34 h. ago Supreme Court allows states to cut Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood

Medicaid patients who sought affordable care from one of two clinics in South Carolina will no longer be reimbursed

Events

35 h. ago Supreme court paves way for South Carolina and other states to defund Planned Parenthood

Decision could embolden red states in US to block clinics that provide abortions from receiving Medicaid fundsUS politics live – latest updatesThe US supreme court has paved the way for South Carolina to kick Planned Parenthood out of its Medicaid program over its status as an abortion provider, a decision that could embolden red states across the country to effectively “defund” the reproductive healthcare organization.The case, Medina v Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, centers around a 2018 executive order from South Carolina’s governor, Henry McMaster, that blocked clinics that provide abortions from receiving Medicaid reimbursements. “Payment of taxpayer funds to abortion clinics, for any purpose, results in the subsidy of abortion and the denial of the right to life,” McMaster said at the time, even though the reimbursements could not be used for abortions. Abortions are also now banned in South Carolina after six weeks of pregnancy.More details soon Continue reading...

Events

35 h. ago States can cut off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood, the Supreme Court rules

The Supreme Court is allowing states to cut off Medicaid money for Planned Parenthood amid a wider Republican-backed push to defund the organization, the country’s largest abortion provider

Events

6 d. ago The Minnesota shootings illuminate the character of the Trump era | Sidney Blumenthal

The attacks on lawmakers and a US senator’s callous reaction tell a dark tale of modern AmericaIn the early morning of 14 June, according to authorities, Vance Luther Boelter, disguised as a police officer and wearing body armor and a face mask, drove his black Ford Explorer SUV, equipped with flashing lights, to the home of the Minnesota state senator John Hoffman. There, he shot Hoffman nine times, critically wounding him, and shot his wife eight times as, relatives say, she threw her body over her daughter to shield her. He next drove to the home of the former house speaker Melissa Hortman, forced his way in, and killed her and her husband, officials say.The police arrived and Boelter fled, abandoning his car. In it they allegedly discovered a “kill list” of dozens of federal and state Democratic officials, mostly from Minnesota but also prominent Democrats in other midwestern states, and the sites of women’s healthcare centers and Planned Parenthood donors. He left behind notebo...

Politics

8 d. ago Thai prime minister's leaked phone call with Cambodia's Hun Sen sparks outrage and political turmoil

Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has apologized for the political turbulence set off by a leaked recording of her negotiating with Cambodia’s former leader in the two nations' latest border dispute

Politics

1 week ago US abortion clinics are closing even in states where abortion is legal. More cuts could be coming

Three years after the fall of Roe v. Wade, the funding system for abortions is battered

Politics

2 w. ago Montana Supreme Court declares 2021 abortion restrictions unconstitutional

Montana’s Supreme Court has upheld a lower court ruling that struck down as unconstitutional several laws restricting abortion access

Events

3 w. ago A Family Matter by Claire Lynch review – powerful debut about lesbian mothers in the 80s

A woman is forced to rethink her childhood after she learns that her mother was denied custody, in a decade blighted by homophobiaFor a writer, the 1980s bear rich, dark fruit. The social and political turbulence of the decade provides the perfect landscape for Claire Lynch’s dual-timeline debut novel A Family Matter, which alternates between 1982 and the present day. On the surface, it is the story of a father-daughter relationship. Heron – an elderly man deeply fond of rules and routine – has recently received a terminal cancer diagnosis, but rather than share it with his grownup daughter, Maggie, who now has a family of her own, he chooses to bear the burden alone. As we learn that Heron raised Maggie by himself, it’s clear this urge to shield his only child from harm is a continuous theme. There is no mention of another parent, just that Heron was divorced many decades ago; it’s only when Lynch takes us back to 1982 that we discover the true story.When Maggie was a toddler,...

Society

3 w. ago At least 20 Planned Parenthood clinics shutter amid political turbulence

The reproductive health giant is navigating a loss of federal funding and fresh threats from multiple directionsAt least 20 Planned Parenthood clinics across seven states have shuttered since the start of 2025 or have announced plans to close soon – closures that come amid immense financial and political turbulence for the reproductive health giant as the United States continues to grapple with the fallout from the end of Roe v Wade.The Planned Parenthood network, which operates nearly 600 clinics through a web of independent regional affiliates and is overseen by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, is facing a number of threats from the Trump administration. A Guardian analysis has found that Planned Parenthood closures have occurred or are in the works across six affiliates that maintain clinics in Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Utah and Vermont. Continue reading...

Politics