A federal judge in Texas soon could make one of the two pills used in medication abortions harder to come by, even in blue states that support abortion rights - though Arizona and many other states are trying to ensure continued access to the drugs. Read more»

The Environmental Protection Agency proposed new wastewater treatment standards for coal-fired power plants to reduce discharges of toxic metals and other pollutants by approximately 584 million pounds per year into nearby waterways. Read more»

A U.S. House committee passed a bill on a party-line vote that would block transgender girls from competing in school sports consistent with their gender identity, a reflection of a broader push in multiple states to curb the rights of transgender student athletes. Read more»

The federal government has halted releases from the Flaming Gorge Reservoir that were meant to prop up water levels at Lake Powell downstream, as heavy snows allowed the Bureau of Reclamation to end releases two months earlier than originally planned. Read more»

Leonard Leo, the longtime Federalist Society leader who helped create a conservative supermajority on the Supreme Court, has moved on to the Teneo Network, a little-known group he called “networks of conservatives that can roll back” liberal influence. Read more»

Farmers and leaders from more than 20 progressive agricultural groups gathered this week to march on the U.S. Capitol, and promote climate solutions and underserved producers as priority issues for lawmakers in the upcoming farm bill. Read more»

As pandemic-era benefits end, some 600,000 Arizonans are set to be removed from the Medicaid rolls next year - a situation causing distress to many who are certainly at risk of being disenrolled and also those who may fall just over the income threshold to qualify for Medicaid. Read more»

A Ninth Circuit panel took up the question of whether the Biden administration's COVID vaccine mandate exceeded the executive branch's authority after then-Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich sued the Biden administration over rules regulating private employers. Read more»

The right-wing war on transgender and gender non-conforming people has escalated to a new, very dangerous level. Last weekend at CPAC, Michael Knowles railed against transgender people, telling the crowd, “For the good of society, transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely.” The people in attendance applauded as he smirked. Read more»

Ahead of International Women’s Day, hundreds of U.S. and global human rights groups have asked the United Nations to intervene on behalf of the millions of women in the U.S. who have been left without access to legal abortion and vital forms of reproductive health care. Read more»

Doctors often show bias toward autistic adults, showing skepticism about their autistic identity, using ableist language or failing to recognize autistic people may react differently to sensory stimuli like pain, and this leads to distinct challenges for autistic adults. Read more»

For decades, lawyers at the Thomas More Society have backed provocateurs and long shot causes in hopes of winning severe restrictions on abortion in the U.S. - now, the organization has embraced relentlessly questioning the integrity of elections. Read more»

Recent data show a snowy start to 2023 for the Colorado River basin, with heavy winter precipitation in the Rocky Mountains projected to boost spring spring runoff - but not enough to fix the Southwest’s long-term supply-demand imbalance. Read more»

In an effort to fund locally led landscape-scale conservation and restoration projects, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation announced grant funding opportunities available through the 2023 America the Beautiful Challenge. Read more»

The expanded child tax credit that families received in 2021 helped reduce child poverty across the country, but particularly in the South where families lack a sufficient safety net, according to a report that comes as some Democrats appear ready to attempt to revive the credit. Read more»