The parents of a teenage Mississippi rape victim had to travel more than 500 miles to help their daughter obtain an abortion in Illinois, WAPT’s Megan West reported. The family told the local Jackson anchor that they learned their daughter was pregnant three days beyond Mississippi’s legal limit of six weeks.

The parents, whom WAPT referred to only as “Jane Doe” and “John Doe,” said they did not know that abortion was illegal in Mississippi or that the state’s only abortion clinic had closed until they sought help for their daughter.

“We didn’t (know) until after we was trying to find places that would (provide abortion care), and they told us that if we would’ve known about it at least three days ahead that we could’ve got an abortion in Mississippi,” John Doe said in blurred video footage WAPT aired in a Nov. 22 broadcast. The station reported that authorities have charged multiple individuals for sexual battery for the teen girl’s rape.

“I called my OB, the one who delivered my babies,” Jane Doe told WAPT, her voice distorted in the footage. “And I explained my situation to him. It was the ugliest feeling having to explain to the doctor that delivered your child that she was raped, and then him having to tell you he can’t do anything to help.”

Doe told WAPT that the family decided against traveling to The Pink House West, the New Mexico clinic owned by JWHO’s former owner, because of its distance. The family ultimately traveled more than seven hours to the closest abortion clinic they could find: a Planned Parenthood in Fairview Heights, Illinois.

After diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and the US seemed to sink to another low earlier this year, the Arab nation now appears keen to smooth ties with the Biden administration.

And it's the better-than-anticipated showing by the Democratic Party in the midterm elections that has strengthened President Joe Biden's hand, analysts say.

Many had projected sweeping gains for the Republican Party in the recent midterms, aided by economic challenges tied to high inflation and rising fuel prices.

In the lead up to the elections, members of the Democratic Party accused Saudi Arabia of backing away from an agreement to boost oil production, and instead cut it, as part of a ploy to spike inflation and damage the Democrats' chances in the midterms.

But instead, Biden's party emerged with their control of the Senate intact, and with a smaller-than-expected loss of seats in the House.

As such, the Saudis have in recent weeks made a series of diplomatic moves seemingly aimed at improving frayed relations with the White House.

INDIANAPOLIS — A federal appeals court has reinstated an Indiana law adopted in 2016 that requires abortion clinics to either bury or cremate fetal remains.

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling released Monday overturns an Indiana judge’s decision in September that the law infringed upon the religious and free speech rights of people who do not believe aborted fetuses deserve the same treatment as deceased people.

The appeals court cited a 2019 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court upholding the fetal remains provisions of the law signed by then-Gov. Mike Pence and that the state had a legitimate interest in how those remains are disposed.

“Indiana does not require any woman who has obtained an abortion to violate any belief, religious or secular,” the appeals court ruling said. “The cremate-or-bury directive applies only to hospitals and clinics.”

INDIANAPOLIS — A federal appeals court has reinstated an Indiana law adopted in 2016 that requires abortion clinics to either bury or cremate fetal remains.

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling released Monday overturns an Indiana judge’s decision in September that the law infringed upon the religious and free speech rights of people who do not believe aborted fetuses deserve the same treatment as deceased people.

The appeals court cited a 2019 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court upholding the fetal remains provisions of the law signed by then-Gov. Mike Pence and that the state had a legitimate interest in how those remains are disposed.

“Indiana does not require any woman who has obtained an abortion to violate any belief, religious or secular,” the appeals court ruling said. “The cremate-or-bury directive applies only to hospitals and clinics.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to go to bat for Twitter owner Elon Musk, suggesting that Congress should intercede on Musk’s behalf.

Tuesday saw DeSantis, who has frequently lauded the South African native’s positive effect on the social media platform, siding with Musk in his current battle with Apple.

“Apple is threatening to remove Twitter from the App Store because Elon Musk is actually opening it up for free speech and is restoring a lot of accounts that were unfairly and illegitimately suspended for putting out accurate information about COVID,” DeSantis said, citing “reports” to that effect.

“The old regime at Twitter tried to suffocate that dissent,” DeSantis argued. “Elon Musk knows that’s not a winning formula and he’s providing free speech.”

“If Apple responds to that by nuking them from the App Store, I think that would be a huge, huge mistake, and a raw exercise of monopolistic power that would merit a response from the United States Congress,” DeSantis said, warning the tech company against being a “vassal” of the Beijing government.

Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to go to bat for Twitter owner Elon Musk, suggesting that Congress should intercede on Musk’s behalf.

Tuesday saw DeSantis, who has frequently lauded the South African native’s positive effect on the social media platform, siding with Musk in his current battle with Apple.

“Apple is threatening to remove Twitter from the App Store because Elon Musk is actually opening it up for free speech and is restoring a lot of accounts that were unfairly and illegitimately suspended for putting out accurate information about COVID,” DeSantis said, citing “reports” to that effect.

“The old regime at Twitter tried to suffocate that dissent,” DeSantis argued. “Elon Musk knows that’s not a winning formula and he’s providing free speech.”

“If Apple responds to that by nuking them from the App Store, I think that would be a huge, huge mistake, and a raw exercise of monopolistic power that would merit a response from the United States Congress,” DeSantis said, warning the tech company against being a “vassal” of the Beijing government.

For the past few months, Jodi Kantor and Jo Becker, investigative reporters for The New York Times, have looked into a secretive, yearslong effort by an anti-abortion activist to influence the justices of the Supreme Court.

This is the story of the Rev. Rob Schenck, the man who led that effort.

For the past few months, Jodi Kantor and Jo Becker, investigative reporters for The New York Times, have looked into a secretive, yearslong effort by an anti-abortion activist to influence the justices of the Supreme Court.

This is the story of the Rev. Rob Schenck, the man who led that effort.

Steven Mazie
@stevenmazie

NEW: Sen. Whitehouse and Rep. Johnson respond to yesterday’s Supreme Court counsel‘s letter defending Justice Alito

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Rep. A. Donald McEachin, D-Va., died Monday after a battle with colorectal cancer, his office said. He was 61.

Tara Rountree, McEachin's chief of staff, said in a statement late Monday: “Valiantly, for years now, we have watched him fight and triumph over the secondary effects of his colorectal cancer from 2013. Tonight, he lost that battle.”

McEachin represented Virginia's 4th Congressional District, which includes part of Richmond and extends south to the North Carolina border. He was reelected to a fourth term earlier this month.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called her late colleague “a tireless champion for Virginia families and a force for economic opportunity and environmental justice.”