Missouri State Capitol dome
JEFFERSON CITY A bill to renew a tax that funds Missouri’s portion of Medicaid made its way to Gov. Mike Parson to sign into law, just hours before the state’s new fiscal year was to begin.
The House on Wednesday approved the renewal of the Federal Reimbursement Allowance tax during the special session Parson called to address the issue. Not renewing it would have cost the state billions in revenue and federal dollars.
House Budget Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, said passing the tax was critical to the state’s finances.
“If we do not renew the FRA, then our budget will be out of balance, and it would be catastrophic,” Smith said, asking for his colleagues to approve the measure.
Indianapolis Star
A federal judge on Wednesday blocked a new Indiana law that would require doctors to tell women undergoing drug-induced abortions about a disputed treatment for potentially stopping the abortion process.
The ruling came just before the so-called abortion reversal law adopted by Indiana s Republican-dominated Legislature was to take effect Thursday. The temporary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge James Patrick Hanlon in Indianapolis puts the law on hold while the lawsuit challenging it makes its way through court.
The lawsuit filed by abortion-rights groups argues that the law s requirement would confuse patients and increase the stigma associated with obtaining an abortion, while also forcing doctors to give what they regard as dubious medical information to patients.
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GUILFORD â A documentary pointing out the realities of violence against Native American women will finally get screened live in the community where the filmmakers live.
âSisters Risingâ initially was going to be part of the Brattleboro Womenâs Film Festival, an annual spring event held by the Womenâs Freedom Center. However, the event was cancelled due to COVID-19.
âWeâre really excited to have this screening to share with our community,â said Willow OâFeral, one of the filmmakers.
The documentary will be shown by the Windham World Affairs Council at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 8 at 118 Elliot in Brattleboro. Like all WWAC events, the screening is free and open to the public, and suggested $10 donation will be accepted at the door.
The weaponised Eucharist
The debate among American bishops around whether President Biden and other Catholic politicians should be denied Holy Communion because of their policies on abortion is an important and unsettling one. Let me say at the start that I think it would be a tragedy if the bishops were to venture down this path.
For the nation’s bishops, the continued injustice of abortion remains the
‘preeminent priority.’ In a statement congratulating President Biden on his election victory, Archbishop Gomez, the President of the US Bishops Conference, noted that: ‘Preeminent does not mean only ’. We have deep concerns about many threats to human life and dignity in our society. But as Pope Francis teaches, we cannot stay silent when nearly a million unborn lives are being cast aside in our country year after year through abortion’
Iowa Supreme Court Lets State Block Govt Funding for Planned Parenthood’s Sex Education Program
The Iowa Supreme Court ruled on June 30 that the state can block companies such as Planned Parenthood from providing sex education programs funded by government funds.
The 6–1 decision upholds a 2019 law passed by the Republican-led state legislature that would block any abortion provider from receiving funds from two federal grants to carry out youth sex education programs. It doesn’t limit Planned Parenthood’s ability to offer its own sex education programs.
“Even if the programs do not include any discussions about abortion, the goals of promoting abstinence and reducing teenage pregnancy could arguably still be undermined when taught by the entity that performs nearly all abortions in Iowa,” Dana Oxley, an associate justice of the Iowa Supreme Court, wrote in the majority opinion (pdf).