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In the Biden administration’s latest effort to defend abortion rights, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced Friday that the United States will ensure limited access to abortions for its veterans.
The conservative U.S. Supreme Court struck down the nation’s decades-old constitutional right to abortion in June, returning the decision on whether to allow abortions to states.
Also read: Supreme Court opposes different abortion restrictions for unmarried women
“If the pregnancy reaches term, or if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest and the life or health of the pregnant veteran is at risk, the department will provide abortion services,” the department said in a statement.
The department “is taking steps to ensure that veterans and other veterans beneficiaries provide abortion-related care anywhere in the country,” the statement said.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has nearly 1,300 medical centers in the United States, serving 9 million veterans and their families.
Also read: Hutong Cat I China can tighten abortion rights in response to population crisis
Doctors at the centers can perform abortions because they are federal employees, even if the state in which they work bans it, the department said in its statement.
Since the Supreme Court ruling, 13 states and several states have banned or severely restricted abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which advocates for abortion rights.
President Joe Biden has sought to limit the scope of restrictions where possible, but has been limited in his moves in a country where the presidential power is constrained by the powers of the states, Congress and the Supreme Court.
Afghan mosque bombing kills more than 15 pro-Taliban clerics; many injured
A high-profile pro-Taliban cleric and civilian were killed on Friday in an explosion outside a mosque in the western city of Herat, police said. “Mujib Rahman Ansari and some of his guards and civilians were killed on their way to the mosque,” Herat police spokesman Mahmoud Rasouli said. Rasori did not say how many casualties were caused by the explosion.
‘One sentence’ tweets: Tendulkar to Biden, netizens join latest trend on Twitter
One-word tweets became a new trend on Twitter after influential accounts such as U.S. President Joe Biden and NASA responded to Amtrak’s “train” tweet Friday morning. Amtrak’s tweet went viral. At the time of writing, the message has garnered approximately 1,50,000 likes and 20,000 retweets. Sachin Tendulkar also joined the trend and released (not surprisingly) “Cricket”. Commercial brands have captured the moment by promoting their products.
Global food price index fell for fifth straight month in August
The UN’s food agency’s world price index fell for a fifth straight month in August, falling further from an all-time high hit earlier this year, as a resumption of grain exports from Ukrainian ports helped improve supply prospects. The Food and Agriculture Organization said Friday that its price index for the world’s most traded food commodity averaged 138.0 points last month, compared with a revised 140.7 in July.
Canada to digitize application process for those seeking permanent residency
As the processing backlog continues to plague the Canadian system, the country’s immigration department has announced it will move to a fully digital application process for most people seeking permanent residency. IRCC is also proposing to waive the mandatory medical examination for applicants already in Canada. This will apply to applicants for permanent or temporary residence if certain criteria are met. The second largest source country is China with 16,535.
Germany: Lufthansa pilots begin strike action, 800 flights cancelled
The airline cancelled 800 flights from Germany on Friday and warned that disruptions could continue over the weekend. Lufthansa pilots began a planned 24-hour strike shortly after midnight on Friday. It forced airlines to cancel 800 flights, affecting some 130,000 passengers. Swissair, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings, all subsidiaries of Lufthansa, are not expected to be affected by the strike. The company said their schedule will remain the same.
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