Civil Rights

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the state’s ban on abortion six weeks into a pregnancy, ruling the restriction violates the state constitution’s right to privacy. The 3-2 ruling comes nearly two years after... Read More

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law on Tuesday afternoon, presiding over a joyful celebration that saw more than 2000 people gather on a chilly South Lawn of the White House. “Marriage is a... Read More

WASHINGTON — The House gave its final approval on Thursday to legislation that provides federal recognition for same-sex marriages, sending it on to the president’s desk with strong bipartisan support. Passage of the measure, known as the Respect for Marriage... Read More

WASHINGTON — A bill that would protect same-sex and interracial marriages cleared a major hurdle in the Senate on Wednesday after 12 Republicans joined every Democrat in the chamber in voting to proceed with consideration of enshrining those unions under... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Staring down the prospect of divided government in the next Congress, Senate Democrats are moving forward with legislation this week to protect same sex and interracial marriages. It’s a vote that’s “as personal as it gets,” Senate Majority Leader... Read More

WASHINGTON — The House is expected to vote Wednesday on a bill that would limited the use of nondisclosure agreements to silence victims of workplace sexual assault and harassment. In a party line, 215 to 208 vote on Tuesday, members... Read More

WASHINGTON — For the second week in a row, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court showed that trying to get the law right is a marathon, not a sprint. For roughly four hours on Wednesday, the justices weighed arguments... Read More

WASHINGTON — Legal abortions across the United States declined by more than 10,000, or about 6%, in the two months after the Supreme Court overturned its landmark Roe v. Wade decision, which for five decades had guaranteed a woman's constitutional... Read More

WASHINGTON — For decades colleges and universities across the country have used affirmative action in their admissions programs to foster diversity on campus. On Monday, however, the conservative supermajority on the high court signaled they are ready to sharply curtail... Read More

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito said Tuesday the leak in May of a draft opinion he wrote that removed a constitutional right to abortion endangered the lives of the nine justices. He called the leak a "betrayal of... Read More

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — More than 150 years after slaves were freed in the U.S., voters in five states will soon decide whether to close loopholes that led to the proliferation of a different form of slavery — forced labor... Read More

A couple of years into the pandemic, Shirley Neville had finally had enough of her shoddy internet service. “It was just a headache,” said Neville, who lives in a middle-class neighborhood in New Orleans whose residents are almost all Black... Read More

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden told an audience at the Howard Theater on Tuesday that the first bill he will send to the 118th Congress will be one that codifies abortion protections into law. In a speech clearly intended to... Read More

ASHEBORO, N.C. — It started, as so many of the larger cases do, as a single undercover operation. For years, the Dominican Republic has been known to have two classes of sex-working establishments. One class, very public and fairly regulated,... Read More

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The City of Alexandria is telling Virginia’s state leadership its schools will not comply with the proposed Model Policies denying special accommodations for transgender students that face a final deadline this month. A letter Mayor Justin Wilson... Read More

The phone call from her son’s school was alarming. The assistant principal told her to come to the school immediately. But when Lisa Manwell arrived at Pioneer Middle School in Plymouth, Michigan, her son wasn’t sick or injured. He was... Read More

TUCSON, Ariz. — A near-total ban on abortion written nearly 50 years before Arizona became the nation’s 48th state must be enforced as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, a state circuit court... Read More

RESERVE, La. (AP) — Sprawling industrial complexes line the drive east along the Mississippi River to the majority-Black town of Reserve, Louisiana. In the last seven miles the road passes a massive, rust-colored aluminum-oxide refinery, then the Evonik chemical plant,... Read More

RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia's governor is facing threats of a major civil rights dispute after he announced this month that the state’s schools will no longer be required to accommodate special requests for transgender students. All students will be allowed... Read More

WASHINGTON — Married same-sex couples who fear the U.S. Supreme Court could void their right to be married the same way it voided a woman’s right to have an abortion will have to wait a little longer for peace of... Read More

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A Montana judge blocked health officials on Thursday from enforcing a state rule that would prevent transgender people from changing the gender on their birth certificate. District Court Judge Michael Moses chided attorneys for the state... Read More

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A former northern Virginia MinuteClinic nurse practitioner is suing CVS Health after she claims she was fired for refusing to dispense contraceptives for religious reasons. The lawsuit says Paige Casey avoided giving out the contraceptives for 2... Read More

DETROIT — Residents of the Detroit area suggested Thursday during a congressional hearing that the Biden administration take care of “environmental racism” before celebrating its recent successes against climate change. They are concerned about manufacturing and hazardous waste processing plants... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department sued the state of Idaho on Tuesday to block its new and highly restrictive abortion law claiming it violates a federal law requiring a majority of hospitals to provide medical care to those who need... Read More

WASHINGTON — A pair of Democratic congressmen are seeking to protect recording artists from the use of their lyrics as evidence against them in criminal and civil proceedings. On Wednesday, Reps. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., and Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., introduced the... Read More

SENECA FALLS, N.Y. — One hundred and seventy-four years after the first women's rights convention was held in this bucolic hamlet in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York, speakers gathered here to ponder their rights under a Constitution... Read More

ST. LOUIS — Lawmakers in Missouri’s most populous city have advanced a proposal to create a $1 million fund to provide transportation to women who want to seek abortions in a neighboring state.  The bill approved by the St. Louis... Read More

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The lawyer for an Indiana doctor at the center of a political firestorm after speaking out about a 10-year-old child abuse victim who traveled from Ohio for an abortion said Thursday that her client provided proper treatment... Read More

WASHINGTON — On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued guidance to over 60,000 different retail pharmacies, reminding them that under federal civil rights laws, and as recipients of federal financial assistance, they are prohibited from discriminating... Read More

WASHINGTON — On Friday, President Joe Biden signed an executive order aimed to protect access to reproductive health care services. Following the signing, the White House laid out four main points the Biden administration hopes to accomplish with the new... Read More