Federal judge stops Texas abortion law
AUSTIN, Texas – New abortion restrictions passed by the Texas Legislature are unconstitutional and will not take effect as scheduled today, a federal judge has ruled.
District Judge Lee Yeakel wrote Monday that the regulations violated the rights of abortion doctors to do what they think is best for their patients and would unreasonably restrict a woman’s access to abortion clinics.
Lawyers for Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers brought the lawsuit, arguing that a requirement that doctors have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the abortion clinic would force the closure of a third of the clinics in Texas. They also complained that requiring doctors to follow the Food and Drug Administration’s original label for an abortion-inducing drug would deny women the benefit of recent advances in medical science.
U.S. dismisses reports of blast near embassy
ADEN, Yemen –Yemeni security officials said an explosion followed by what sounded like heavy gunfire had been heard near the U.S. Embassy in the capital Sanaa late Monday, but government spokesmen later said that the blast was fireworks from a wedding procession.
The State Department also issued a statement saying it had no indication that reports of an attack on or near the U.S. Embassy in Yemen were accurate.
The reports came amid what appeared to be a security alert in the Yemeni capital, where the local branch of al-Qaida periodically stages high-profile attacks. Extra security troops could be seen deployed since Sunday and motorcycles were absent from main streets. They had been banned during past alerts to prevent them from being used to carry bombs.
Two security officials in Yemen told The Associated Press by phone that the explosion occurred near the embassy, followed by the sounds of gunfire. One said troops had sealed off the area. They spoke anonymously as they were not authorized to talk to media.
But Mohammed al-Mawri, an official at the Yemeni Interior Minister’s office, said the blast was fireworks from a wedding procession.
Associated Press
