Judge ponders blocking law that bans abortions in Mississippi

Judge ponders blocking law that bans abortions in Mississippi

Mississippi is just hours from banning abortion in most instances, but an eleventh-hour lawsuit before a special state judge could at least temporarily delay the “trigger law” from going into effect.

The Mississippi Supreme Court ruled in 1998 that abortion is a protected right under the state Constitution and that right cannot be taken away unless the state’s high court reverses itself, attorneys representing the state’s only abortion clinic told a chancery judge on Tuesday.

Based on that 1998 ruling, Jackson attorney Rob McDuff asked Chancery Judge Debbra Halford of Franklin County to issue an injunction preventing laws that would ban most abortions in Mississippi from taking effect. McDuff and Hillary Schneller, senior staff attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights, represented Jackson Women’s Health Organization in the lawsuit.

“The primary issue before you is whether the decision of the Mississippi Supreme Court is binding and we clearly believe it is,” McDuff said Tuesday morning during a hearing in the Hinds County Chancery Court Building that lasted about 45 minutes.

READ MORE: Hearing set in Mississippi lawsuit trying to prevent abortion ban

Mississippi Solicitor General Scott Stewart, arguing on behalf of Attorney General Lynn Fitch, told Halford that the 1998

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July 8, 2022 by LAW

Judge won’t block law banning most Mississippi abortions

JACKSON, Miss. — As attorneys argued about abortion laws across the South on Tuesday, a Mississippi judge rejected a request by the state’s only abortion clinic to temporarily block a law that would ban most abortions.

Without other developments in the Mississippi lawsuit, the clinic will close at the end of business Wednesday and the state law will take effect Thursday.

One of the clinic’s attorneys, Hillary Schneller of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said the judge should have blocked the law.

“People in Mississippi who need abortions right now are in a state of panic, trying to get into the clinic before it’s too late,” Schneller said. “No one should be forced to live in fear like that.”

Mississippi legislators passed the “trigger” law before the U.S. Supreme Court recently overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. The clinic, Jackson Women’s Health Organization, sought a temporary restraining order that would have allowed it to remain open while the lawsuit played out in court.

“This law has the potential to save the lives of thousands of unborn Mississippi children,” Republican Gov. Tate Reeves said after the judge’s ruling. “It is a great victory for life. I

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July 7, 2022 by LAW

4 Living Benefits of Life Insurance

4 Living Benefits of Life Insurance
4 Living Benefits of Life Insurance

Image

CHICAGO, June 28, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — One advantage of getting a life insurance policy is the death benefit. This helps loved ones replace the policyholder’s income and pay off debts if the policyholder passes away during the policy term.

However, life insurance policies can also offer living benefits while the policy is in force. These benefits can help the policyholder make the most of their premium payments. This article will dive into how life insurance with living benefits can help policyholders while they are alive and the policy is still outstanding.

1. Cash value withdrawals

Cash value is a growth component of permanent life insurance policies. Part of each permanent policy premium goes into this component, which then grows tax-deferred at a certain rate depending on the permanent policy type.

Once the cash value grows large enough, policyholders may be able to withdraw funds from it for any use, such as emergencies, large purchases, or college tuition for their children. Keep in mind that proceeds above the policyholder’s basis, or the amount initially invested, may be taxable.

2. Taking out loans against the cash value

Policyholders can also borrow against their cash value when it grows large

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July 6, 2022 by INSURANCE

The Lawyers in the Abortion Trigger-Law Trenches

The Lawyers in the Abortion Trigger-Law Trenches
The Lawyers in the Abortion Trigger-Law Trenches

Front row (from left): Astrid Ackerman, Nancy Northup, Hillary Schneller, Genevieve Scott, Caroline Sacerdote, and Kulsoom Ijaz. Back row: Adria Bonillas, Cici Coquillette, Michelle Moriarty, Jenny Ma, Alice Wang, Meetra Mehdizadeh, Jessica Sklarsky, Nicolas Kabat, Jen Rasay, and Rabia Muqaddam.
Photo: Tina Tyrell

Amid a terrible week for reproductive rights, there was a small reprieve: On June 27, days after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, a Louisiana judge blocked a spate of so-called trigger laws designed to outlaw abortion in the state as soon as Roe fell. Similar injunctions followed in Utah, Kentucky, and Florida, while in Texas a judge blocked a ban that had been on the books before Roe. Together, these rulings are temporarily keeping abortion legal in those states and signaling that there may be a way to jam up the new anti-abortion regime.

The injunction in Louisiana took many in the media by surprise, but it’s the product of years of spadework by the Center for Reproductive Rights, whose lawyers co-authored the suit challenging the trigger laws. “We started publishing ‘What If Roe Fell?’ ” — a state-by-state report on the consequences of overturning Roe — “in 2004 because we

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July 6, 2022 by LAW

Employment insurance benefits delayed for thousands of Canadians

Employment insurance benefits delayed for thousands of Canadians
Martin Courtemanche has been waiting for <a href=employment insurance benefits since December 2021. (Radio-Canada – image credit)” src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/vlbZA98qLvEivvw_uOulNQ–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTcyMA–/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/fdoFL_qCVz0ZtxQS.jMNNg–~B/aD04ODU7dz0xMTgwO2FwcGlkPXl0YWNoeW9u/https://media.zenfs.com/en/cbc.ca/400ee76dbeddbb447bc9e2573dd0c698″/

Martin Courtemanche has been waiting for employment insurance benefits since December 2021. (Radio-Canada – image credit)

The last few months have been trying for Martin Courtemanche. After suffering from depression last summer, he left his job on Dec. 6, 2021. What followed, he says, was an “infernal spiral.”

“I’m at the end of my rope,” he said.

More than six months have passed since he submitted his employment insurance application, and he has yet to receive a payment.

“I have to ask myself how I’m going to pay my rent, my groceries,” he said. “I’m lucky to have some savings. I maxed my credit cards. This is how we manage to survive.”

At a time when Service Canada is mired in passport processing setbacks, delays in obtaining employment insurance are also increasing. Many unemployed people say they haven’t received a penny, several months after filing a request.

The Service Canada representatives who spoke to Courtemanche first explained to him that the pandemic caused the delays, before letting him know that a document was missing from his file: a termination of employment letter.

“I ended the call and just

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July 4, 2022 by INSURANCE
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