Center Well

If there were any further evidence needed that Colorado’s state-lawmaker recall elections scheduled for September 10 were from the start a proxy national battle over gun policy, that evidence came yesterday, when campaign finance reports in the races came due. The reports included major donations from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, California entrepreneur Eli Broad and the National Rifle Association.

When Boy Scouts of America delegates voted at last month’s National Council meeting to allow gay youth to become Scouts but to continue banning gay and lesbian adults, the organization put itself in a precarious position.

A bipartisan amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act would require the Department of Defense to conduct an internal review of policies and prosecutions related to military members living with HIV. The amendment would be the first time Congress has voted on HIV-criminalization matters since the passage of the 1990 Ryan White CARE Act, which required states to certify they had a process to prosecute deliberate transmission of HIV.

A Maryland lawmaker and a handful of local advocates have started the course to repeal the state’s HIV-specific criminal law. Efforts to repeal HIV criminalization laws are under way in several states, including as Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, and Washington.

PACHA is also requesting that state and federal authorities review the cases of persons convicted under such laws and overturn convictions if deemed appropriate. The group is calling on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to “issue a clear statement addressing the growing evidence that HIV criminalization and punishments are counterproductive and undermine current HIV testing and prevention priorities.”

In face of inaction on emergency-contraception access, Native American women are being forced to turn to their own "Plan B" in order to prevent unintended pregnancies.

A proposal in the Virginia General Assembly to eliminate state funding for certain abortions could force some low-income women to carry to term a fetus with a low likelihood of survival.

The new programs are the result of extensive study of student and workforce trends. In addition to the two programs that launched earlier this year, the schools plan to roll out four more degree programs – in teaching, applied science, and two yet-to-be determined areas.

The Merck Company Foundation, the charitable arm of pharmaceutical manufacturer Merck and Company, announced last week it was halting all contributions to the Boy Scouts of America until that organization ceases discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation.

A member of the first federal commission to look at the HIV epidemic says it is “probably past time” for states to revisit their HIV-specific criminal laws.