skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Women's Rights Groups: Roe v. Wade Faces its Greatest Threat

play audio
Play

Friday, June 29, 2018   

FRANKFORT, Ky. – With the announcement of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's retirement, some women's groups predict urgent times ahead for the future of reproductive rights.

There are specific concerns about the future of 'Roe v. Wade,' as President Donald Trump has promised to appoint nominees to the court who would overturn the law legalizing abortion. President and CEO of the National Women's Law Center Fatima Goss-Graves says Kennedy was among the justices who have upheld the principles in Roe v. Wade.

"In recent years, Justice Kennedy was the key vote to say that Roe versus Wade remains the law of the land,” says Goss-Graves, “and to reject all of those efforts to make sure that women do not have access to abortion."

Justice Neil Gorsuch, the first Trump appointee, was among the majority of justices who this week ruled that so-called "crisis pregnancy" centers run by anti-abortion groups don't have to post information about the availability of abortion services.

Some Democratic senators want Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to postpone confirmation hearings until after the midterm elections. But Ezra Levin, co-founder of the Democratic organization "Indivisible," contends the GOP is intent on pushing an anti-choice agenda.

Levin says McConnell already stole a seat from the Supreme Court in 2016 by blocking President Barack Obama's nominee.

"Last year, he changed the rules for appointing Supreme Court justices, down to 51 votes to confirm,” says Levin. “Now Mitch McConnell, this president and the broader Republican Party is planning to break that rule for their own benefit, to jam through a nominee months before an election."

And President of NARAL Pro-Choice America Ilyse Hogue says lawsuits are already moving through the courts that could essentially overturn Roe v. Wade, although she contends that isn't what most people want.

"In all 50 states in this country, the majority of Americans actually do not want to punish women, believe in legal access to abortion, know what's at stake and are ready to get out and fight this,” says Hogue. “It is true in red states; it is true in blue states."

The Supreme Court could potentially hear cases that could determine how far into a pregnancy an abortion would be legal, and whether states can exclude Medicaid patients from Planned Parenthood services.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021