Justice Department launches task force seeking to protect abortion rights
CBSN
The Justice Department on Tuesday announced that it has created a task force whose goal is to protect abortion access following the Supreme Court decision last month overturning Roe v. Wade.
The Reproductive Rights Task Force, according to the Justice Department, will "monitor and evaluate" any "state and local legislation" that seeks to prevent women from traveling to another state for an abortion, bans FDA-approved abortion pills or prevents women from receiving information on what reproductive care is available to them in states where abortion is legal.
The announcement comes after President Joe Biden signed an executive order last week that called on the Justice Department to do everything within its power to protect women seeking an abortion. The order also directed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure all women and girls experiencing pregnancy loss receive the emergency care they need, no matter what state they're in. The executive order also protects access to contraception and expands access to free contraception.
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.
The knock at the door came at nighttime on Mother's Day 2008 in Oregon, where Jessica Ellis' parents lived. It was around 9:20 p.m. and his wife, Linda, was already in bed; her father Steve Ellis told CBS News, that he thought someone let their animals out — but two soldiers in Class A uniforms were standing at the door.