Alabama
Faith-based maternity homes ‘create a haven’ in states with strict abortion laws
CHILTON COUNTY, Ala. — At the end of a gravel road that runs through a wooded property in Chilton County, Alabama, a plain white two-story house sits overlooking a small pond. Outside the house, everything is tranquil: The swings on the new playground nearby are quiet, the pond is still, the rocking chairs lined up […]
US Supreme Court rejects Alabama’s request to stay redistricting decision
This story first appeared in the Alabama Reflector. The United States Supreme Court on Tuesday denied Alabama’s request to stay a lower court decision directing a special master to draw new state congressional maps to remedy Voting Rights Act violations. The nation’s high court dismissed the request in two one-sentence orders. No opinions were given with […]
Federal court blocks Alabama’s congressional map, orders new lines drawn
This story first appeared in the Alabama Reflector. A three-judge federal panel Tuesday ruled that a new Alabama congressional map failed to address Voting Rights Act violations and ordered a third party to draw new lines. In a 217-page opinion in the case, Allen v. Milligan, U.S. Circuit Judge Stanley Marcus and U.S. District Judges […]
Why Alabama can’t control college tuition costs
This story first appeared in the Alabama Reflector. States have varying degrees of control over the tuition price of their public higher education institutions. Alabama has none. Under Alabama law, higher education institutions set tuition and fees for students. The state government cannot control those increases, and one of the legislature’s education budget chairs says moving […]
Alabama health department approves birth center regulations
This story first appeared in the Alabama Reflector. The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) on Thursday approved a set of rules that would require birthing centers to have oversight by a physician or medical director at its State Committee of Public Health meeting in Montgomery. The rules proposed would also require birth centers to […]
Hospitals block much-needed birth centers in the South
When Katie Chubb announced in 2021 she was planning to open a freestanding birth center in Augusta, Georgia, it seemed like everybody in town was excited about it. She met with local physicians and nurses who said they would welcome her Augusta Birth Center as a provider of midwifery services for low-risk pregnancies. Hundreds of […]
States seek to let teens as young as 14 serve booze in restaurants
WASHINGTON — As a former bartender and current tipped worker, Trupti Patel knows that customers tend to get grabby when there is alcohol involved. After working in the food service industry for more than a decade, she is accustomed to dealing with drunk customers who get out of hand, especially if they become belligerent or […]