Editorials

None of the red flags appear to have been raised to the authorities, at least not high enough for them to seek an order preventing his purchase of a semi-automatic rifle.

These are things we know about Shireen Abu Akleh. We know that she was a dedicated journalist, respected throughout the Middle East and beyond for two decades of dogged reporting in and around the Palestinian territories, often giving a voice to those who felt overlooked, most recently for Al-Jazeera.

Not only would Hawley’s legislation dramatically reduce the current standard, it would generally violate an international agreement, to which the U.S. is a signatory.

The apparently pending Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade is an affront to women’s rights to biological self-determination and to all Americans’ rights to privacy. This is why wide majorities of the country oppose the coming reversal of Roe. But if that support is to remain strong and eventually translate into abortion-protection legislation, pro-choice forces must quit sabotaging themselves by engaging in threatening protests at justices’ homes — and the Biden administration must enforce federal law prohibiting such actions.

It will be up to everyone to make smart decisions to protect their own health and the health of others.

It wasn’t so long ago when Missouri was a purple state, up for grabs by whichever party did the best job capturing voters’ imaginations. The state was split down the middle politically as recently as 2000, and even in 2016 Democrats held a U.S. Senate seat and the offices of governor, attorney general and state auditor. While Democrats watched helplessly, Republicans went for the political jugular by focusing on hot-button inspirational issues like gun control and abortion rights.

To say it is not to fully absorb it: Our nation of 330 million souls has lost 1 million lives in just over two years to a virus that landed here in January 2020. Nor is the deeply humbling total, which has touched almost every American family, the end. We mark the milestone when there’s a merciful lull in casualties from COVID-19 — only about 400 Americans are now dying daily, thanks to vaccinations, natural immunity and a prevalent mutation that’s less deadly — but no guarantees about the future.

The leak of a draft United States Supreme Court ruling written by Justice Samuel Alito in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which would overturn past court precedents in favor of leaving abortion laws to the states, has ignited intense political debate over the future of abortion laws and the institution of the Supreme Court itself.

Today’s justices deserve to be regarded as little more than robed politicians who have already made up their minds, often based on personal religious bias.