Our Latest Updates – Archive

The American state’s ban comes amid news that the island of Hainan in southern China has also initiated a ban of gas-powered cars with a goal of no new sales by 2030.

About 75-80% of North American students will dissect an animal by the time they graduate high school. Should they switch to synthetic alternatives?

The following day, Aug. 24, 2022, US District Judge B. Lynn Winmill blocked an Idaho ban on emergency abortions. Winmill wrote the court was tasked with determining “whether Idaho’s criminal abortion statute conflicts with a small but important corner of federal legislation. It does.” The conflict between the Aug. 23 ruling and the Aug. 24 ruling could send abortion rights back to the US Supreme Court.

On Aug. 24, 2022, President Biden announced a short loan freeze through Dec. 31, 2022 as well as a cancellation of “up to $20,000 of federal student loan debt for Pell Grant recipients, and up to $10,000 for other qualifying borrowers.” The White House stated about 43 million borrowers would benefit from the cancellation, with 20 million borrowers qualifying to have their debt completely canceled.

On Aug. 23, 2022, US District Court Judge James Wesley Hendrix ruled that the HHS guidance about the EMTALA was “unauthorized.”

32 states and DC have some variation of free college programs. 9 states have statewide programs with “few eligibility limits,” while 23 have “[s]tate sponsored free college tuition programs with income, merit, geographical or programmatic limitations.” 18 states have no free college programs.

38% of Americans want to keep the filibuster with no changes, 38% believe the Senate should reform filibuster rules, and 19% would get rid of the filibuster entirely. However, only 19% of Americans stated they were “very familiar” with how the filibuster functions, while 12% were “not too familiar” or “not at all familiar” with the strategy and 29% had never heard of the filibuster. Learn more about this oft-talked about, but little understood debate.

On July 13 2022, the Biden Administration issued clarifying guidance with examples of when pharmacies that receive federal assistance (including via Medicare and Medicaid payments) are not allowed to refuse to fill prescriptions for drugs that may end a pregnancy lest they violate federal civil rights laws. 

On July 13, 2022, Florida erected a statue of Mary McLeod Bethune to replace their confederate soldier statue. Bethune’s is the first state-commissioned statue of a Black person to be included in Statuary Hall

In guidance issued by HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra on July 11, 2022, the Biden Administration “reaffirmed that it [the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA)] protects providers when offering legally-mandated, life- or health-saving abortion services in emergency situations” and that, in emergency situations, “this federal law preempts state law restricting access to abortion in emergency situations.” 

HRA Pharma announced on July 11, 2022 that the company submitted the first application for an over-the-counter (OTC) birth control pill in the United States to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 

On July 8, 2022, President Joe Biden signed “Executive Order on Protecting Access to Reproductive Healthcare Services.” The order directs Health and Human Services (HHS) to submit a report within 30 days on what actions HHS is taking to protect access to abortion and other reproductive services; states HHS will expand access to emergency contraception and long-acting reversible contraception as well as education about abortion; directs HHS to update physician responsibilities and protections guidance under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act; establishes an interagency reproductive health care access task force; collects private pro bono lawyers and organizations to provide legal representation to those seeking and providing abortions; directs the Federal Trade Commission and HHS to consider taking steps to protect patient privacy; and providing safety to those seeking and providing abortions.

The policy required non-Mexicans seeking asylum to stay in Mexico while moving through their court proceedings in the United States.

The US House and Senate compromised to pass the first major gun legislation package in almost three decades. The bill, signed by President Joe Biden on June 25, 2022, came together in the month after the Uvalde, Texas elementary school mass shooting that left 19 children and two adults dead, just after a Buffalo, New York grocery store shooting left 10 adults dead.

On June 24, 2022, the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey in a 6-3 decision, eliminating the federal constitutional right to abortion.