WASHINGTON (AP) — A skin lesion removed from President Joe Biden's chest last month was a basal cell carcinoma — a common form of skin cancer — his doctor said Friday, adding that no further treatment was required.

Dr. Kevin O'Connor, the White House doctor who has served as Biden's longtime physician, said “all cancerous tissue was successfully removed” during the president's routine physical on Feb. 16. Biden, 80, was deemed by O'Connor to be “ healthy, vigorous” and “fit ” to handle his White House responsibilities during that physical exam, which comes as he is weeks away from launching an expected bid for reelection in 2024.

When deputies pulled up to the family home on Riebel Ridge Road in Ohio Township around 9:40 a.m. Monday, Theresa Cain was standing on the patio outside, Leahy said.

Deputies expected no issues. They checked with her before Monday to ensure all would go smoothly. She had been cooperative. She indicated she still had a few things to pack.

She requested and received a few extra hours but agreed the family would be ready to vacate the premises by 10 a.m. Monday. Theresa Cain had assured the sheriff’s office the family had a place to go.

But as soon as she saw them pulling up, she quickly went inside the house, the sheriff said.

A deputy knocked on the front and then back doors. No one answered. The deputy stepped inside the home and called out to her, announcing the sheriff’s office had arrived.

He heard a muffled “No, no, no, no,” Leahy said, followed by a “very fast” succession of gunfire.

She fired five gunshots in just under 3.5 seconds, ones they now believe were meant to keep deputies away - and then turned the gun on herself, he said.

Nate Morris
@_natemorris

Jon Stewart: Does training (in order to own a gun) make you safer?

Nathan Dahm: Yes.

Stewart: And you would remove that as mandatory?

Dahm: Yes.

Stewart: So, you are making us less safe.

Dahm: No.

Stewart: Are you familiar with logic?

Dahm: 🫥

ACLU
@ACLU

BREAKING: Tennessee Governor Bill Lee just signed into law a ban on all forms of gender-affirming care for trans people under 18. We're suing.

Tennessee — we'll see you in court.

Alejandra Caraballo
@Esqueer_

A Texas Republican has introduced a bill requiring internet companies censor information related to abortion. They will enforce this through bounty lawsuits similar to SB8. It specifically bans multiple websites that assist with abortion access.

https://legiscan.com/TX/bill/HB2690/2023

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina legislative leaders announced Thursday an agreement to expand Medicaid to hundreds of thousands of additional low-income adults through the Affordable Care Act.

The deal, which likely won't be voted on until later this month at the earliest, marks a milestone for Republican lawmakers, most of whom opposed expansion for a decade until recently, and for hospitals and patient advocates who sought it all that time.

North Carolina has been one of 11 states that has not adopted Medicaid expansion. If the deal goes through, the state would start providing expansion coverage to people starting next January.

“This is something that we can all be very proud of,” House Speaker Tim Moore said at a Legislative Building news conference with Senate leader Phil Berger. “What a huge announcement this is for North Carolina. What a huge policy direction this is that will provide help for so many in this state, but it’s going to do it in a way that’s fiscally responsible.”

‘Overwhelming weight of textual and historical evidence’ supports access

Attorneys for a group of abortion clinics are pleading with the Florida Supreme Court not to overrule decades of precedent protecting access to the procedure under the Florida Constitution, citing the plain text of that document’s Privacy Clause and the danger to millions of Florida women.

Arguments, filed Tuesday on behalf of Planned Parenthood and other clinics plus a doctor who provides abortion care, point to the plain text of the Privacy Clause, which Florida voters adopted in 1980:

“Every natural person has the right to be let alone and free from governmental intrusion into the person’s private life except as otherwise provided herein. This section shall not be construed to limit the public’s right of access to public records and meetings as provided by law.”

“Such a broad freedom in private and personal matters necessarily extends to the profound and personal decision whether to have an abortion or to bear the substantial pains, risks, and life-altering consequences of pregnancy and childbirth,” the brief says.

The pleading looks like an attempt to remind the court’s majority of their purported conservative principles — as remade by Gov. Ron DeSantis since first taking office in 2019, the court majority has amply demonstrated willingness to second-guess precedents established by earlier, more moderate or liberal, courts. Like the one that found in 1989 that the Privacy Clause protects abortion rights.

The state will file a reply brief at a later date.

‘Overwhelming weight of textual and historical evidence’ supports access

Attorneys for a group of abortion clinics are pleading with the Florida Supreme Court not to overrule decades of precedent protecting access to the procedure under the Florida Constitution, citing the plain text of that document’s Privacy Clause and the danger to millions of Florida women.

Arguments, filed Tuesday on behalf of Planned Parenthood and other clinics plus a doctor who provides abortion care, point to the plain text of the Privacy Clause, which Florida voters adopted in 1980:

“Every natural person has the right to be let alone and free from governmental intrusion into the person’s private life except as otherwise provided herein. This section shall not be construed to limit the public’s right of access to public records and meetings as provided by law.”

“Such a broad freedom in private and personal matters necessarily extends to the profound and personal decision whether to have an abortion or to bear the substantial pains, risks, and life-altering consequences of pregnancy and childbirth,” the brief says.

The pleading looks like an attempt to remind the court’s majority of their purported conservative principles — as remade by Gov. Ron DeSantis since first taking office in 2019, the court majority has amply demonstrated willingness to second-guess precedents established by earlier, more moderate or liberal, courts. Like the one that found in 1989 that the Privacy Clause protects abortion rights.

The state will file a reply brief at a later date.