February 11, 2022 -
In December, the Food and Drug Administration permanently allowed the drugs for medication abortions to be delivered to patients by mail — but most Southern states require such abortions be done in the presence of a doctor. And now Republican state lawmakers in Georgia and South Carolina are considering bills that target that safe form of abortion care and would give patients disinformation about it.
February 9, 2022 -
The president has pledged to nominate the first Black woman to the highest court in the land to replace retiring liberal Justice Stephen Breyer. A few of the potential justices are judges or judicial nominees from Southern states, including two with extensive experience as voting rights lawyers.
February 4, 2022 -
The expanded child tax credit lifted millions of children out of poverty but expired because the closely divided U.S. Senate failed to renew it as part of the Build Back Better Act, which was opposed by Republicans and Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia. As talks continue, Manchin has signaled he might be open to renewing the expanded credit with more limited eligibility and a work requirement, but anti-poverty advocates oppose those conditions.
January 28, 2022 -
Rural hospitals were able to survive 2021 with special pandemic assistance, but some aid is set to expire by the end of this year. Advocates say state Medicaid expansion could help rural hospitals confront the worsening staffing crisis and provide much-needed care in their communities.
January 27, 2022 -
A formerly incarcerated person who went on to become a public defender in Nashville, Haynes made headlines when she ran for Congress in 2020. Now a voting rights advocate with the Sentencing Project, she has a new book out about fixing the brutality of the criminal justice system titled "Bending the Arc" and recently talked about it with Facing South.
January 27, 2022 -
As the N.C. Supreme Court prepares to hear a lawsuit challenging gerrymandered election districts, a prominent Republican leader has brought up the possibility of the legislature impeaching judges. It hasn't happened in well over a century, when white supremacist Democrats impeached two justices, as well as a Klan-fighting governor.
January 25, 2022 -
As Republican state lawmakers across the South pass laws restricting how public school teachers can talk about racism with their students, a new national poll of teachers finds that over a third say the surge in such classroom speech bans makes them more likely to leave the profession at the end of this school year.
