Healthcare
Stockard on the Stump: Ogles rides super PAC ads in 5th District win
Despite reports of tardy tax payments, a late federal campaign filing and potential illegal coordination with a super PAC, Maury County Mayor Ogles rolled to victory Thursday in the newly-drawn 5th Congressional District Republican primary. Buoyed by dark money groups that hammered former House Speaker Beth Harwell and retired Brig. Gen. Kurt Winstead, Ogles collected […]
Tennessee Attorney General sues Walgreens over opioid exploitation
Walgreens’ pharmacies in Tennessee are accused in a lawsuit filed Wednesday of exploiting the opioid epidemic for profit, filling prescriptions written by healthcare providers the firm knew had been “raided, disciplined, arrested or indicted,” dispensed massive doses of the dangerous drugs to children as young as two-years-old and doled out more than 103,000 pills prescribed […]
Birth control is the next right Republicans plan to eliminate
Many Americans hoped that Roe v. Wade’s reversal and the subsequent criminalization of medical abortion in over half the nation would satisfy the “pro-fetus” extremists driving today’s Republican Party. Sadly, that is not to be. In Republican-dominated states, lawmakers are already searching for ways to prevent women from obtaining out-of-state abortions. The Thomas More Society, […]
Congress mostly silent as states struggle to contain monkeypox
WASHINGTON — Two months after doctors diagnosed the first case of monkeypox in the United States, Congress has yet to hold a hearing, or give any significant attention to the painful and debilitating virus that’s spread to more than 4,600 people. Public health officials in the Biden administration have held several briefings, expanded testing capacity […]
Four arrested at Nashville Planned Parenthood clinic
Metro Nashville Police officers arrested four people Thursday for misdemeanor trespassing at Planned Parenthood. Authorities charged Rickey Williams, Bevelyn Williams, Edmee Chavannes and Brea Crum. Three of them were physically arrested at the property except for Crum, who was arrested by citation as she had her infant child with her at the time. “Today’s extremist […]
Late again, Tennessee finally distributes funds to feed hungry kids
After months-long delays, state officials announced on Thursday that eligible families will finally be receiving funds from a federal summer food program to help with the rising cost of groceries. Summer Pandemic-EBT is an emergency program that originally rolled out with the 2020 CARES Act to assist families with meals after schools closed due to […]
Tennessee’s abortion ban to be codified into law in 30 days
The U.S. Supreme Court issued its judgment Tuesday to formally reverse Roe v. Wade and the clock is ticking for a total ban on abortion to take effect in Tennessee. Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery notified the Tennessee Code Commission of the ruling, saying the Tennessee Human Life Protection Act will become law on August […]
A month after abortion ruling, closed clinics and uncertainty in Tennessee
In the month since the U.S. Supreme Court ended the federal guarantee to an abortion, at least two Tennessee clinics have announced they will close, other providers are directing patients out of state and advocates are gearing up for upcoming battles at the state Capitol. Currently, Tennessee has a 6-week abortion ban, which outlaws abortions […]
U.S. House passes bill guaranteeing contraception access, with eight GOP votes
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House voted mostly along party lines Thursday to send the Senate legislation that would guarantee people the right to use contraception without government interference. The legislation from North Carolina Democratic Rep. Kathy Manning, approved 228-195, is part of the Democrats’ response to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned the constitutional […]
Neither Tennessee, nor 10-year-olds, are equipped for childhood pregnancies
A case that made headlines across the U.S. recently has stuck with me. By now, most people in America have heard about the 10-year-old Ohio rape victim who had to travel across state lines to receive necessary healthcare in Indiana, the closest state where a legal abortion was available. This case has affected me deeply. […]
Members of Congress arrested after protest for abortion rights in front of Supreme Court
WASHINGTON — More than a dozen members of Congress were arrested Tuesday alongside abortion rights activists after they sat down and blocked an intersection between the U.S. Capitol building and the Supreme Court to protest conservative justices’ decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The act of civil disobedience came as backers of abortion rights urge […]
Progressives renew call for U.S. Supreme Court expansion after abortion rights decision
WASHINGTON — A group of U.S. House Democrats Monday called for the passage of legislation that would add four justices to the Supreme Court, following the overturning of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that provided the constitutional right to abortion. “It’s an ultra-right-wing Republican Supreme Court,” Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia said during a […]