Pro-Choice Supporters File Suit Against Texas; Abortion On Ticket In Virginia

AP: Big Virginia Abortion Test: Can It Energize Democratic Base?
When Planned Parenthood canvassers stopped by Megan Ortiz’s house, the 32-year-old therapist was getting ready to head out and too distracted to talk for long. But after they left, she thought better of it. She jumped in her minivan and drove the streets of her suburban Richmond neighborhood until she tracked down the canvassers. “I want to volunteer for you!” she proclaimed, eliciting cheers. What changed her mind? Texas, she said. “It’s just really scary, ” Ortiz said, of the state’s new law that bans most abortion. “It’s important that women’s voices be heard.” (Weissert and Whitehurst, 10/19)

Dallas Morning News: Scholars, Medical Groups And Former Prosecutors File Supreme Court Briefs Against Texas Abortion Law
Filings continued rolling in Tuesday ahead of Thursday’s U.S. Supreme Court deadline for submitting briefs in the federal government’s challenge to Texas’ new abortion law, and opponents have dominated the filings so far. When the Department of Justice filed an emergency application on Monday asking the Supreme Court to halt enforcement of Texas’ six-week abortion ban, the court gave Texas until noon ET Thursday to respond to the request. In the meantime, interested parties are submitting briefs that provide additional information or insight to try to sway court justices. These briefs, known as amicus briefs, are submitted by “friends of the court,” typically a person or group who is not involved in the legal action itself but has a strong interest in the matter. (Caldwell, 10/19)

Fresh Take Florida: The Future Of Florida’s Abortion Bill Remains Unclear 
The high-stakes court fight unfolding over the off-again, on-again abortion law newly passed in Texas threatens to throw into confusion plans by Florida lawmakers to pass a similarly restrictive law banning abortions after a physician can detect a fetal heartbeat. Florida's Republican-controlled Legislature already has failed twice in the past two years to pass a so-called "heartbeat” bill. Efforts in Florida in 2019 and 2020 died before any hearings or votes could be scheduled. (Hernandez De La Cruz and Wilder, 10/19)

In other news from across the U.S. —

Los Angeles Times: Odor In Carson Prompts Warning To Avoid Outdoor Activities
After more than two weeks of breathing noxious fumes that can cause headaches and nausea, Carson-area residents are now being advised to avoid prolonged outdoor exercise at night and in the early morning. The amount of hydrogen sulfide gas emanating from decaying vegetation and marine life in the Dominguez Channel has exceeded state nuisance thresholds in some locations but is not considered “imminently dangerous,” Los Angeles County public health officials said Tuesday. (Martinez, 10/19)

Houston Chronicle: Many Texas Children Miss Out On Required Lead Testing, Report Finds
As volunteers and researchers just begin to document the scope of potential lead poisoning in Texas homes and water pipes, federal authorities say that more than a third of the state’s children from low-income families never receive a test to check for lead in their blood, as required by federal rules. A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services inspector general’s report offers the latest evidence that the nation’s problem with lead, which can damage the brain and cause lifelong developmental and behavioral problems in children, may be larger than anyone knows. (Wermund, 10/20)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Some Philadelphia School District Schools Have No Nurses, And Families Are Worried
Agyili Mitchell sends her daughter to Richard Wright Elementary every day holding her breath. Aaila, 5, loves school, but the kindergartner has sickle cell anemia, asthma, and allergies that can send her into anaphylactic shock, and Wright, in North Philadelphia, has a school nurse only one day a week. More than a dozen of the Philadelphia School District’s 220 schools lack a full-time nurse. Some of those schools share nurses, receiving care one or two days a week. Some aren’t covered at all. (Graham, 10/20)

WLRN 91.3 FM: Facing The Cost And Challenges Of Caregiving In Florida
Marcia Dattoli's mom was 95 when she got into a car crash. She was driving and no one was injured, but she decided it was time for her to move into an independent living facility. "She's a warrior, a tough cookie," Dattoli said. Even before her mom moved into a facility, Dattoli had been researching caregiving options, so she was ready when her mom was ready. (Hudson, 10/19)