Each week we will provide you with a rundown of top news stories and must-read articles.
Headlines
Maine ACLU sues to end highly restrictive abortion regulation
The ACLU of Maine, The American Civil Liberties Union, and Planned Parenthood, filed suit together to end a highly restrictive Maine abortion law. A current Maine law restricts women’s rights by requiring abortions to be performed by only physicians and not by other qualified officials. Under this physicians-only law there are only three abortion clinics in the entire state.
Protests in St. Louis
Protesters took to the street everyday in St. Louis this week after the acquittal a police officer who fatally shot a black man in 2011. Protesters have faced aggressive police who are armed with military-grade weapons. In a particularly disturbing moment, St. Louis police officers chanted at the protesters ‘Whose Streets? Our Streets?’.
Healthcare battle revived
Republicans in the Senate are making one last ditch effort to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. The Cassidy-Graham Bill is one of the most damaging proposals yet. The bill’s devastating measures include deep cuts to federal Medicaid funding and the end to many important consumer protections.
Senator Collins is pushing for a bipartisan piece of legislation meant to help fix some of the issues with the Affordable Care Act. Collin’s proposal would help decrease insurance costs by using federal funds to help support high-risk insurance pools.
How Trump’s Muslim-ban hurt so many refugees
The Trump Administration travel-ban was incredilbly hurtful to refugees. The executive order banned all refugees for 120 days and cut the number of refugees allowed into the US this year in half. As documented in a U.S Embassy memo, the treatment of the refugees caught in the crosshairs of the ban has been truly awful.
