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Wyoming judge strikes down state abortion laws, ruling them unconstitutional

Wyoming judge strikes down state abortion laws, ruling them unconstitutional

A state judge knocked down two laws restricting abortion in Wyoming on Monday, ruling that they violated protections in the state’s constitution that allow patients to determine the health care choices that are best for them.  The first law prohibited abortion entirely, with an exception for instances where the life of the mother is in jeopardy, or in cases involving rape or incest. The second law that was shot down was a first-of-its-kind ban on medication-induced abortions.  Teton County District Judge Melissa Owens said that the two statutes “impede the fundamental right to make health care decisions for an entire class of people, pregnant women.” PENCE SAYS HE OPPOSES RFK JR’S NOMINATION FOR HHS SECRETARY BECAUSE OF HIS STANCE ON ABORTION “The Defendants have not established a compelling governmental interest to exclude pregnant women from fully realizing the protections afforded by the Wyoming Constitution during the entire term of their pregnancies, nor have the Defendants established that the Abortion Statutes accomplish their interest,” Owens wrote. “The Court concludes that the Abortion Statutes suspend a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions during the entire term of a pregnancy and are not reasonable or necessary to protect the health and general welfare of the people.” Owens previously put a hold on Wyoming’s bans last year while she heard arguments from both sides about the measures’ constitutionality, or lack thereof. HISTORIC CATHOLIC VOTE ‘DELIVERED ELECTION TO PRESIDENT TRUMP,’ SAYS CATHOLICVOTE PRESIDENT The bans were challenged by a group of women, including two obstetricians and two nonprofit organizations. “This is a wonderful day for the citizens of Wyoming — and women everywhere who should have control over their own bodies,” said Julie Burkhart, the president of Wellspring Health Access, one of the lawsuit’s plaintiffs.   CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The ruling comes after voters in seven states, earlier this month, passed ballot measures in support of reducing restrictions on abortions. Meanwhile, three states voted to keep their restrictions in place. Currently, 13 states are enforcing abortion bans with limited exceptions, while four states have bans that begin six weeks into a woman’s pregnancy, according to ABC News.

Mace faces backlash over effort to ban new transgender member of Congress from women’s bathrooms

Mace faces backlash over effort to ban new transgender member of Congress from women’s bathrooms

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., clashed with her critics online Tuesday as she faces backlash for her resolution to bar men who identify as female from the women’s restrooms on Capitol Hill. Mace filed the resolution on Monday, which Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind first reported will prohibit “Members, officers, and employees of the House from using single-sex facilities other than those corresponding to their biological sex.”  The resolution comes just as the first openly transgender lawmaker, Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, D-Del., is set to join Congress in January. McBride is a biological male who identifies and presents as a woman.  “This is a blatant attempt from far right-wing extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing,” McBride said in a statement. “We should be focused on bringing down the cost of housing, health care, and child care, not manufacturing culture wars.”  TRANSGENDER WOMEN TO BE BANNED FROM CAPITOL HILL FEMALE BATHROOMS UNDER NEW HOUSE GOP PROPOSAL “Delawareans sent me here to make the American dream more affordable and accessible and that’s what I’m focused on,” added McBride. When online critics said Mace’s resolution was “clearly directed” at McBride, the South Carolina congresswoman confirmed that was her intention. “Yes and then some. Biological men do not have any rights to women’s private spaces. It’s perverted to think otherwise,” Mace posted on X in response to another user.  “Also Sarah McBride doesn’t get a say here. I will always protect woman and girls. Period. Full stop. End of story.”  REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE WANTS MEN BANNED FROM WOMEN’S SPACES IN ‘ALL TAXPAYER-FUNDED FACILITIES’ Her uncompromising position provoked McBride’s defenders to call Mace a bigot and a bully.  Left-wing journalist Aaron Rupar shared a screenshot of Mace’s response and wrote, “Note how ‘concerns about fairness in sports’ has already transformed into unvarnished transphobic bigotry.”  Mace responded, “Protecting women and girls isn’t bigotry, it’s common sense. I will stand in the brink to protect women’s rights from the far left radicals trying to erase us.”  Harry Sisson, a Democratic content creator on TikTok, likewise accused Mace of “straight up bigotry and bullying.”  Mace quoted his X post and wrote, “All these radical left men pushing other men into women’s private spaces shows you how sick they truly are – the Left will do whatever they can to harm women and girls. As a victim of abuse and as an advocate for other women abused by men, four words for you: Over My Dead Body.”  DELAWARE DEMOCRAT SARAH MCBRIDE PROJECTED TO BECOME FIRST TRANSGENDER MEMBER OF CONGRESS: AP Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., called Mace’s effort to ban McBride from the ladies’ room “pathetic.”  “What are you scared of, Nancy?” he asked. To which Mace quoted his reply and wrote, “I don’t want people with penis’s [sic] showing them off in our locker room.”  In a follow-up post, Phillips asked, “Why wouldn’t we ‘allow’ our fellow citizens the right to use the damn toilet of the gender by which they live their lives?  “You may not like it. I get it. But it’s still common sense and banning it seems un-American,” he continued. “So come-on patriots, let’s be cool with one another.”  But Mace refused to back down.  “As a victim of abuse, I know firsthand women are vulnerable; and I will stand in the way of anyone who violates our rights or who wants to set us back 100 years,” she wrote. Semafor politics reporter David Weigel observed that Mace’s position is a “shift” to the right after she supported a Republican alternative to the Democrat-backed Equality Act, which would have added sexual orientation and gender identity language to federal anti-discrimination law. The GOP’s “Fairness for All Act” would have extended civil rights protections to gay and transgender people but exempted religious institutions, nonprofit organizations and certain individuals.  “I strongly support LGBTQ rights and equality,” Mace told the Washington Examiner in 2021. “No one should be discriminated against.” She went on to say gender issues are not “black-and-white.”  “I do believe that religious liberty, the First Amendment, gay rights, and transgender equality can all coexist. I’m also a constitutionalist, and we have to ensure anti-discrimination laws don’t violate First Amendment rights or religious freedom,” Mace said at the time. “I have friends and family that identify as LGBTQ,” she added. “Understanding how they feel and how they’ve been treated is important. Having been around gay, lesbian, and transgender people has informed my opinion over my lifetime.” Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene wants men banned from women’s spaces in ‘all taxpayer-funded facilities’

Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene wants men banned from women’s spaces in ‘all taxpayer-funded facilities’

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., has suggested that she would support banning biological men from women’s spaces in “all taxpayer-funded facilities.” Greene’s comments come as Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., pushes a resolution to prohibit House members and others from using single-sex spaces in the Capitol or House office buildings that do not align with their biological sex. “A Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee of the House may not use a single-sex facility (including a restroom, changing room, or locker room) in the Capitol or House Office Buildings, other than those corresponding to the biological sex of such individual,” the resolution states, noting that the House sergeant-at-arms is tasked with enforcement. TRANSGENDER WOMEN TO BE BANNED FROM CAPITOL HILL FEMALE BATHROOMS UNDER NEW HOUSE GOP PROPOSAL Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride, a Democrat who was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives during the 2024 election, identifies as transgender. “McBride, a biological male, does not get a say in women’s private spaces,” Mace posted. In a post on X, McBride, who will be the first openly transgender member of Congress, said, “Every day Americans go to work with people who have life journeys different than their own and engage with them respectfully, I hope members of Congress can muster that same kindness.” DELAWARE DEMOCRAT SARAH MCBRIDE PROJECTED TO BECOME FIRST TRANSGENDER MEMBER OF CONGRESS: AP “This is a blatant attempt from far right-wing extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing. We should be focused on bringing down the cost of housing, health care, and child care, not manufacturing culture wars. Delawareans sent me here to make the American dream more affordable and accessible and that’s what I’m focused on,” McBride added in another post. McBride will be sworn in to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives next year. “He’s a biological male,” Greene said in a video. “He can go in the men’s room,” she said. There is a “bathroom in his office just like all of us,” she said. Greene indicated she would support a resolution blocking men from women’s spaces in “all taxpayer-funded facilities.” “I support banning men from women’s restrooms in the Capitol, but that isn’t enough,” Greene noted in the post on X that also contains the video. “Men should be banned from women’s restrooms in every federal building paid for by taxpayers.” HOUSE SQUASHES MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE’S MOTION TO OUST SPEAKER JOHNSON Fox News Digital attempted to reach out to McBride for comment.

Biden misses G-20 family photo, White House blames ‘logistical’ issues

Biden misses G-20 family photo, White House blames ‘logistical’ issues

President Biden was not pictured among other world leaders in the traditional “family photo” at the final Group of 20 summit of his presidency on Monday. Biden arrived along with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after photographers had already finished with the other smiling leaders, who had been positioned on a riser. A senior Biden official said the president did not participate because of “logistical issues.”  “Due to logistical issues, they took the family photo early before all the leaders had arrived. So a number of leaders weren’t actually there when they took the photo,” the official said.  TRUMP ALLIES WARN BIDEN RISKING ‘WORLD WAR III’ BY AUTHORIZING LONG-RANGE MISSILES FOR UKRAINE The official emphasized Biden missed the photo because of bad timing, not because he wanted to avoid taking a picture with some of the U.S.’ top rivals, including Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov or Chinese President Xi Jinping. Biden’s absence left Jinping front and center among the rows of leaders poised against blue skies and blue water in Rio de Janeiro. PUTIN SIGNS REVISED DOCTRINE LOWERING THRESHOLD FOR NUCLEAR RESPONSE IF RUSSIA IS ATTACKED Lavrov stood in the back row, less visible. Biden and Trudeau arrived together at the designated spot for the photo, standing and looking about for a time. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also did not join in the group photo, a set piece of such summits. 45 PRO-DEMOCRACY HONG KONG ACTIVISTS SENTENCED TO UP TO 10 YEARS IN PRISON UNDER CHINA-BACKED LAW Notably, Biden did not arrive via the red carpet ramp used by other world leaders. Instead, he was seen taking a sharp right turn on his way to the gathering, declining to use the ramp which led to the entrance of the building.  The official said the president did not use the ramp “due to security concerns.”  “Several leaders from high threat — from countries that face high threats did not take the open ramp and instead took a different red carpet route,” the official said.  The G-20 summit is a gathering of leaders from the world’s largest economies, who meet to discuss efforts to combat hunger and poverty. In remarks at the summit Monday, Biden called on those present to increase investments in the World Bank, provide debt relief to struggling countries and end conflicts around the world that have contributed to starvation, including the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.  The Associated Press contributed to this report.