GEOFF MULVIHILL

Covering state government issues nationally

FILE - LGBTQ+ rights supporters rally in the hallway outside an Iowa House Judiciary subcommittee hearing, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, at the Statehouse in Des Moines, Iowa. The rights of LGBTQ+ people continue to be in flux across the U.S. with a new flurry of developments. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

Things to know about developments impacting LGBTQ+ rights across the US

The rights of LGBTQ+ people continue to be in flux across the U.S. with a new flurry of developments.

FILE - Florida House Representative Michele Rayner, left, hugs her spouse, Bianca Goolsby, during a march at city hall in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Saturday, March 12, 2022, to protest the controversial "Don't say gay" bill passed by Florida's Republican-led legislature and now on its way to Gov. Ron DeSantis' desk. Florida's state government and LGBTQ+ advocates have settled a lawsuit challenging a law that bars teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools. (Martha Asencio-Rhine/Tampa Bay Times via AP, File)

What to know about a settlement that clarifies what’s legal under Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law

Florida’s state government and LGBTQ+ advocates have settled a lawsuit challenging a law that bars teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools.

FILE - A container with frozen embryos and sperm stored in liquid nitrogen is removed at a fertility clinic in Fort Myers, Fla., Oct. 2, 2018. Alabama lawmakers are moving fast to approve measures to protect in vitro fertilization clinics from lawsuits in response to an uproar sparked by a state supreme court ruling last month that found that frozen embryos have the rights of children. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)

What to know about Alabama’s fast-tracked legislation to protect in vitro fertilization clinics

Alabama lawmakers have passed legislation that was quickly signed by Gov. Kay Ivey to protect clinics that provide in vitro fertilization from lawsuits in response to a ruling last month from the State’s Supreme Court that frozen embryos have the rights of children under the state’s wrongful death l

FILE - Sarah Zarr, left, from Students for Life of America, and Melanie Salazar, from the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising, stand inside the Texas State Capitol Rotunda to protest an International Women's Day Sit-In for Abortion Rights, Wednesday, March 8, 2023, in Austin, Texas. The state of abortion access in the U.S. remains in flux with an accusation against Planned Parenthood in Missouri and a plan to educate doctors headed to the governor in South Dakota. (Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman via AP, File)

What to know about the latest court rulings, data and legislation on abortion in the US

A judge in Montana ruled against restrictions in one of several developments this week on how abortion works in the U.S. since Roe v. Wade was overturned.

FILE - The Missouri State Capitol stands on Sept. 16, 2022, in Jefferson City, Mo. A Missouri lawmaker has introduced legislation in Feb. 2024, to spell out that the state’s judges can grant divorces even when one spouse is pregnant. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)

Why Missouri currently doesn’t allow pregnant women to be legally divorced

Judges some places don’t grant divorces when one of the parties is pregnant — and one Missouri lawmaker is trying to change that, at least in her state. For state Rep.

FILE - Abortion rights demonstrators attend a rally at the Texas state Capitol in Austin, Texas, May 14, 2022. In news reports Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, a prosecutor whose office charged a woman with murder for a self-managed abortion in 2022 has been disciplined for his role in the case. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

Texas prosecutor is fined for allowing murder charges against a woman who self-managed an abortion

A Texas prosecutor whose office filed murder charges against a woman who self-managed an abortion has been disciplined and fined.

FILE - Students hold flags as they protest, Aug. 30, 2023, in Katy, Texas. On Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, LGBTQ+ advocacy group PFLAG National filed a lawsuit against the Texas Attorney General's office after being asked to hand over information about its support of transgender children receiving gender-confirming medical care. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP, File)

LGBTQ+ advocacy group sues Texas AG, says it won’t identify transgender families

A national LGBTQ+ advocacy group is suing the Texas Attorney General, rather than handing over information about transgender children receiving gender-confirming medical care.

FILE - Activists mark the first anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, by displaying neon signage in support of abortion access in front of the Supreme Court on June 23, 2023, in Washington. A report finds the total number of monthly abortions in the U.S. increased after state bans started kicking in in 2022. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard, File)

About as many abortions are happening in the US monthly as before Roe was overturned, report finds

The number of monthly abortions in the U.S. is similar to what it was before the nation’s top court overturned the right to abortion.

FILE - Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., speaks during a House Judiciary Committee hearing, Sept. 20, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Bishop is unopposed in the March 5 Republican primary for North Carolina attorney general. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, file)

They’re a path to becoming governor, but attorney general jobs are now a destination, too

Rather than trying to keep their seats in Congress, two of North Carolina’s U.S. representatives are vying for a role closer to home: state attorney general.

FILE -Stephen Parlato of Boulder, Colo., holds a sign that reads "Hands Off Roe!!!" as abortion rights advocates and anti-abortion protesters demonstrate in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021, in Washington. A recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos are legally protected children is highlighting how support for fetal personhood underpins far less dramatic laws and proposals from abortion foes in states across the U.S. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

Alabama’s IVF ruling is spotlighting the anti-abortion movement’s long game

A recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos are legally protected children is highlighting how support for the idea that a fetus should have the same rights as a person underpins far less dramatic laws and proposals from abortion foes across the U.S.

FILE - In this Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018 photo, containers holding frozen embryos and sperm are stored in liquid nitrogen at a fertility clinic in Fort Myers, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)

What’s next after the Alabama ruling that counts IVF embryos as children?

The Alabama Supreme Court ruled last week that couples who were trying in vitro fertilization and lost frozen embryos in an accident at a south Alabama storage facility can sue under the state’s wrongful death law.

FILE - Supporters of Issue 1, the Right to Reproductive Freedom amendment, attend a rally in Columbus, Ohio, Oct. 8, 2023. Some state governments and a federal agency are moving to block companies from selling geolocation data that shows who's been to abortion providers, among other places. (AP Photo/Joe Maiorana, File)

Some states are trying to protect health care data so it isn’t used against people seeking abortions

State governments across the U.S. are adopting or considering laws that would block the sale of personal health data or information about who visits sensitive sites such as sexual health facilities.

Gov. Jim Pillen is joined by other state senators as he announces that the state will participate in the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer Program after previously saying Nebraska wouldn't take part during a press conference in the Warner Chamber at the Capitol, Monday, Feb. 12, 2024, in Lincoln, Neb. (Kenneth Ferriera/Lincoln Journal Star via AP)

14 GOP-led states have turned down federal money to feed low-income kids in the summer. Here’s why

Most Republican governors turned down federal money to provide grocery help for low-income families with school-age kids over the summer.

Kansas high school students, family members and advocates rally for transgender rights, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach is telling school districts that they are required to inform parents when a child socially transitions or identifies as non-binary at school. (AP Photo/John Hanna)

Kansas’ AG is telling schools they must out trans kids to parents, even with no specific law

Kansas’ attorney general is telling public schools that they’re required to tell parents their children are transgender or nonbinary even if they’re not out at home.

FILE - Mike DeWine speaks, Jan. 14, 2019, in Cedarville, Ohio. Ohio's Health Department has backed off proposed rules that would have restricted gender-affirming care for adults. The new proposal Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024 comes after gathering public comment on a proposal released last month. Transgender people and their healthcare providers feared the original rules would have left thousands of patients scrambling to find care — and facing health risks in the meantime. The proposed rules are also relaxed for requirements for treatment for minors, some of which was banned by a law adopted last month when the Legislature overrode Gov. Mike DeWine's earlier veto. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, Pool)

Ohio backs off proposed restrictions on gender-affirming care for adults

Two Ohio departments have backed off proposed rules that would have made the state just the second with a policy limiting gender-affirming care for adults.

FILE - Paul Meacham holds high a sign that reads "Ohio is pro-life" as the crowd prays during the Ohio March for Life rally at the Ohio State House in Columbus, Ohio, Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. Abortion questions are already on the ballot for 2024 in two states and could also appear in several others. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Which states could have abortion on the ballot in 2024?

Voters have sided with abortion rights supporters every time the issue has been directly on the ballot since the U.S.

FILE - In this Feb. 19, 2013 file photo, OxyContin pills are arranged for a photo at a pharmacy in Montpelier, Vt. Companies and U.S. government entities have agreed to settlements of lawsuits over the toll of opioids totaling more than $50 billion. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot, File)

OxyContin marketer, opioid maker announce settlements totaling $500 million

A company that helped develop marketing campaigns for OxyContin and other opioids has agreed to a $350 million settlement with U.S. states over the toll of the powerful prescription painkillers.

FILE - Taylor Swift stands on the field after an AFC Championship NFL football game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024, in Baltimore. If Swift is jetting from her upcoming Tokyo concert to Las Vegas to see boyfriend Travis Kelce play in the Super Bowl the next day, she'd better already have a place to park her plane.(AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

What to know about how lawmakers are addressing deepfakes like the ones that victimized Taylor Swift

The growing issue of AI-generated deepfakes has already been a hot topic in state legislatures. Then Taylor Swift was victimized with her face appearing on pornographic images.

FILE - Rep. Esther Panitch, D-Sandy Springs, right, fist bumps Sen. Ben Watson, R-Savannah, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, after House Bill 30, an antisemitism bill, was passed unanimously by the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Coverdell Legislative Office Building, Jan. 22, 2024, in Atlanta. A handful of U.S. states are considering measures that would define antisemitism, but there's debate over whether they would stifle criticism of Israel. (Jason Getz/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, file)

There’s a wave of new bills to define antisemitism. In these 3 states, they could become law

Lawmakers in more than a half-dozen U.S. states are pushing laws to define antisemitism, triggering debates about free speech and bringing complicated world politics into statehouses.

FILE - Abortion rights advocates and anti-abortion protesters demonstrate in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, Dec. 1, 2021, in Washington. There's action on abortion policy in rulings, legislatures, and campaigns for candidates and ballot measures on the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade. The 1973 ruling established the right to abortion across the U.S. But things have been in flux since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned it in 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

What to know about abortion rulings, bills and campaigns as the US marks Roe anniversary

There’s action on abortion policy in rulings, legislatures, and campaigns for candidates and ballot measures on the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

Ashton Colby is photographed in his apartment in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced proposals this month that transgender advocates say could block access to gender-affirming care provided by independent clinics and general practitioners, leaving thousands of adults scrambling for treatment and facing health risks. Colby, 31, fears the clinic where he gets the testosterone he has taken since age 19 would no longer offer it. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Ohio is on the verge of becoming the 2nd state to restrict gender-affirming care for adults

Ohio’s proposals for gender-affirming care could leave thousands of transgender adults scrambling to find medical providers who would be able to offer hormones and other services they rely on.

This photo shows Vanessa Joy. Despite receiving enough signatures to appear on the ballot, Vanessa Joy, a transgender woman has been disqualified from an Ohio House race because she omitted her previous name, raising concern that other transgender candidates nationwide may face similar barriers. Joy found out Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024. (Vanessa Joy via AP)

A transgender candidate in Ohio was disqualified from the state ballot for omitting her former name

A transgender woman has been disqualified from running for the Ohio House after omitting her former name from circulating petitions to get on the ballot.

FILE - Fuzzy dice sit behind the rear-view mirror of a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air, Aug. 4, 2014, in Flint Township, Mich. Starting Monday, Jan. 1, 2024, police there no longer will be allowed to pull over motorists solely because they have something hanging from the rearview mirror on their windshield. That means air fresheners, parking placards and, yes, even those dice are fair game to hang according to a revised Illinois windshield rule. (Jake May/The Flint Journal via AP)/The Flint Journal via AP)

From guns and pornography to taxes and minimum wage. These are the state laws taking effect on New Year’s Day

Hundreds of state laws are taking effect across the U.S. with the new year. Some laws create restrictions on guns in Colorado, Illinois and Minnesota, and target pornography in North Carolina and Illinois.

FILE - Pro-Palestinian supporters hold up signs during a demonstration at Orlando City Hall, Friday, Oct. 20, 2023, in Orlando, Fla. State lawmakers across the country are expected consider legislation related to the Israel-Hamas war in 2024. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP, File)

Israel and Hamas measures get a look as most US state legislatures meet for first time since Oct. 7

Legislatures returning to session in states across the U.S. early in 2024 will consider condemning the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel — and some could take even bigger steps.

Kaitlyn Kash and husband Cory Kash sit at home with their 4-month-old daughter, Sunday, Dec. 17, 2023, in Austin, Texas. Kaitlyn Kash has joined as a plaintiff on the Zurawski v. State of Texas case, a lawsuit that looks to clarify the scope of the state's abortion ban. (AP Photo/Stephen Spillman)

Some state abortion bans stir confusion, and it’s uncertain if lawmakers will clarify them

It’s clear when states ban abortion. But in the heart-wrenching situations in a fraction of pregnancies, women and their doctors can be confused about whether exceptions apply.

FILE - Demonstrators march and gather near the state capitol following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Friday, June 24, 2022, in Austin, Texas. A pregnant Texas woman whose fetus has a fatal diagnosis asked a court Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023, to let her terminate the pregnancy, bringing what her attorneys say is the first lawsuit of its kind in the U.S. since Roe v. Wade was overturned last year. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

What we know about the legal case of a Texas woman denied the right to an immediate abortion

The Texas Supreme Court this week said no to a woman who asked for permission for an immediate abortion.

FILE - Protesters in Phoenix shout as they join thousands marching around the Arizona state Capitol after the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion decision on June 24, 2022. Three state supreme courts are scheduled to hear arguments in abortion-related cases this week. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

What to know about abortion lawsuits being heard in US courts this week

Courts in several states are hearing challenges to abortion bans this week. The highest-profile one came when the Texas Supreme Court ruled against a woman’s request for immediate permission to end a pregnancy fraught with complications and health risks.

FILE - Abortion-rights supporters take part in a protest Thursday, May 30, 2019, in St. Louis. Some Republican state lawmakers have proposed a measure that would allow women who have abortions to be charged with homicide. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)

Missouri lawmakers propose allowing homicide charges for women who have abortions

Some Republican Missouri lawmakers are renewing their call to allow homicide charges against women who have abortions.

FILE - People gather in the parking lot of the Hamilton County Board of Elections as people arrive for early in-person voting in Cincinnati, Nov. 2, 2023. A federal appeals court ruled Nov. 30 that a regulation allowing federal family planning grants for organizations that provide abortions will be paused, but only for Ohio. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

Court pauses federal policy allowing abortion clinic operators to get grants -- but only in Ohio

An appeals court has paused enforcement of a federal government regulation that allows abortion providers to receive family planning grants — but only in Ohio.

Lynn Wencus, of Wrentham, Mass., holds a photograph of her son Jeff while seated in a garden at her home, in Wrentham, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. Wencus lost Jeff to a heroin overdose in 2017. Families who lost loved ones to overdose are divided over OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma's plan to settle lawsuits over the toll of opioids with governments. It could provide billions to address an overdose epidemic and pay some victims. But it would also protect members of the Sackler family who own the company from future lawsuits. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

OxyContin maker’s settlement plan divides victims of opioid crisis. Now it’s up to the Supreme Court

The legality of an agreement by the maker of OxyContin to settle thousands of lawsuits over the harm done by opioids is going before the Supreme Court.