Louisiana healthcare workers and advocates filed a lawsuit
Thursday challenging a recently passed state law re-classifying two drugs used in medication abortions — mifepristone and misoprostol — as controlled and dangerous substances.
The lawsuit was filed in Louisiana’s 19th Judicial District Court and is seeking an injunction to stop the state from enforcing Act 246, which lists the medications as Schedule IV
controlled and dangerous substances.
That classification is typically used for drugs that have a low risk of leading to physical dependence or a low risk for potential for abuse like Xanax, Valium, and Ambien.
Louisiana became the first state to pass a law classifying the two medications as controlled substances in May
and it went into effect on Oct. 1.
Mifepristone and misoprostol are commonly used in medication abortions but are also used to treat conditions related to pregnancy like treating miscarriages or postpartum hemorrhaging as well as Cushing’s Syndrome and gastric ulcers.
For some post-partum hemorrhage patients with pre-existing conditions, misoprostol is the only available treatment, the lawsuit reads, adding that the condition is as “dangerous as a gunshot wound.”
“Patients experiencing postpartum hemorrhage lose as much blood, and as quickly, as patients suffering from a gunshot wound,” the lawsuit reads.
Plaintiffs said in the lawsuit the law has little if any impact on abortion access since abortion is almost entirely banned in the state.
Louisiana was one of 13 states to begin enforcing a trigger abortion ban, prohibiting abortions at all stages of pregnancy with few exceptions, after the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Instead, plaintiffs argue, the law subjects health care providers and their patients to a “highly regulated legal scheme” that delays access to potentially lifesaving medication.
Physicians in Louisiana need a special license to prescribe controlled substances and state officials track prescribers and the patients receiving the drugs along with the pharmacies that distribute them.
Both drugs are still available in hospitals to treat incomplete miscarriages and postpartum hemorrhaging but must be securely stored in a locked “cabinet, compartment or other system,” according to the Louisiana Department of Health.
The Louisiana Department of Health has yet to respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
Under the current law, a prescription from a licensed provider is needed to access both mifepristone and misoprostol. Anyone found in possession of the drugs without a prescription can be fined up to $5,000 or sentenced to up to five years in prison.
The lawsuit also challenges the way in which Louisiana passed Act 246 with plaintiffs claiming lawmakers did not follow the state’s constitutional process for passing bills.
“Access to safe, timely, and effective care is essential to reducing maternal mortality, especially for Black women who face higher rates of life-threatening complications,”one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, the Birthmark Doula Collective, said in a statement.
“Restricting access to this essential medication not only endangers lives but also deepens the health disparities that disproportionately affect Black mothers and birthing people in our state.”
Vice President Kamala Harris
and the 16th-century British monarch Henry VIII share at least one trait in common: The belief that the government can force an individual to act against his conscience and in violation of his faith
.
Henry VIII demonstrated this in his treatment of St. Thomas More.
More, a brilliant lawyer, experienced a meteoric rise in Henry VIII’s England.
“More formally entered royal service in 1518 when he was sworn as a royal councillor and thereafter he rapidly rose in Henry VIII’s esteem and was the king’s principal secretary from 1519,” says an essay by Neil Johnston posted on the website of the British National Archives.
“Mixing legal, diplomatic and secretarial work, More’s career continued to blossom and he was promoted to the highest legal position in England when appointed to the lord chancellorship in October 1529, becoming one of the few laymen to hold this office,” says this essay.
More resigned his office, however, after the pope declined to annul Henry VIII’s marriage to Queen Katherine and the king nullified the marriage anyway. Then, Henry VIII made himself head of the church.
“In November 1534, Parliament reconvened and passed the Act of Supremacy that declared Henry and his lawful heirs as the head of the Church in England,” says the essay on the British National Archives website.
More stood silent on this act.
“Silence, in this instance, was seen as overtly denying the king his title of supreme head of the Church of England. And that was treasonous,” says the essay on the British National Archives website. “More was brought to trial on 1 July 1535 and the outcome was never seriously in doubt.”
Five days later, he was beheaded at the Tower of London.
A statement published by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops notes: “In the moments just before his execution, More is said to have stated, ‘I die the King’s good servant, but God’s first.’”
Now, move forward five centuries.
On Oct. 22, 2024, Harris did an interview with Hallie Jackson of NBC News. Jackson asked Harris: “If you win, Congress may be controlled by Republicans. So, what specific concessions would you be willing to make in order to get something done on abortion access
as soon as possible?”
When Harris did not cite a specific concession she would make on this issue, Jackson followed up: “So [it] is a question of pragmatism then: What concessions would be on the table? Religious exemptions, for example, is that something that you would consider with a Republican-controlled Congress?”
Apparently not.
“I don’t think we should be making concessions when we’re talking about a fundamental freedom to make decisions about your own body,” Harris responded.
What would Harris force someone to do—without allowing a religious exemption—when it comes to the right to life? She answered that question in the 2014 Supreme Court case of Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby.
The issue then was whether the federal government could force a family-owned business to act against the moral and religious beliefs of its owners by requiring them to cover abortifacients in their health insurance plan.
“Respondents are a family and their closely held businesses [Hobby Lobby and Mardel], which they operate according to their religious beliefs,” said a brief the family’s lawyers submitted to the Supreme Court
in this case. “A regulation under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requires Respondents to provide insurance coverage for all FDA-approved ‘contraceptive methods [and] sterilization procedures.’”
“Respondents’ sincere religious beliefs prohibit them from covering four out of twenty FDA-approved contraceptives in their self-funded health plan,” said the brief.
“The Greens [who own the businesses] believe that human beings deserve protection from the moment of conception, and that providing insurance coverage for items that risk killing an embryo makes them complicit in the practice of abortion,” said the brief. “Hobby Lobby’s health plan therefore excludes drugs that can terminate a pregnancy, such as RU-486.”
“If Respondents do not cover these contraceptive methods, however, they face severe fines,” said the brief.
Which side did then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris take in this case? She led a group that included 10 other states’ attorneys general in submitting their own brief to the Supreme Court.
It essentially argued that individuals may not practice their religion in the way they run their businesses. “Allowing a commercial corporation to escape the costs of neutral regulation based on the religious beliefs of its owners would harm market competition by providing unfair competitive advantages to businesses asserting religious objections to a rule,” said her brief.
“The Tenth Circuit’s determination that for-profit corporations may exercise religion could ‘profoundly affect the relationship between the government and potentially millions of business entities in our society in ways we can only begin to anticipate,’” said her brief.
Just as Henry VIII would have compelled St. Thomas More to act against his conscience in recognizing the king’s supremacy over the church, Attorney General Harris would have compelled family business owners to act against their consciences
by purchasing insurance plans that cover abortifacients.
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Former President Donald Trump wants $10 billion from CBS, accusing the network in a lawsuit of trying to tip the presidential election to Democrat Kamala Harris.
Black voters in the state’s most densely populated county aren’t as enthusiastic for Vice President Kamala Harris as they were for past Democratic presidential candidates, and it could dampen her chances of winning the state.
Northwest Indiana residents and environmental activists on Wednesday attended a public meeting to voice their concerns about a potential permit for Tradebe.
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management hosted a meeting at Calumet College of St. Joseph in Whiting. IDEM’s Office of Air Quality issues air pollution control permits to sources that emit regulated levels of pollutants into the air, according to the agency.
Tradebe, a Barcelona-based waste management company, has a hazardous waste storage and treatment facility at 4343 Kennedy Ave. in East Chicago.
IDEM’s public meeting focused on a drum shredder at Tradebe’s East Chicago location. A drum shredder is used to break down drums that previously contained waste.
Tradebe has a RCRA empty drum shredder, which is used for drums that stored acutely hazardous waste, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The waste management company is one of the largest toxic chemical processors in Lake County, according to the EPA’s toxics release inventory tracker.
Most speakers at the public meeting were concerned about how the drum shredder has operated without a permit for 20 years. Jenny Acker, permits branch chief in IDEM’s Office of Air Quality, said she’s unsure how the drum shredder went unpermitted.
“Once it was noticed that it was there, (Tradebe) was required to submit a permit application to get a permit,” Acker said.
A Tradebe spokesperson did not confirm how long the drum shredder was unpermitted.
Susan Thomas, legislative and policy director for Just Transition Northwest Indiana, asked if Tradebe would face consequences for the drum shredder going unpermitted.
“Twenty years is a lifetime,” Thomas said. “I hope that people really, really consider very strict new permitting for the upcoming permit for Tradebe.”
Acker told Thomas that IDEM’s enforcement team would handle any consequences, and she couldn’t comment.
Tradebe representatives weren’t at Wednesday’s meeting, but both a company spokesperson and Acker emphasized that the meeting was conducted by IDEM. Tradebe wasn’t required to attend.
The hearing was, in part, a measure that clarified which permit swerve applicable for the drum shredder, a spokesperson said in an email.
“We thank IDEM for its help and guidance with this issue,” the statement said. “Tradebe is also proud to work with East Chicago residents and community programs including hosting a publicized, multi-session public meeting and real time ‘question and answer’ session at the East Chicago Library about the facility that was attended by multiple company executives, members of the public as well as special interest groups such as the Abrams (Environmental) Law Clinic. We follow the required steps for permit renewals and modifications.”
Although Tradebe wasn’t required to be at the meeting, multiple speakers said they wish a company representative would’ve been present.
“There’s a lot of interest in this facility, interest in this permit,” said Sam Heppell, a clinical teaching fellow at the Abrams Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Chicago. “We’ve made requests for Tradebe to be here tonight … We’ve made requests for them to hold their own meetings and speak to the community about the broader concerns that they have.”
Heppell was concerned that Tradebe would receive a permit after the drum shredder went without one for so long. Acker told him that noncompliance is not a reason to not issue a permit.
Other speakers were concerned about the amount of volatile organic compounds emitted by the drum shredder. Tradebe’s unit can shred up to 185,000 drums annually and “can emit high concentrations” of VOCs, according to the Abrams Environmental Law Clinic.
Many VOCs are human-made chemicals and are used to manufacture paints, pharmaceuticals and refrigerants, according to the EPA. The compounds can worsen health conditions including bronchitis, emphysema and asthma.
Justus Jones, a Whiting resident, said he works in industrial areas that are exposed to hazardous materials. He’s concerned about the amount of VOCs emitted, and that if not monitored close enough, Tradebe could lie about the amount.
“I worked in non-union sites before I joined the union, and that stuff was regulated by the EPA and was easily fudged,” Jones said. “When it came down to where there was a fine that was dropped on the company, it was either paid and laughed off or they were paying off the people from that corporation.”
Jones also asked Acker if IDEM could require baghouses or scrubbers to help with air pollution control. Acker told him that Tradebe is well below the amount of particulates emitted that would require a baghouse.
Anyone can submit written comments to IDEM regarding Tradebe’s permit, according to the department. Comments must be received by Monday, and people can submit them by email, fax or mail. More information is available on IDEM’s website
.
Smushing a cheese sandwich in the pan leaves you with a crisp outside and gooey inside, says Mark Bittman in his cookbook “How to Cook Everything Kids.” You will need a couple cans from the pantry or a small heavy pot for this one.
Without permission, two Microsoft employees held a vigil for “victims of the Palestinian genocide
” at the company’s headquarters in Washington state last Thursday. Later that same day, both of the event’s organizers were fired.
“Due to privacy and confidentiality considerations, we cannot provide specific details,” Microsoft shared in a statement
the following day. It did clarify that it “ended the employment of some individuals”—Abdo Mohamed and Hossam Nasr—“in accordance with internal policy,” and that it remains “dedicated to maintaining a professional and respectful work environment.”
According to The Jerusalem Post, Mohamed and Nasr “were part of a coalition of Microsoft employees who called themselves ‘No Azure for Apartheid,’ in alleged protest against the sale of the Microsoft cloud-computing technology to Israel’s government
.”
The former Microsoft employees told
The Associated Press that Microsoft has “many community members … who have lost family, friends or loved ones.” Mohamed felt that “Microsoft really failed to have the space for us where we can come together and share our grief and honor the memories of people who can no longer speak for themselves.”
However, some outlets have highlighted
the fact that of the two, “Nasr was previously subject to internal investigations by Microsoft on more than one occasion, including for posting antisemitic memes online, according to his social media.” He was also exposed
for calling Microsoft “an evil Zionist corporation facilitating and empowering a genocide” in a post on Instagram.
“Nasr cofounded Harvard Alumni for Palestine,” The Post Millennial reported
, “and was copresident of the university’s Palestine Solidarity Committee, an alternative name for Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), which is linked to terrorism and the antisemitic Boycott, Divest, Sanction movement against the Jewish state.”
Mohammad, the outlet added, shared on LinkedIn that “he needs to find new employment in the next 60 days or face deportation.”
Ever since Hamas attacked Israel
on Oct. 7, 2023, there have been numerous and consistent protests across the globe. Within the last year, largely due to left-wing activism, cases of antisemitism have “surged
by 200% when compared to the same period the year before.”
Several universities faced anti-Israel protests that caused chaos on campuses
. In many instances, Jewish students were blocked from getting to class as Hamas supporters set up encampments and barriers
. In July, antisemitic activists took to Union Station in Washington, D.C., tearing down
and burning American flags and assaulting police officers. Many of these protests went largely without consequence
.
It now appears that an increasing number of universities and companies are choosing to clamp down on destructive and disruptive behavior.
Microsoft’s decision to fire Mohamed and Nasr is not a unique occurrence. In April, Google fired
up to 50 employees in connection with the actions of the “No Tech for Apartheid” group that protested against “the company’s cloud-computing contract with the Israeli government.” Earlier this month, the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) group at Brown University was suspended
due to “alleged threats and intimidating actions during a campus event” such as “banging on cars, screaming obscene language, and making racial comments toward others.” The Daily Caller explained
how “the demonstrators were protesting the university’s decision to not divest from 10 companies linked to Israel, following
an Oct. 9 divestment vote.”
Asked whether companies at large are starting to adopt stricter rules around protests, Chris Gacek, senior fellow for regulatory affairs at the Family Research Council
, replied, “Every company has its own culture.”
“It strikes me that there may be sort of a recognition that, in order to run a company like Microsoft,” there has to be “some sort of free range of ideas and expression,” he told The Washington Stand, adding, “You can’t really have this kind of thing going on,” where employees are putting their opinions front and center without company approval.
Additionally, Gacek addressed the likelihood that some companies, such as Microsoft, may at least recognize that “Oct. 7
was a big deal.” It can be “a daunting recognition,” he emphasized, and it’s to the benefit of organizations to be sensitive to how they react to it. However, Gacek ultimately came to the conclusion that what’s unfolding may be something “we just have to let play out.”
Only Microsoft can give its exact reasons for why it fired Mohammed and Nasr, and it has chosen not to do so.
“We’re not in the company,” Gacek noted. “It’s one thing to sort of read it from a story from the outside,” but from the inside, many of these organizations that are starting to shut down protests could simply be in “a position [where] they’re just sick of it” and “don’t want to turn their company into … [an] environment that’s politicized and nasty.”
Microsoft and others are reacting to “a lot of things in the culture” right now, Gacek added. “Reasonable people [can see] the coercive nature of the treatment of Israel.”
In a single summer, they changed the way they play
— entirely. And after preaching pace of play throughout the preseason, the Bulls have exploded onto the scene as the NBA’s fastest team through their first five games.
Teams often fail to deliver on such preseason platitudes, but the Bulls have accomplished a complete revamping of their offensive system, leaning into their strengths in an attempt to cover their lack of size and defensive rigor. As a result, they’re off to an unexpected 3-2 start
, the first time they’ve been above .500 since November 2022.
The shift in philosophy is predicated on one simple edict: run.
“I told them — we don’t run, we’re done,” coach Billy Donovan said. “It’s that simple. If we run, we’ll maybe have some fun.”
The Bulls had a similar goal last season — but Donovan said it was doomed from the start. The roster wasn’t built to run. But the departures of DeMar DeRozan and Andre Drummond relieved the Bulls of their dependency on a more methodical style of play.
This season, the desired style of play fits the personnel. Nikola Vučević is the only true center on the roster. The rest of the team consists of lengthy wings such as Patrick Williams
and a cluttered collection of guards such as Coby White and Zach LaVine who thrive in a more fluid system.
“We’re obviously a very, very guard-dominated team with a lot of guys that can make plays,” Donovan said. “You want to get guys like that opportunities in transition and in the open floor.
“It’s probably more of a credit to the guys being committed to try to play like that. It does take a lot physically from them. And they’ve done that.”
The NBA calculates pace by how many possessions a team averages over 48 minutes (the length of a regulation game). The Bulls lead the league with a 107.5 pace rating — a major leap from last season, when they finished third-to-last at 96.94.
Bulls guard Zach LaVine goes up for a basket during the second half against the Magic at the United Center on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Pace isn’t just about running the floor. And the Bulls aren’t actually supplementing that much of their scoring through fast breaks — they rank 11th in the league with 14.3% of their points off the break.
Instead, their speed comes from a newfound urgency in moving the ball, often emptying the paint to stretch the floor and whip passes around the perimeter until an optimal angle to the rim or outside shot opens.
The Bulls are one of the highest-volume passing teams in the league. They rank sixth in assists (27.6 per game) and ninth in secondary assists (4.2). Execution is still an issue — the Bulls rank third in potential assists, reflecting an inability to finish at times — but their robust ball movement has helped to outweigh other deficiencies.
That’s accompanied by a nonstop green light to take 3-pointers. It’s hard to overemphasize the scope of this shift. The Bulls finished last in the league in 3-point attempts in both 2021-22 (28.8 per game) and 2022-23 (28.9) before improving slightly to 26th last season (32.1).
Through five games this season, the Bulls are taking the third-most 3s in the league, averaging 44.2 attempts. A staggering 44.4% of their total scoring has come from 3s — a 13.7% increase from last season.
While this rapid increase has helped catalyze the offense, the Bulls still can’t afford to live or die behind the arc — something Donovan hammers into his team on a regular basis.
Bulls guard Zach LaVine grabs a rebound during the fourth quarter against the Magic at the United Center on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
He has outlined three key factors in a successful up-tempo offense: dominating the defensive glass, attacking the open court and taking care of the ball. The Bulls are finding mixed success in those areas. They lead the NBA in defensive rebounding (41.8 per game) as well as pace, but they’re coughing up 16.2 turnovers per game, 12th-most in the league.
If they can stabilize their ball protection, Donovan thinks this new identity could be sustainable.
“We may have some good nights and some bad nights shooting,” he said. “That’s OK. But we can’t have a bad night shooting, turn the ball over and then get crushed on the glass. That gives us no chance.”
While playing up-tempo creates an obvious advantage on offense, it also might be an indirect answer to some of the Bulls’ defensive weaknesses.
Bulls opponents are shooting 38.3% in the fourth quarter — the second-lowest mark in the league — and their 19.6% 3-point shooting in the fourth is the NBA’s lowest. It’s a small sample size, but the pattern has been clear: The Bulls are running their opponents ragged.
“If we stick with our pace of play the whole game, eventually it’ll break through for us on the offensive end,” LaVine said. “And they’ve got to keep up with us the whole time.”
The biggest test is whether the Bulls themselves can maintain this pace for an entire season.
While the young roster certainly is a benefit for the increased endurance required, Donovan is implementing this new identity with a cast of often-injured players such as LaVine, Williams and Lonzo Ball
. The NBA season is a marathon course of 82 games, and as invigorating as these early wins have felt, the Bulls will put their conditioning to the test when the calendar turns to January.
That’s a risk Donovan and his team are willing to embrace. The bottom might fall out at any point. But for now, the Bulls are enjoying the ride — and surprising the Eastern Conference.
University officials made “shocking concessions” to anti-Israel protesters and withheld support from Jewish students as pro-Gaza unrest roiled college campuses in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, according to a long-awaited House report.
