Rubio Bill Targets ‘Gender Ideology’ In Hospitals, Agencies Across The States
Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, 52, finds modern ideas about gender identity so "deeply disturbing" that he worries they've begun to "infiltrate" the U.S. health care system. His new bill would ban government agencies and hospitals with federal funding from enforcing "radical gender ideology."
Fox News:
Rubio Bill Would Cut Off 'Radical Gender Ideology' In Health Care Systems
Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio introduced legislation Wednesday that would ban government agencies and federally funded hospitals from forcing employees to partake in programs that "promote radical gender ideology." "It is deeply disturbing to see the progressive left infiltrate the American healthcare system and compromise the quality of patient care in the process. I am introducing the Protecting Conscience in Healthcare Act to stop this harmful, radical gender ideology in American hospitals and healthcare facilities," Rubio said in comment on the legislation, which was exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital. (Colton, 9/13)
Reuters:
Parents Challenge Massachusetts' School District's Gender Identity Policy
A federal appeals court on Wednesday wrestled with whether to revive a lawsuit by two parents challenging a Massachusetts’ school district policy to not disclose students’ gender identities expressed at school to their families without their consent. The parents' lawyer told the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that staff at a school in Ludlow, Massachusetts, withheld from them that their two children had begun using different names or pronouns during class hours, in violation of the parents' constitutional rights to direct the care of their children. (Raymond, 9/13)
On the gun violence epidemic —
Reuters:
US Judge Freezes New Mexico Governor's Gun Ban
A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked a ban on carrying guns in New Mexico's largest city after the order by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham threw the state into the center of the U.S. gun-rights debate. U.S. District Court Judge David Urias said the governor's 30-day suspension of concealed and open firearm carry rights in Albuquerque and its surrounding county went against a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that people had a right to carry a gun outside their homes for self defense. (Hay, 9/13)
The Texas Tribune:
Veronica Escobar Introduces Bill To Bar Hate Crime Offenders From Buying Guns
U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, led a group of lawmakers in introducing a bill Wednesday that would bar those convicted of violent misdemeanor hate crimes from obtaining guns. The bill, dubbed the Disarm Hate Act, comes four years after a gunman shot and killed 23 people in an El Paso Walmart in Escobar’s district. (Choi, 9/13)
In other health news from across the U.S. —
Reuters:
US Declares Public Health Emergency In Georgia After Hurricane Idalia
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Wednesday declared a public health emergency (PHE) for the state of Georgia to deal with the ramifications of Hurricane Idalia. ... With the PHE declaration, healthcare providers and suppliers will have greater flexibility in meeting emergency needs of people covered by the Medicare and Medicaid health plans, the HHS said. (9/13)
CBS News:
Maryland Department Of Health Reports First Human Case Of West Nile Virus For 2023
The Maryland Department of Health reported that an adult living in the Eastern Shore region has tested positive for West Nile virus, the first confirmed human case of the virus in the state this year. The patient is recovering from the infection, according to health officials. West Nile is transmitted to humans through mosquitoes infected by feeding on birds that have the virus," the health department said. (9/13)
Los Angeles Times:
California Moves One Step Closer To Five Paid Sick Days, With Unions Banking On COVID Lessons
California employers will be required to provide workers with five days of paid sick leave under legislation passed by the state Legislature on Wednesday, up from the current three-day requirement. While similar attempts to expand paid sick leave have stalled in the past, politically powerful unions are banking on workplace lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic to be enough to get Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign the bill this time around. (Mays, 9/13)
CBS News:
Urgent Care For Mental Health: How A Maryland Clinic Is Helping Thousands Of Patients
"Throughout the country, what we're seeing is a tremendous rise in need for mental health services, people wanting to access care, but really getting stuck at the point where they don't know how to access care," said Dr. Harsh Trivedi, Sheppard Pratt's president and CEO. He says Sheppard Pratt's urgent care for mental health opened in 2011 in response to long emergency department wait times in Maryland, ranked as the worst in the county. (Brand and Moniuszko, 9/13)
ABC News:
Mobile Crisis Teams Still Sidelined Despite Growing Need For Mental Health Services, Advocates Warn
Mobile crisis teams have been around for decades in places like Oregon, Arizona, and Georgia. ... In March 2022, the White House included them as a key pillar of its mental health Unity Agenda, investing almost $1 billion into community-based services that include mobile crisis response. ... Across the country, some teams say they are strapped for resources, leading them to operate at reduced hours and only in limited geographies. As a result, in many places, police are still responding to most mental health crises. (Cahan, 9/14)
Axios New Orleans:
Louisiana 988 Calls Top 26K Since Hotline Launch
Louisianans have already made more than 26,000 calls to 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline that launched last summer, and a new grant-funded campaign aims to ensure all Louisianans who need it are picking up the phone. (Brasted, 9/13)
