The Trump administration finalized a new rule enabling the discrimination of transgender people in health care on Thursday.
The rule essentially allows health care workers to refer to religious or moral objections when they don’t want to deliver health care services, which would also affect access to abortion and contraception.
The so-called “conscience rule” would revise existing regulations to “ensure vigorous enforcement of Federal conscience and an...
ThinkProgress
Trump’s Justice Department doesn’t understand that four is less than five
There is literally no rule more basic to U.S. litigation than the rule of five. The Supreme Court has nine seats. It takes a majority to decide a case. A decision joined by five or more justices is a binding interpretation of the law that controls all other court decisions. An opinion dissenting from such a decision is just someone’s views.
And yet, a pair of briefs filed Wednesday evening by a team of anti-Obamacare lawyers — including one filed by the Trump Justice Dep...
Climate change is quickly taking over as the top 2020 issue for Democratic voters
A new poll reveals climate change is the leading concern for an overwhelming majority of Democratic and Democratic-leaning independent voters in the lead up to the 2020 presidential election.
According to a survey conducted by research firm SSRS for CNN and released on Tuesday, 96% of 1,007 registered voters polled said it is very or somewhat important that a presidential candidate take “aggressive action to slow the effects of climate change.” This surpassed Medicare fo...
Ady Barkan makes a moral case for single payer at first-ever Medicare for All hearing
At the first-ever congressional hearing dedicated to Medicare for All on Tuesday, activist Ady Barkan underscored the urgent need to change our health care system right now.
As he told members of the House Rules Committee, Barkan would rather have been at home with his wife and son instead of making the case for Medicare for All. The renowned organizer is dying from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.
“Every day is precious for me. I don’t have time on my side,...
GOP congressman says Republicans totally would have fixed health care if they’d kept their majority
Rep. Greg Walden (R-OH), who chaired the powerful House Committee on Energy and Commerce until the 2018 blue wave cost his party its control of Congress, went on Fox News Tuesday to denounce Medicare for All and other proposals to create a single-payer system for health care. Asked about his party’s lack of an alternative, he suggested that they would have had one had they kept their majority.
Walden has been in Congress for just over 20 years. His party held the majority for ...
Every Democrat running for president supports abortion rights, but is that enough?
Every Democrat running for president supports abortion rights.
“Every woman deserves safe, affordable access to comprehensive reproductive health care — including abortion,” is a quote that could have come from any one of the 20 candidates vying for the Democratic presidential nomination and the opportunity to unseat President Donald Trump. This statement just happens to come from Sen. Kamala Harris (CA).
But given the record-high support for Roe v. Wade ...
What 13 states discovered after spending hundreds of thousands drug testing the poor
Thirteen states spent more than $200,000 screening federal-aid applicants for drugs last year. Only 338 people tested positive, according to data gathered by ThinkProgress.
In total, the states required more than 260,000 people to submit to drug screening or testing as a condition of receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), which provides cash assistance to low-income people. In some states, not one person tested positive.
While universal drug testing for TAN...
‘Somebody should do something’: Oklahomans try to get Medicaid expansion on the ballot in 2020
Kelly Smalley lost her health insurance over a year ago when her son turned 19 years old.
In order to qualify for Medicaid in Oklahoma, people need to be a parent or guardian to someone no older than 18, have a government-recognized disability, or be over 65 years old in addition to earning below the federal poverty level. Smalley, who’s a 47-year-old single mom, is still responsible for her son; he was born with spina bifida and is routinely in and out of the hospital. She al...
Senate GOP campaign committee smears Democratic 2020 candidates with false billboards
The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), the campaign arm of the Senate Republicans, has launched a series of billboards attacking several Democratic candidates over their supposed support for Medicare for All.
Not all of the Democrats who are being targeted actually support Medicare for All, and some have explicitly opposed the idea.
One such billboard, appearing alongside Interstate 10 in Tolleson, Arizona, suggests that Democratic candidate Mark Kelly — a retir...
BREAKING: Supreme Court will decide if it is legal to fire someone for being LGBTQ
When Justice Anthony Kennedy announced he would leave the Supreme Court last June, he gave a giant middle finger to millions of gay, lesbian, and bisexual Americans who saw the Court slowly begin to respect their humanity. Though Kennedy was very conservative on most issues, he was relatively moderate on gay rights questions, and often joined with the Court’s liberal bloc to vindicate these rights.
Kennedy’s replacement, Brett Kavanaugh, is a much more doctrinaire conser...