By James Pollard @ apnews.com, 30 mins. ago

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The South Carolina ban on abortions after cardiac activity is no more after the latest legal challenge to the state’s 2021 law proved successful.

The state Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the restrictions violate the state constitution’s right to privacy. The measure banned abortions after cardiac activity is detected, typically around six weeks into a pregnancy, with exceptions for those caused by rape and incest or endangering the patient’s life.

“The State unquestionably has the authority to limit the right of privacy that protects women from state interference with her decision, but any such limitation must be reasonable and it must be meaningful in that the time frames imposed must afford a woman sufficient time to determine she is pregnant and to take reasonable steps to terminate that pregnancy. Six weeks is, quite simply, not a reasonable period of time for these two things to occur, and therefore the Act violates our state Constitution’s prohibition against unreasonable invasions of privacy,” Justice Kaye Hearn wrote in the majority opinion.

South Carolina bars abortion at 20 weeks [....]

I think of how it used to be common for conservatives to say Love it or leave it! to boomer protesters.

What once was a health care system that was better than lots of alternatives is no more. (Careful not to get too high & mighty about alternatives before a poll is done and leaked for those, too - I have a sneaking suspicion that this unhappiness is not just happening in the UK, and is not just about pay - tho in the olden days getting rich from a profession probably did soothe a lot of unhappiness.)

Exclusive by Rob Hastings @ INews.com, Dec. 26

Nearly two thirds of junior doctors in England admit they have looked into alternative jobs in the past year and appear increasingly likely to vote for strikes next month, deepening the NHS winter crisis.

The results of a British Medical Association (BMA) survey of 3,819 junior doctors in England during November and December, shared with i, show that 79 per cent “often think about leaving the NHS”, and 65 per cent “have actively researched leaving the NHS in the last 12 months”.

The BMA, the trade union for junior doctors, is urging the Government to reconsider the 2 per cent pay rise its members in England are receiving – more than 8 per cent below CPI inflation and less than half the rise other NHS staff have rejected – ahead of their ballot for industrial action on 9 January. Most doctors are classified as ‘junior’ until they are consultants, GPs or specialists, and can run departments [....]

A precariously narrow but consequential slice of the electorate broke with its own voting history to reject openly extremist Republican candidates — at least partly out of concern for the health of the political system.

By Charles Homans, Jazmine Ulloa & Blake Hounshell @ NYTimes.com, Dec. 24

Not long ago, Joe Mohler would have seemed an unlikely person to help bury the political legacy of Donald J. Trump. Mr. Mohler, a 24-year-old Republican committeeman and law student in Lancaster Township, Pa., voted for Mr. Trump in 2016. He voted for him again in 2020 — but this time with some misgivings. And when Mr. Trump began spouting lies and conspiracy theories about his 2020 loss, Mr. Mohler, who grew up in a solidly conservative area of southeastern Pennsylvania, was troubled to hear many people he knew repeat them.

Last January, after county Republican leaders aligned with a group known for spreading misinformation about the 2020 election and Covid-19 vaccines, Mr. Mohler spoke out against them — a move that he said cost him his post as chairman of the township G.O.P. committee.

“I just realized how much of a sham the whole movement was,” he said. “The moment the veil is pulled from your face, you realize how ugly the face is that you are looking at.”

Mr. Mohler was part of a precariously narrow but consequential slice of the electorate that went against its own voting history this year in order to reject Republican candidates who sought control over elections, at least in part out of concern for the health of the political system and the future of democracy.

After deciding that preserving the integrity of elections was his single most important issue in 2022, he voted last month for the party’s nominee for Senate, Mehmet Oz, who hedged carefully on the question of who won the 2020 election but eventually said he would have voted to certify Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory had he been in office. But in the governor’s race, Mr. Mohler decided he could not vote for Doug Mastriano, the Republican candidate, who as a state senator was central to efforts to overturn Pennsylvania’s 2020 election results.

Mr. Mastriano had pledged to decertify voting machines in counties where he suspected the results were fraudulent and to appoint as secretary of the commonwealth, the office overseeing elections in Pennsylvania, someone who shared his views.“It was just so reprehensible,” Mr. Mohler said. “I didn’t want anybody like that in the governor’s office.” [.....]

Just the kind of thing social workers can do!!! The BLM dream in action!!! It takes a village to make sure you're a good mother...1/3 of white kids isn't exactly chicken feed either; their social workers are well-funded busy bees for sure!

A staggeringly high number of families are subject to child abuse and neglect investigations in Maricopa County, Arizona.

By Emma Camp @ Reason.com, Dec. 20

In Maricopa County, Arizona, 63 percent of black children are investigated by the Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS) by the time they turn 18, according to a joint report published this month by ProPublica and NBC News. For white children, the number is only 33 percent [....]

By John Fritze @ USA TODAY, December 19, 2022 at 7:23 PM ET

WASHINGTON – Chief Justice John Roberts on Monday temporarily blocked the Biden administration from ending the pandemic-era Title 42 immigration policy, leaving in doubt whether officials will continue to expel migrants over concerns about public health risks.

The decision was the result of the short fuse lit by 19 conservative states that filed an emergency appeal at the Supreme Court earlier Monday. The states had asked the justices to block a lower court ruling requiring President Joe Biden to end the Title 42 expulsions by Wednesday.

Roberts ordered the Biden administration to respond to the appeal from the states by 5 p.m. EST Tuesday, a rapid turnaround by Supreme Court standards.

Roberts' single-page order came as Republican officials have ramped up criticism of his decision to end the Trump-era policy, both in court filings and public statements. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, warned of "total chaos" if the policy is lifted.

Though the move may pause what many fear will be a new influx of migrants on the southern border,  the administrative stay doesn't necessarily signal which way the high court is leaning on the broader questions about the policy. Roberts, or the court, will likely issue another order in a matter of days.

Title 42 permits Customs and Border Protection to expel migrants without the usual legal review to Mexico or to their home countries to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in holding facilities [....]