News Roundup

This past week in news:

South Carolina’s governor signed the “South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act,” banning most abortions. The new bill requires doctors to perform ultrasounds to check for the fetus’s heartbeat. If detected, the abortion is only permitted if the pregnancy was caused by rape, incest, or if the mother’s life is in danger. The measure does not punish pregnant women for receiving an illegal abortion, however, the person who performed the abortion can be charged with a felony, sentenced up to 2 years, and will be fined $10k if found guilty (source).

In response to this, Planned Parenthood has sued. Planned Parenthood’s lawsuit argues that South Carolina’s new law “is in flagrant violation of nearly 5 decades of settled Supreme Court precedent.” (Given that the Supreme Court ruled that that abortion is legal until a fetus is viable outside the womb, months after a heartbeat can be detected)

The NAACP and Mississippi Congressman Bennie Thompson have filed a federal lawsuit against Trump for inciting the Capitol riots. The lawsuit accuses Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers of “conspiring to incite a violent riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, with the goal of preventing Congress from certifying the 2020 presidential election” (NAACP). It invokes the Civil Rights Act of 1871, a.k.a. the Ku Klux Klan act, which “allows lawsuits against government officials for claims that they conspired to violate civil rights” (NBC News). Other members of congress intend to join the lawsuit as plaintiffs in the coming weeks. Following the Senate’s acquittal of Trump, this is a way to garner consequences for Trump’s actions on January 6th. 

Former Olympic Women’s Rights Minister, Seiko Hashimoto, is being considered as the head of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Hashimoto has an abundance of experience in politics and athletics that makes her qualified to serve as the head of the Olympics. Her position could have a significant impact on female athletes (source).

This has been, this past week in news, tune in next week!