Texas' 6-week abortion ban lets private citizens sue in an unprecedented legal approach
CNN
A Texas state law that bans abortion after as early as six weeks into the pregnancy could provide the playbook for red states to pass extreme abortion restrictions -- without having to wait for the Supreme Court to revisit Roe v. Wade.
The measure -- signed into law by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in May and set to go into effect on Wednesday -- prohibits abortion providers from conducting abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected. It would effectively outlaw at least 85% of the abortions sought in the state, according to opponents of the law, since that point is around six weeks into the pregnancy, before some women know they're pregnant. The law was passed amid a slew of restrictions that were approved by GOP legislatures across the country this year, after the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett jerked the Supreme Court further to right and made it more likely that the court will scale back or reverse entirely Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that enshrined a constitutional right to an abortion before the fetus is viable.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Thursday that she plans to mobilize her massive base of followers to oppose what she described as an “acquiesce” by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to accept the House GOP funding bill.
Johns Hopkins University announced Thursday that it will be cutting more than 2,000 jobs after it lost $800 million in funding from the US Agency for International Development amid the Trump administration’s effort to significantly downsize the federal government.
Facing intense pressure over the threat of a shutdown in less than two days, lawmakers are racing to push through a government funding plan by Friday’s midnight deadline.
Arizona Democratic Rep. Raúl Grijalva has died, according to his congressional office. He was 77.
military options” to ensure unfettered American access to the Panama Canal, one of several new directives outlined in what amounts to a major overhaul of US strategic priorities, according to a new memo that was sent to senior leaders and reviewed by CNN.
The death of a woman who was partially paralyzed in the Columbine High School shooting has been ruled a homicide, raising the death toll of the 1999 attack to 14.
President Donald Trump’s administration asked the Supreme Court in a series of emergency appeals Thursday to allow him to move forward with plans to end birthright citizenship, elevating a fringe legal theory that several lower courts have resoundingly rejected.
A federal judge has ordered half a dozen federal agencies to “immediately” reinstate probationary employees fired last month as part of the Trump administration’s effort to rapidly shrink the federal workforce.
The Trump administration is expected to invoke a sweeping wartime authority to speed up the president’s mass deportation pledge in the coming days, according to four sources familiar with the discussions.
The man said he was locked in an eight-by-nine-foot room and was fed two sandwiches a day with two cups of water for years, according to a police affidavit in Connecticut.
Pete Buttigieg is expected to forgo a run for Michigan’s open US Senate seat in 2026, according to two people familiar with the former transportation secretary’s plans, setting up a potential presidential bid in 2028.
The ambiguity of the president’s warning could pave the way for lawsuits. It also could be damaging, critics say, if it has the effect of stifling freedom of speech, among the nation’s most fundamental and heralded rights.
New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s decision to not seek reelection marks the latest bit of tough luck for Senate Democrats, who face an increasingly challenging midterm election map as they fight to climb out of the minority.