LGBTQ community sounds alarm bells over Vance

LGBTQ community sounds alarm bells over Vance

In addition to a history of anti-LGBTQ statements, the Ohio Republican is the primary sponsor of at least two pieces of federal legislation threatening to sharply roll back transgender rights, including one proposal that aims to ban gender-affirming medical care for minors nationwide. 

That bill, the Senate version of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) Protect Children’s Innocence Act, would charge health care providers who violate it with a Class C felony, punishable by more than a decade in prison. It would also prevent institutions of higher education from providing instruction about gender-affirming care and cut funding for health plans that cover treatment.

Related:

Cis boys get gender-affirming surgeries more often than trans minors

Transgender kids rarely get gender-affirming surgeries — in fact, cisgender children are much more likely to get them, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Neoreactionaries

Philippines’ Congress to prioritize EPIRA changes as Senate junks ‘Cha-cha’

Congress to prioritize EPIRA changes as Senate junks ‘Cha-cha’

THE PHILIPPINE Senate would put proposals to change the 1987 Constitution on the back burner and would instead focus on measures to boost the military amid growing tensions with China, according to the Senate president.

The chamber would also pass bills that seek to boost healthcare and jobs while easing hunger, Senate President Francis “Chiz” G. Escudero said in a speech as Congress resumed sessions on Monday.

At the weekend, he said they would tackle a proposal to amend the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) amid blackouts.

The Senate will also push changes to the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE), particularly lower taxes on domestic and foreign companies.

Mr. Escudero said Congress should go beyond laws that only benefit big business, and find solutions to problems with healthcare, joblessness and poverty.

“We will take peaceful measures to defend our people’s right to sail in our seas and fish in our waters, as what our ancestors had done, and what our children and grandchildren shall do,” he added.

The Senate in December passed a bill that seeks to boost the country’s defense program through investments in local defense equipment manufacturing. The measure will give the Department of National Defense P1 billion in seed funding.

Also on Monday, Speaker and Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez said the House of Representatives would also seek changes to EPIRA.

He said changes to EPIRA, which liberalized the power industry, would bring down electricity prices and ease inflation.

It would now fast-track changes to EPIRA and a bill that seeks to extend the lease period for foreign investors. Other pending measures include amendments to the Agrarian Reform law and another that will modernize national defense.

“We have to continue building roads, highways, ports, school buildings and climate change-proof structures to maintain and expand economic growth,” Mr. Romualdez said. “I emphasize our commitment to pass the remaining priority bills before the end of the third regular session.”

Jose Enrique “Sonny” A. Africa, executive director of think tank IBON Foundation, said it is wrong to equate economic progress with growth given the increasing number of poor Filipino families.

Most Filipinos haven’t become better off because of this growth,” he told BusinessWorld. “The number of self-rated poor families has soared by 3.4 million since the start of the Marcos administration from 12.6 million in June 2022 to 16 million in June 2024.

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Tell Congress to support the EPIPEN Act!

GoodRx

U.S. House of Representatives Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-FL) and Doris Matsui (D-CA) have introduced the Epinephrine’s Pharma Inflated Price Ends Now (EPIPEN) Act (H.R.6965) to cap out-of-pocket cost for a two-pack epinephrine auto-injector devices at $60 for patients with employer-based or individually purchased health insurance. 

Tell Congress to support the EPIPEN Act!

They should cap the price for everyone but I suppose that would upset their Big Pharma overlords!

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New EPIPEN Act would lower cost of medication for severe allergic reactions