Mississippi's last abortion clinic closes despite attempt to block state ban
CBSN
Mississippi's only abortion clinic had been buzzing with activity in the chaotic days since the U.S. Supreme Court upended abortion rights nationwide — a case that originated in this conservative Deep South state, with this bright-pink medical facility that was closing its doors Wednesday.
Physicians at Jackson Women's Health Organization were trying to see as many patients as possible before Thursday, when, barring an unlikely intervention by the state's conservative Supreme Court, Mississippi will enact a law to ban most abortions.
Anticipating the effects of Mississippi's "trigger" law, which was previously put in place to allow the state to ban most abortions if federal protections were rescinded, Jackson Women's Health Organization filed a lawsuit seeking to temporarily block the legislation from taking effect. A judge denied the clinic's petition on Tuesday, suggesting that delaying the ban "would clearly harm the state and its citizens by denying the public interest in enforcement of its laws" in an eight-page opinion.
President Joe Biden said France was America's "first friend" at its founding and is one of its closest allies more than two centuries later as he was honored with a state visit Saturday by French President Emmanuel Macron aimed at showing off their partnership on global security issues and easing past trade tensions.
The Consumer Federal Protection Bureau last week launched an inquiry into what the agency is calling "junk fees in mortgage closing costs." These additional fees, involving home appraisal, title insurance and other services, have spiked in recent years and can add thousands of dollars to the final cost of buying a home.
Retired Maj. Gen. William Anders, the former Apollo 8 astronaut who took the iconic "Earthrise" photo showing the planet as a shadowed blue marble from space in 1968, was killed Friday when the plane he was piloting alone plummeted into the waters off the San Juan Islands in Washington state. He was 90.