Judge rules health care provider religious exemption unconstitutional; ambush of mining workers in Burkina Faso leaves 37 dead.
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A Trump rule loses in court — for now
- A federal judge blocked a new rule by the Trump administration that would allow medical providers to deny patients procedures if it violated the provider’s religious or moral convictions. [Wall Street Journal / Stephanie Armour]
- Citing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the New York district judge ruled that the “conscience provision” violated the Constitution and the administration’s justifications for implementing relied on “flatly untrue” claims by the Department of Health and Human Services. [BuzzFeed / Ema O’Connor]
- The lawsuit, brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a multitude of city and state governments, as well as two reproductive rights activist groups, halted the rule, which was set to go into effect later this month. [Mother Jones / Jessica Washington]
- Under the protections of the religious and moral exemption policy, health care providers could refuse patients access to services like abortion, in-vitro fertilization, gender-affirming surgeries or assisted suicide. [NPR / Audie Cornish]
- Medical professionals could refuse to refer their patients to other providers without hesitations about the procedures and even be barred from discussing the options with consumers. [Vox / s.e. smith]
- As with many other Trump policies making their way through the courts, though, this might not be over just yet. GOP Sen. Ben Sasse, for one, has already urged the administration to appeal. [AP]
Attack on Canadian mining company in Burkina Faso
- Gunmen in Burkina Faso ambushed a convoy carrying people with Canadian mining business Semafo, killing at least 37 and leaving 60 wounded. [BBC]
- Reports claim that the convoy of five buses was shot at after the front military vehicle hit an IED on the group’s way to the company’s Boungou mine. [Reuters]
- While this was one of the worst attacks in the West African country since an al-Qaeda raid of a popular cafe in 2016, Burkina Faso has struggled with resurgent jihadist violence in the past three years. Nearly half a million people have fled their homes. [Reuters]
- Only days earlier, Burkina Faso lawmaker Oumarou Dicko was killed by a suicide bomb attack in the northern Djibo region. [Bloomberg / Simon Gongo]
- Tuesday, French Minister of Armed Forces Florence Parly announced an expansion of France’s military operations in neighboring countries to fight the jihadist problem, specifically deploying troops to border areas in Burkina Faso. [Al Jazeera / Henry Wilkins]
Miscellaneous
- President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s meeting to work out a trade deal could be delayed until December, and take place in London, Sweden, or Switzerland. [Reuters / David Brunnstrom and Matt Spetalnick]
- US doctors are testing a gene-editing technique on cancer patients. [New York Times / Denise Grady]
- With what seems like another protest around the world every day, Vox’s Terry Nguyen explains why many of them are focused on public transportation. [Vox / Terry Nguyen]
- A nearly 3-pound snow crab caught off of Japan went for a record-breaking $46,000 at auction. [Kyodo News]
- In a new paper, academics ponder the staggering loss if the human race ended. [Vox / Kelsey Piper]
Verbatim
“They’re just so cryptic and secretive that you don’t really see or hear from them unless they come out and do something like this.” [DC Department of Energy and Environment biologist Dan Rauch on several recent owl attacks in the area]
Listen to this: Behind closed doors
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