New York doctor charged with giving Louisiana teen abortion pill
Since the landmark Roe v Wade case was overturned by the Supreme Court, Louisiana has enacted a near-total abortion ban, with no exceptions for rape or incest.The state was the first in the US to classify abortion medications mifepristone and misoprostol as "controlled dangerous substances", making it a crime punishable by up to five years in prison to access the drugs without a prescription.Louisiana Assistant District Attorney Tony Clayton told Baton Rouge Public Radio , externalon Friday that Dr Carpenter sent the pills to the teenager's mother to give to her daughter. "The minor child was home alone, felt that she had to take the pill because of what her mother told her," Clayton said.After the indictment in West Baton Rouge, Louisiana's Republican Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a statement that the state would "hold individuals accountable for breaking the law", according to US media. Last year, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also filed a civil lawsuit against Dr Carpenter last year for allegedly prescribing abortion pills to a woman in Dallas. The BBC has contacted Dr Carpenter for comment. In a statement, the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine, which Dr Carpenter co-founded, called the indictment against her "the latest in a series of threats that jeopardizes women's access to reproductive healthcare throughout this country". The organisation said the medication is approved by US regulators and has been proven safe and effective for decades. New York Gov Hochul called the criminal case "outrageous", external and said it is an attempt by Republicans to prevent access to reproductive care not just in conservative states, but across the US. "We must stand firm and fight this," she said. "I will do everything I can to protect this doctor and allow her to continue the work that she is doing that is so essential." In 2023, the state of New York passed a shield law that protects New York doctors who prescribe and send abortion pills to patients in states that have outlawed the procedure. It is one of several Democratic states with a shield law. In a statement, New York Attorney General Letitia James said the criminal charges against Dr Carpenter were a "cowardly attempt" to "weaponize the law against out-of-state providers". "We will not allow bad actors to undermine our providers' ability to deliver critical care," she said.Abortion pills are now the most common method of ending a pregnancy in the US, accounting for nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the country.
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The Herald Scotland
an hour ago
- The Herald Scotland
Sturgeon is no feminist: she tried hard to destroy women's rights
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This spells out unambiguously that biological sex determines conditions in public services and sporting bodies, emphasising that "trans women (biological men) should not be permitted to use women's facilities". It could not be clearer. The SNP leadership has gone curiously quiet on gender, with only a very anaemic statement from Shona Robison on the furore over Kate Forbes's appearance at Summerhall, saying: "I don't think it sends out the right signal over freedom of speech". What an understatement! That could be said of much of SNP government, with Freedom of Information requests ignored or the relevant materials supplied with almost total redaction. The Salmond Inquiry was the classic case of evidence being redacted. It is therefore not surprising that For Women Scotland has felt the need to take legal action once again, demanding that the Supreme Court's judgment be implemented in Scotland's schools and prisons. Why is Mr Swinney resisting this? Is he actually in charge? 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Nothing is ever Nicola's fault"; "writing which reads at times like a bad Mills and Boon parody"; "For a political memoir, Frankly is remarkably light on policy"; and most damningly in conclusion: "Deep as a puddle to the end". So how could someone who was described as such a political genius and presented herself as having such acute literary taste have produced a book of so little political value and of no literary distinction? It is now clear from her own account that Nicola Sturgeon was a charlatan all along, and her political and literary prowess were always delusions. The next question for the likes of Ms Rowat – and for all of the other commentators who have suddenly had the scales fall from their eyes – is why they played along with the pretence all this time, instead of unmasking it from Day One. Some of us saw through it all along: Nicola Sturgeon is a charmless mediocrity who has failed in everything she has attempted. 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Third, not only is much of the so-called spending of the Scottish Government determined by decisions taken at Westminster (90 per cent according to Finance Secretary Shona Robison), much of it is 'notional' because Westminster allocates Scotland a share of UK Government spending, such as for defence where expenditure of £5.1 billion was listed but only £2.1bn was actually spent in Scotland. Finally, as recently pointed out in Alex Orr's letter (August 14), to claim that this Westminster-imposed financial predicament 'underlines the complete folly of independence' is also misleading, especially as SNP politicians (assuming the party does not disband after independence is achieved) would likely be in the minority in future independent Scottish parliaments. Stan Grodynski, Longniddry. JK Rowling, one of Nicola Sturgeon's fiercest critics (Image: PA) A damning indictment I have recently undergone a hearing test appointment, after waiting two years. 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The Guardian
4 hours ago
- The Guardian
Democrats return to Texas as California kicks off push to pass new electoral map
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The protest began on 3 August, when dozens of Texas Democrats left the state for Illinois and other blue states in a high-stakes bid to deny their Republican colleagues the quorum needed to approve the redrawn maps. Although the Democrats' return allows Republicans to advance their redistricting plan, the quorum-breakers have declared their two-week walkout a strategic success that set off a 'redistricting arms race'. 'We killed the corrupt special session, withstood unprecedented surveillance and intimidation and rallied Democrats nationwide to join this existential fight for fair representation – reshaping the entire 2026 landscape,' Gene Wu, the chair of the Texas house democratic caucus, said. 'We're returning to Texas more dangerous to Republicans' plans than when we left.' Dustin Burrows, the Republican house speaker, did not mention the Republican redistricting proposal, but said the chamber would move swiftly to enact its legislative agenda during the second special session. Later on Monday evening, a house committee approved the new map, which will soon be sent to the floor for a full vote. 'Representatives come and go. Issues rise and fall. But this body has endured wars, economic depressions and quorum breaks dating back to the very first session,' Burrows said during Monday's session. 'Now is the time for action.' He also outlined new surveillance protocols that would apply to the Democrats who had civil arrest warrants issued in their absence, stating they would 'be granted written permission to leave only after agreeing to be released into the custody of a designated [Texas department of public safety] officer' who would ensure their return to the chamber. One Democrat is refusing to accept the conditions. 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Republicans in California condemned the proposal as an assault on the state's voter-approved independent redistricting commission and said they plan to introduce legislation that advocates for creating similar map-drawing bodies in all 50 states. 'Governor Newsom, this is nothing more than a power grab,' Tony Strickland, a Republican state senator, said during a Monday news conference in Sacramento. He warned the redistricting tit-for-tat sets a dangerous precedent that will not be easily undone. 'The Golden Gate Bridge toll was supposed to be temporary,' he added. 'You're still paying the toll.' The legislature could hold floor votes to send the measure to voters for approval as soon as Thursday, KCRA reported. House Republicans currently hold a razor-thin three-seat majority in the US House and Trump has pushed to redraw district boundaries ahead of next year's midterm elections, in which the president's party typically loses seats. 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The Independent
7 hours ago
- The Independent
Oklahoma to test teachers from New York, California to guard against ‘radical leftist ideology'
Oklahoma will require applicants for teacher jobs coming from California and New York to pass an exam that the Republican-dominated state's top education official says is designed to safeguard against 'radical leftist ideology,' but which opponents decry as a ' MAGA loyalty test.' Ryan Walters, Oklahoma's public schools superintendent, said Monday that any teacher coming from the two blue states will be required to pass an assessment exam administered by PragerU, an Oklahoma-based conservative nonprofit, before getting a state certification. 'As long as I am superintendent, Oklahoma classrooms will be safeguarded from the radical leftist ideology fostered in places like California and New York,' Walters said in a statement. PragerU, short for Prager University, puts out short videos with a conservative perspective on politics and economics. It promotes itself as 'focused on changing minds through the creative use of digital media.' Quinton Hitchcock, a spokesperson for the state's education department, said the Prager test for teacher applicants has been finalized and will be rolling out 'very soon.' The state did not release the entire 50-question test to The Associated Press but did provide the first five questions, which include asking what the first three words of the U.S. Constitution are and why freedom of religion is 'important to America's identity.' Prager didn't immediately respond to a phone message or email seeking comment. But Marissa Streit, CEO of PragerU, told CNN that several questions on the assessment relate to 'undoing the damage of gender ideology.' Jonathan Zimmerman, who teaches history of education at the University of Pennsylvania, said Oklahoma's contract with PragerU to test out-of-state would-be teachers 'is a watershed moment.' 'Instead of Prager simply being a resource that you can draw in an optional way, Prager has become institutionalized as part of the state system,' he said. 'There's no other way to describe it.' Zimmerman said the American Historical Association did a survey last year of 7th- to 12th-grade teachers and found that only a minority were relying on textbooks for day-to-day instruction. He said the upside to that is that most history books are 'deadly boring.' But he said that means history teachers are relying on online resources, such as those from Prager. 'I think what we're now seeing in Oklahoma is something different, which is actually empowering Prager as a kind of gatekeeper for future teachers,' Zimmerman said. One of the nation's largest teachers unions, the American Federation of Teachers, has often been at odds with the Donald Trump administration and the crackdown on teacher autonomy in the classroom. 'This MAGA loyalty test will be yet another turnoff for teachers in a state already struggling with a huge shortage," said AFT President Randi Weingarten. She was critical of Walters, who pushed for the state's curriculum standards to be revised to include conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election. 'His priority should be educating students, but instead, it's getting Donald Trump and other MAGA politicians to notice him,' Weingarten said in a statement. State Rep. John Waldron, the Oklahoma Democratic Party chairman, decried the test as 'political posturing.' 'If you want to see a textbook definition of indoctrination, how about a loyalty test for teachers,' said Waldron. 'It's a sad echo of a more paranoid past.' Waldron, a New Jersey native, said he would have been in the target demographic for this kind of test when he moved from Washington, D.C., to Oklahoma to teach social studies in 1999. He said it would have struck him as an indication that the state 'wasn't serious about attracting quality teachers.' 'Teachers are not rushing here from other states to teach. We've got an enormous teacher shortage and it's not like we have a giant supply of teachers coming in from blue states anyway,' he said. ___ Hollingsworth reported from Mission, Kansas, and Stengle from Dallas.
