Abortion pill rulings bring the issue back to the forefront in a midterm election year

NEW YORK — Back-to-back court rulings on abortion pill access are thrusting a contentious political issue back into the spotlight ahead of this year’s midterm elections that will determine control of Congress for the second half of President Donald Trump’s term. Friday’s ruling from a federal appeals court restricted mail access to mifepristone prescriptions, one … Read more

Tennessee Republicans will consider redrawing US House district covering majority-Black Memphis

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — As civil rights advocates protest, Republican lawmakers in several Southern states are seizing on the opportunity afforded by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling to redraw congressional districts ahead of the November midterm elections. The latest state to jump on the redistricting bandwagon is Tennessee, where a special legislative session is to begin … Read more

Indigenous people honor and raise awareness for relatives who are missing or have been killed

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Across the country, Indigenous people are gathering this week to honor loved ones who are missing or have been killed and to call for better data collection, law enforcement response and reforms to make their communities safer. From U.S. state capitols and tribal community spaces to the streets of major cities, hundreds … Read more

Education Department opens probe into Smith College for admitting trans women

The U.S. Department of Education opened an investigation Monday into Smith College, an all-women’s institution in Massachusetts, for admitting transgender women. The probe by the department’s Office of Civil Rights will look at whether the college violated Title IX, a 1972 law forbidding discrimination based on sex in education. The move is the latest by … Read more

Vance gets a chance to woo Iowa GOP voters ahead of 2028 in a campaign stop with congressman

DES MOINES, Iowa — DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Vice President JD Vance will visit Iowa on Tuesday, marking his first visit since taking office to the state where Republicans in less than two years will cast the first votes to pick their party’s next presidential nominee. Vance, who is seen as one of the … Read more

Pen pal programs have evolved, but old-fashioned letter writing could be coming back

CONCORD, N.H. — In 1985, a 13-year-old girl in New Zealand spotted a pair of purple, lip-shaped sunglasses in “Young Miss” magazine. In March, I traveled 9,000 miles from New Hampshire to deliver them to her, finally fulfilling my pen pal’s decades-old request. International Youth Service, the agency that matched us up 40 years ago, … Read more

Trump’s influence tested in Indiana Republican state Senate primaries

Indiana’s primary will test President Donald Trump’s enduring power over the Republican Party as he tries to dislodge state senators who refused to go along with his call to redraw the state’s congressional map. Twenty-one Republican senators voted against redistricting in December, including eight running for reelection this year. Trump has endorsed primary challengers against … Read more