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The Force India Formula 1 team has gone into administration following a hearing at the high court in London, amidst the rumour a possible buyer for the team has been found. Chief operating officer …
If you’re confused about the Force India situation fear not. You’re friendly F1 reporter here has the lowdown for you.
Texas GOP Unveils Plans for 2017 Anti-Choice Blitz
Targeting reproductive rights in 2017 will once again be a top priority for Texas Republicans, as lawmakers have introduced a number of proposals to restrict abortion care access.
Texas legislators, who will return to the state capitol January 10, pre-filed more than 600 bills last week.
Delegates at the Texas Republican Party convention in May approved a list of legislative priorities that included prohibiting abortion in the state “by enacting legislation to stop the murder of unborn children.”
If lawmakers are unable to outlaw abortion in the state through legislative means, Texas Republicans have pledged to “ignore and refuse to enforce any and all federal statutes, regulations, executive orders, and court rulings, which would deprive an unborn child of the right to life.”
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R), former talk-radio host turned arch-conservative lawmaker, last Monday laid out his priorities for the upcoming legislative session. Patrick said in a statement his priorities would include “increasing criminal penalties for buying or selling human fetal tissue” and a ban on later abortion care.
Heather Busby, executive director of NARAL Pro Choice Texas, told Rewire she expects the results of the presidential election to embolden Texas Republicans.
“They’ve never backed down from an opportunity to deny rights to certain populations,” Busby said. “Whether that’s women, that’s immigrants, that’s the LGBT population.”
Rep. Donna Howard (D-Austin) said during a press conference that Democrats are not going to “sit back and watch” while Republican lawmakers continue to restrict reproductive rights.
“We’re prepared to do what we need to do to prevent the continuing erosion of women having control of their own bodies and making decisions about their own families,” Howard said. “We are going to do whatever we can to insert evidence-based policymaking that respects the rights of all Texans.”
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Tennessee Woman Indicted for Self-Induced Abortion Faces New Charges
A Tennessee woman accused of using a coat hanger to try to terminate her pregnancy is facing new criminal charges.
Anna Yocca was charged in December 2015 with attempted first-degree murder, but that charge was reduced in March toaggravated assault.
A Rutherford County Grand Jury on November 12 returned three new charges against Yocca, reported the Daily News Journal. Yocca has been charged with aggravated assault with a weapon, attempted procurement of a miscarriage, and attempted criminal abortion.
Aggravated assault with a weapon and attempted criminal abortion each carry jail terms of three to 15 years and fines up to $10,000; attempted procurement of a miscarriage carries a jail term of one to six years and a fine up to $3,000.
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Image: Anna Yocca appears in court (Credit: Scripps Media)
Texas ‘Fetal Remains’ Rule Meets Public Resistance
Reproductive rights advocates at a sparsely attended public hearing of the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) on Wednesday once again warned state officials against implementing proposed rules that would require the burial or cremation of aborted or miscarried fetuses.
The Republican-backed rule could add $2,000 to the cost of abortion care, according to the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Texas.
DSHS heard public testimony on the proposed rules during an August 4 hearing.
The proposed rules, which would prohibit abortion providers from disposing of fetal remains in sanitary landfills, requiring that they be buried or cremated instead, were quietly published by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission on July 1.
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Image: Ashley Blinkhorn testifies at hearing. (Credit: Jana Birchum/Austin Chronicle)
Texas Anti-Choice Group Gets $1.6 Million Windfall From State
A Texas anti-choice organization will receive more than $1.6 million in state funds from a reproductive health-care program designed by legislators toexclude Planned Parenthood.
The Heidi Group was awarded the second largest grant ever provided for services through the Healthy Texas Women program, according to the Associated Press.
Carol Everett, the founder and CEO of the group and a prominent anti-choice activist and speaker, told the AP her organization’s contract with the state “is about filling gaps, not about ideology.”
“I did not see quality health care offered to women in rural areas,” Everett said.
Heather Busby, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Texas, said in a statement that it was “inappropriate” for the state to award a contract to an organization for services that it has never performed.
“The Heidi Group is an anti-abortion organization, it is not a healthcare provider,” Busby said.
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Lawsuit Challenges Anti-Choice Laws Passed by Louisiana Lawmakers
The Center for Reproductive Rights filed a lawsuit Friday in federal district court challenging abortion restrictions passed by Louisiana lawmakers this year.
Despite facing a budget crisis, lawmakerspassed seven laws that restricted access to reproductive health care, including abortion services, which the Center for Reproductive Rights claims “individually, and cumulatively” unduly restrict the “constitutional right to abortion.”
Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement that the laws collectively create a “web of red tape” that restrict women’s ability to access reproductive health care.
“Louisiana politicians are trying to do what the U.S. Supreme Court just ruled decisively they cannot, burying women’s right to safe and legal abortion under an avalanche of unjustified and burdensome restrictions,” Northup said.
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Data Shows Surge in Texans Traveling Out of State to Get an Abortion
A Rewire analysis has found that while Texas data shows there has been a decline in the number of abortions in the state, data from other neighboring states suggests there has been a dramatic increase in the number of Texans traveling out of state to access abortion care since the passage of HB 2 in 2013.
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North Carolina Governor Fights to Uphold GOP’s Anti-Transgender Law
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory’s (R) administration filed a lawsuit Monday against the federal government in defense of the state’s anti-transgender bathroom discrimination law, after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) charged that North Carolina violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The DOJ sent a letter last week to the McCrory administration informing state officials that they had until Monday to confirm whether the state will comply with the Civil Rights Act or implement HB 2.
At stake is $861 million in federal funding for public education, which the state would be in danger of losing if it implements the bathroom discrimination measure, according to the Charlotte Observer.
McCrory said in a statement that his administration filed a “declaratory judgment action asking the federal courts to clarify federal law.”
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