Voters overwhelmingly said they did not wish to amend the state constitution to assert there is no right to abortion. It was the first electoral test of the issue since the US Supreme Court allowed states to ban the procedure. If the ballot had gone the other way, lawmakers could have moved to further restrict or ban abortion in Kansas.
Veterans and their loved ones gathered in Washington, D.C., on Thursday for what was supposed to be a long-awaited celebration. The Senate finally was poised to pass a bill that would provide health care and benefits for millions of veterans injured by exposure to toxins, from Agent Orange in Vietnam to burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan. Instead, in a…
A series of tragedies and challenges have soured the mood of Texans and made the governor’s race perhaps the most competitive since the 1990s. One of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. The revival of a 1920s ban on abortion. The country’s worst episode of migrant death in recent memory. And an electrical grid, which failed during bitter cold,…
Top U.S. Senate Democrats and Republicans said on Wednesday they may have the votes to pass a bill protecting same-sex marriage rights nationwide, the day after the measure passed the House of Representatives with a bipartisan majority. The measure, intended to head off any Supreme Court effort to roll back gay marriage rights, passed the House on Tuesday with all…
Cuba’s National Assembly on Friday approved a sweeping update of its family law which opens the door to allowing gay marriage, greater women’s rights, and increased protections for children, the elderly and other family members. The new Families Code will be put to a referendum vote on Sept. 25 after being debated in community meetings earlier this year, where organizers…
A lawmaker in Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party said on Wednesday he planned to change his gender identity to become Britain’s first openly transgender member of parliament, a decision he said followed a series of harrowing episodes in his personal life. Jamie Wallis, 37, who represents an area in Wales, said in a statement he was diagnosed with gender…
The Fur Free Alliance welcomes the news that legislation banning fur farming in the Republic of Ireland has passed the final stages of the parliamentary process. Having completed its passage through the Dáil (House of Representatives) in early 2022, the Bill completed its final stage in the Seanad (Senate) on the evening of Tuesday 29 March 2022.
After more than 100 years of effort and 200 bills that failed, legislation to designate lynching a federal hate crime passed Congress on Monday and will head to President Biden for a signature. The measure passed the Senate by unanimous consent, meaning none of the 100 senators objected. It cleared the House last month in a 422—3 vote. This bill would…
The House’s overwhelming support of legislation that would make lynching a federal hate crime directly addresses the history of racism and bigotry in the US, the bill’s sponsor said. Lawmakers passed the Emmett Till Anti-lynching Act on Monday in a 422-3 majority. A similar bill was first introduced by Democratic Rep. Bobby Rush of Illinois two years ago but was…