in pregnancy — gestational age — has become more important, because there is a smaller window of time to secure the procedure in about half of the states in the U.S. Here's a look at...
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is declining to provide any new information surrounding why they had to call off the state's first execution since the pandemic began. However, the Republican said Friday that more information will likely be provided next week. The night before. the Republican issued a statement saying there had been an "oversight in preparation for lethal injection" and granted a temporary reprieve in the planned execution of 72-year-old Oscar Smith. An attorney for Smith, Amy Harwell, later told reporters t...
Proponents of restrictions on how U.S. public schools address sexual orientation and gender identity say their ultimate goal is to allow parents more involvement in their children's education and ensure classroom materials are age-appropriate. But in heated debates at school board meetings and in statehouses across the country, the argument they repeatedly put forth is that they are trying to prevent children from being "groomed" — the same term commonly used to describe how sex offenders initiate contact with their victims. The use of such r...
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Despite already enacting one of the strictest abortion bans in the U.S., Tennessee Republicans on Tuesday began advancing yet another anti-abortion measure strategically written to sidestep federal court challenges. The proposal is almost a direct copycat of legislation currently enacted in Texas, which not only prohibits doctors from performing abortion before most people know they're pregnant but also allows private citizens to file civil lawsuits against anyone who helps someone else get the procedure after six w...
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A top Tennessee House Republican lawmaker has apologized for losing his temper and being ejected from watching a high school basketball game after a confrontation with a referee. The dustup included what appeared to be either a feigned or failed attempt at pulling down the official's pants, according to video footage. On Tuesday, Rep. Jeremy Faison, 45, posted on Twitter that he "acted the fool tonight and lost my temper on a ref." "I was wanting him to fight me. Totally lost my junk and got booted from the gym," F...
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The nation's highest court has allowed a Texas law banning most abortions to remain in effect, marking a turning point for abortion opponents who have been fighting to implement stronger restrictions for nearly a decade. The Texas law, pegged a "fetal heartbeat bill," bans abortions at the point of the "first detectable heartbeat," which could happen around six weeks into pregnancy, although that timeframe isn't specified in the measure. Medical experts say the heart doesn't begin to form until the fetus it is at l...
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — A former Tennessee governor's administration helped fund a contract murder of a key federal witness decades ago while embroiled in the state's largest political scandal, law enforcement officials announced Wednesday. The new details revealed for the first time Wednesday have elements that ring of a movie: a trusted ally of union boss Jimmy Hoffa gunned down after testifying about a corrupt governor selling prison pardons and a gunman who donned a wig and blackface to throw authorities off the scent. Investigators in H...
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Police officers on Sunday provided harrowing details of responding to a Christmas morning explosion in downtown Nashville, at times getting choked up reliving the moments that led up to the blast and offering gratitude that they were still alive. "This is going to tie us together forever, for the rest of my life," Officer James Wells, who suffered some hearing loss due to the explosion, told a news conference. "Christmas will never be the same." Meanwhile, Nashville Metro Police spokesman Don Aaron told The Associated P...
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — An explosion shook the largely deserted streets of downtown Nashville early Christmas morning, shattering windows, damaging buildings and wounding three people. Authorities said they believed the blast was intentional. The FBI is leading the investigation. Metro Nashville Police Department spokesman Don Aaron said police responded to a call of shots fired just before 6 a.m. but found no immediate signs of a shooting, although officers noticed a suspicious vehicle and called for a hazardous unit. While they waited, the v...
Frightening calls from the school nurse. Waiting in vain for word from school officials. Canceled sports practices. Marching bands in quarantine. For countless families across the country, the school year is opening in disarray and confusion, with coronavirus outbreaks triggering sudden closings, mass quarantines and deep anxiety among parents. Schools in at least 10 states have had students and staff test positive for the virus since they began opening. The outbreaks have occurred in a variety of school settings: marching bands, high school...
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The head of a congressional coronavirus oversight panel on Wednesday demanded Tennessee's Gov. Bill Lee and three other Republican governors provide documents showing how their states are combating the pandemic. "I am writing to request information about the private guidance the Administration has provided to Tennessee and whether you plan to implement those recommendations and take other critical actions to slow the spread of the coronavirus across the state," wrote South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn, a Democrat and chai...
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Anti-abortion rhetoric is intensifying ahead of midterm elections as officials in Republican-dominant states push legislation that would punish both doctors and patients, even though such laws are likely unconstitutional. In Idaho, Republicans competing in a crowded field for governor have made it a major campaign issue ahead of the May 15 primary. One candidate promised to back a long-shot effort that would allow women to be prosecuted for getting abortions, and another offered tepid support but doubted it would survive a l...
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A group of Idaho lawmakers on Friday approved a proposal declaring pornography a public health risk. "Pornography has and does have adverse impacts on all members of society. It leads to the abuse men, women and children, destroys marriages and has impacts on young and old," said Rep. Lance Clow, a Republican from Twin Falls who is backing the resolution. "Families are being torn apart by this epidemic." The resolution, sent to the House floor for debate by the House State Affairs Committee, does not call for a ban but r...
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Twenty-eight teachers in Idaho were disciplined the past school year for ethical misconduct ranging from inappropriate conduct with a student to substance abuse, according to a state regulator report released Wednesday. The Idaho Professional Standards Commission noted it received 67 written complaints of alleged educator ethical misconduct during the 2016-17 school year. The commission closed 49 cases this year and handed down disciplinary action in 28 cases Under Idaho law, however, the reasons for the complaints aren't pu...
BOISE, Idaho (AP, Oct. 10, 2016) — A legislative panel will not submit a recommendation to the Idaho Legislature on whether or not the state's law allowing families to cite religious reasons for medical decisions without fear of being charged with a crime should be repealed, punting any chance for change back to individual lawmakers who have previously failed to gain traction inside the religiously conservative Statehouse. The 10-member panel met for the last time Monday about the faith healing exemption after listening to roughly three h...
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — When allegations erupted this summer that two Idaho lawmakers were caught in an extramarital affair, many supporters were quick to say their actions were a mistake, not a crime. However, in Idaho, adultery has been considered a felony since 1972. The crime is rarely prosecuted, but it remains on the books as a relic of America's long history of regulating sexual activity inside marriage. Historically, adultery has been criminalized as a way to control the public's behavior, says Elizabeth Brandt, a University of Idaho law p... Full story
