* AP…

Even as the Biden administration has publicly warned hospitals to treat pregnant patients in emergencies, facilities continue to violate the federal law.

More than 100 pregnant women in medical distress who sought help from emergency rooms were turned away or negligently treated since 2022, an Associated Press analysis of federal hospital investigations has found.

Two women – one in Florida and one in Texas – were left to miscarry in public restrooms. In Arkansas, a woman went into septic shock and her fetus died after an emergency room sent her home. At least four other women with ectopic pregnancies had trouble getting any treatment, including one California woman who needed a blood transfusion after she sat for nine hours in an emergency waiting room.

The White House says hospitals must offer abortions when needed to save a woman’s health, despite state bans. Texas is challenging that guidance and, earlier this summer, the Supreme Court declined to resolve the issue.

* Idaho…

An Idaho law banning minors from receiving healthcare without parent approval has created a thorny new legal problem. If a child is raped by their parent, Idaho medical providers now require that parent’s permission to administer the rape kit that would prove their own guilt.

Preventing young people from receiving medical care of their own accord has long been a priority for Republicans throughout the Gem State. A provision asserting that parents have “the supreme authority” to make medical decisions for their children was published in the Idaho GOP’s platform in June.

Idaho Senate Bill 1329 brought that platform item to fruition this July, giving parents ultimate discretion over their children’s medical decisions after a national conservative push to keep young people from receiving gender-affirming medical care.

“Children…often lack maturity and make choices without considering either immediate or long-term consequences,” the bill’s statement of purpose said.

* Florida…

Florida is one of 13 states that give prosecutors unfettered power to try children as adults without getting sign-off from a judge. And when judges determine the penalties for those kids, they give them higher sentences on average for felony crimes than older, adult offenders, according to a Miami Herald investigation. […]

Florida judges have the option to give teenage offenders “juvenile sanctions,” which send them to a juvenile facility rather than prison, or classify them as “youthful offenders,” resulting in either probation or being confined at a camp with other convicted young adults for up to six years. […]

Only one in 10 of the more than 20,000 children tried as adults in Florida were given juvenile sanctions and less than 5% received a “youthful offender” designation, the Herald found in an analysis of the last 15 years of state court system sentencing data from 2008 to 2022. […]

Children tried as adults were sentenced to a little more than three years in prison on average for third-degree felonies — around 50% longer than the average sentence given to adults for the same class of offense. The vast majority of all felony charges are third-degree offenses, which are the lowest class of felony crimes and include burglary, some types of assault, drug possession and certain DUI offenses.

* Louisiana…

Here’s a look at other new regulations passed during Louisiana’s legislative session and signed by [Gov. Jeff Landry] that will impact schools this year.

“Don’t Say Gay:” Act 681 bans K-12 school employees and “other presenters” from discussing gender or sexual orientation.

Pronoun punishments: Act 680 prevents school employees from being punished for refusing to use a student’s preferred name or pronouns.

Bathrooms: Act 436 bans people from using bathrooms that don’t match their sex assigned at birth when in public schools, domestic violence shelters and correctional facilities.

* Texas…

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed an executive order Thursday requiring hospitals to ask patients about their immigration status to help the state determine the cost of providing healthcare to noncitizens.

Beginning Nov. 1, Abbott is directing hospitals in Texas to gather data on “patients who are not lawfully present in the United States,” as well as the number of inpatient discharges and emergency visits and the costs of care.

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission must provide regular reports to state authorities, the order said. […]

The executive order is likely to be challenged by immigration rights advocates. The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.

* Iowa…

Iowa can enforce a book ban this school year following a Friday ruling by a federal appeals court.

The U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a district judge’s earlier decision that temporarily halted key parts of the law, including a ban on books depicting sex acts in school libraries and classrooms.

The law, which the Republican-led Legislature and GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds approved in 2023, also forbids teachers from raising gender identity and sexual orientation issues with younger students.

Reynolds said in a statement that the ruling reinforces the belief that “it should be parents who decide when and if sexually explicit books are appropriate for their children.”