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The Supreme Court’s decision last week to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling , guaranteed a constitutional right to abortion, will have wide-ranging impacts. About half of states have either already banned abortion or indicated that they soon will, meaning millions of women will no longer have easy access to abortion services. Still, many things remain uncertain, including whether bans will stand up to legal challenges, whether access to abortion pills will become the next target and if the ban on abortion will lead to attacks on other constitutional rights like same-sex marriage. Here are answers to some pressing questions surrounding the Supreme Court’s decision. How did we get here? The Supreme Court agreed last year to consider Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization , the most serious challenge to Roe in decades. That case challenged a law in Mississippi that banned most abortions after 15 weeks. Who voted to overturn Roe? The court ruled 6-3 … [Read more...] about Roe v. Wade abortion ruling: Questions and answers about the Supreme Court decision

With Roe v. Wade overturned , exceptions to abortion bans — such as in the case of rape or incest, or for a pregnant person’s safety — are expected to be the only avenue to getting abortions in many states. But meeting the qualifications for those asterisks to the bans can be complex and traumatizing, experts say. For starters, exceptions for rape and incest are uncommon. The Guttmacher Institute , a research organization that supports reproductive rights, anticipates 26 states certain or likely to ban abortion now that there are no federal protections. Among those 26 states, there are about 41 abortion bans total, with some states having more than one ban, it said. Just 10 of the 41 bans have exceptions for rape and incest. In the states that do have rape and incest exceptions, requirements vary. Many, such as Utah, require victims of sexual assault to file a police report. Given that more than 2 out of 3 sexual assaults go unreported, according to the Rape, Abuse … [Read more...] about Post-Roe, exceptions to state abortion bans won’t be easy to acquire

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 LISBON, Portugal (AP) — The Biden administration is stepping up efforts to combat illegal fishing by China, ordering federal agencies to better coordinate among themselves as well as with foreign partners in a bid to promote sustainable exploitation of the world's oceans. On Monday, the White House released its first ever National Security memo on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, or IUU, to coincide with the start of a United Nations Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Portugal. Nearly 11% of total U.S. seafood imports in 2019 worth $2.4 billion came from illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, according to the U.S. International Trade Commission, a federal agency. While China isn't named in the lengthy policy framework, language in it left little doubt where it was aimed. The memo is bound to irritate Beijing at a time of growing geopolitical competition between the … [Read more...] about Biden aims at China in new illegal fishing policy framework

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A court in Paris found the French government guilty of wrongful negligence involving the former use of a banned pesticide in the French Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique but denied compensation to those affected, officials announced Monday. The ruling was bittersweet for activists and attorneys who argued that the French government's authorization to use chlordecone in those islands was illegal as they sought damages for the defendants. “This decision is a significant step forward in the sense that the fault of the state is recognized,” Christophe Leguevaques, one of the attorneys involved in the case, told The Associated Press. “On the negative side, the court does not recognize financial reparations for the victims... . However, West Indians have been exposed and are still exposed to this dangerous product.” The lawsuit is one of at least two filed against the French government involving the use of chlordecone in Guadeloupe and … [Read more...] about Court finds France negligent in Caribbean pesticide case