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Youth gender transition care under fire, in the courtroom

At least 26 hospitals nationwide have halted gender transition care for minors since January, or removed web pages about those services (NBC News).

 

  • Most recently, that list includes Advocate Health Care, which operates 69 hospitals across six states, including 11 hospitals and 200 health care centers throughout Illinois (CBS News).
  • Illinois has also joined 15 other states in suing the Trump administration over its attempt to halt gender transition care. The suit, filed in August, contends the administration is illegally using criminal threats to intimidate hospitals to withhold care.

Federal, state, city showdown building in Chicago over crime

Chicago, Illinois and federal political leaders are standing off over who’s in charge, while gun violence took off this past weekend, in the Windy City.

 

  • More than twice as many Chicagoans were part of gun violence this Labor Day weekend compared to last year. Seven people died and 54 were injured during the three-day weekend.
  • Trump officials hve been warning of the National Guard deployment since late August.
  • Illinois Gov JB Pritzker has been giving lots of speeches against the idea, while Chicago Mayor Brad Johnson passed his own executive order prohibiting police officers from complying with National Guard troops.

Trump takes aim at voting acess

Access to the ballot box would be considerably restricted under ongoing efforts by the Trump administration to increase voter identification requirements and end mail-in ballots.

 

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  • Voters that are People of Color are four times as likely as whites to lack current identification. (Brennan Center)
  • Senior citizens, students and people with disabilities face greater hurtles than the average white person in seeking official identification.
  • Trump’s push to end mail-in ballots would affect up to one-third of voters who prefer to mail their ballots than wait in line election day. (USA Today)
  • Many legal experts contend both efforts by the Trump administration are unconstitutional. (The Center Square)
James Obergefell and attorney

Above, James Obergefell and his attorney in 2015, the year Obergefell’s case before the U.S. Supreme Court secured same-sex marriage rights.

 

Same-sex marriage faces court challenge, dwindling support

Support for gay marriage is dropping for four years now, while moves are afoot to challenge same-sex marriage rights in court.

 

  • The percentage of Republican Americans who support same-sex marriage has dropped from 55 to 41 percent in four years, reports The Sunday Times. More than 80 percent of Democrats remain in favor.
  • Young men in general are showing less support for gay marriage, reports The Times. Black and Asian-Americans are also showing less support for gay marriage than in previous years.
  • Former Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn her fine and jailing in 2015 for refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses, claiming the legal charges violated her religious rights. (ABC News)
  • Bills and resolutions to end same-sex marriage were introduced this year in at least nine states. (Lambda Legal).

U.S. on outs of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit

The heads of China, India and Russia came out of a major conference with smiles and hand-holding this weekend, causing worldwide speculation that American President Donald Trump’s tariff wars have started to isolate the United States from other world powers.

 

  • The three were attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit.
  • Political observers were especially focused on the kinship shown between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian leader Narendra Modi. The two rode together in Putin’s car.
  • Trump imposed a 50% tariff on all Indian goods, among the highest in the world, to punish the country for buying Russian oil and weapons.

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