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According to new research, about 8,000 women per month obtained abortion pills in late 2023, despite living in states that have bans or severe restrictions on telemedicine abortion or abortion access. The survey also found that the abortion rate in 2023 was slightly higher than in 2022, despite total abortion bans in more than a dozen states.

“The number of abortions in the United States remained consistently elevated compared to pre-Dobbs levels, even as 14 states have banned abortion completely,” reads a Tuesday press release. “This elevated volume of abortion may be due in part to the expansion of telehealth abortion care, which made up 19% of all abortion care nationwide by December 2023.”

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, a rash of states jumped to ban abortion entirely or place severe restrictions on the practice. Nearly two years later, 14 states have completely banned abortion, and three more have banned it after six weeks into the pregnancy.

However, research has indicated that the total number of U.S. abortions didn’t necessarily go down following Roe ‘s overturn. In the one survey released Tuesday by the abortion-rights group Society of Family Planning, the total number of abortions seemed to increase modestly in 2023 when compared to the year before.

The survey, called #WeCount, found that in 2022, there were around 82,000 abortions per month. In 2023, the rate had gone up to 86,000even after excluding a bump in abortion numbers coming from women who obtained otherwise illegal telemedicine abortions under abortion-provider-protecting “shield laws.”

Further, the survey found that by December 2023, almost one in five U.S. abortions are provided through telehealth. Surprisingly, around half of these abortions occurred in states where telehealth abortion is otherwise illegal or severely restricted. While the survey found that around 17,000 women per month from October to December 2023 were prescribed abortion pills by telehealth, 8,000 of these prescriptions went to women who lived in states where telehealth abortion is banned.

How is this possible? The researchers suggest that the introduction of shield laws in a handful of states played a major role. So far, five states have passed laws protecting medical providers from possible prosecution for helping women obtain medication abortions that are illegal in another state. The shield laws prohibit officials from cooperating with investigations or prosecutions related to such abortions.

This led to a noted uptick in #WeCount’s numbers. “Part of the increase in 2023 is due to abortions being provided under shield laws, starting in July 2023, and #WeCount’s subsequent inclusion of these abortions,” the report states. “These abortions may have previously occurred outside the formal healthcare system prior to the use of shield laws.”

This latest research shows just how difficult it is to truly ban abortion as long as telehealth prescriptions for abortion pills remain readily available. Since the end of Roe , not only have women seeking to end their pregnancies frequently traveled out of state for abortion procedures, but they’ve also been able to get abortion pills delivered to their door. However, even the Society of Family Planning admits they can’t accurately estimate all abortions in the United States.

“Providers in the formal healthcare system, including those protected by shield laws, are not the only source of abortion medications,” reads Tuesday’s report . “We are unable to estimate the number of abortions that occurred outside clinician-provided care, including those provided by online stores that sell abortion medications, volunteer accompaniment networks, and other types of self-managed abortion.”

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Billions for ‘unproven’ carbon capture technology will have ‘very significant’ impact on energy bills, MPs warn

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Billions for 'unproven' carbon capture technology will have 'very significant' impact on energy bills, MPs warn

The government is spending £22bn on “unproven” technologies which will have a “very significant effect” on energy bills, according to an influential committee of MPs.

There has been no assessment of whether the programme to capture and store carbon from the atmosphere is affordable for billpayers, said a report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of MPs.

The financial impact on households of funding the project has not been examined by government at all, the PAC said.

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Even if the state’s investment pays off, the technology is successful and makes money, there is no way for profits to be shared to bring down bills, it added.

Private sector investors, however, would recoup investment, according to committee chair Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown.

“All early progress will be underwritten by taxpayers, who currently do not stand to benefit if these projects are successful,” he said. “Any private sector funding for such a project would expect to see significant returns when it becomes a success.”

That’s despite the vast majority (two-thirds) of the £21.7bn investment coming from levies on consumers “who are already facing some of the highest energy bills in the world”, it said.

But there is no evidence to say the programme will be successful despite the government “gambling” its legally mandated net zero targets on the tech, committee chair Sir Geoffrey added.

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PM to invest £22bn in carbon capture

There are no examples of carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) operating at scale in the UK, according to the PAC report.

As part of its work, the PAC heard the technology may not capture as much carbon as expected.

International examples show the government’s expectations for its performance are “far from guaranteed”, it heard as part of its inquiry.

Read more:
UK’s first air capture plant to turn CO2 into jet fuel
Trump faces stick or twist China space race choice

A threat to net zero

This lack of proof of the technology working is a threat to the UK reaching its net zero 2050 emissions targets.

Last year the government downgraded the amount of carbon it expects to store each year as the goals were seen as “no longer achievable”, but no new targets have been announced, creating a shortfall in the path to net zero.

It is now “unclear” how the government will reach its goal, the PAC report said.

“Our committee was left unconvinced that CCUS is the silver bullet government is apparently betting on”, Sir Geoffrey said.

The £22bn investment was due to be made over 25 years and into five CCUS projects.

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Two dead after plane crashes into vehicles on busy road in Sao Paulo

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Two dead after plane crashes into vehicles on busy road in Sao Paulo

Two people have died after a plane crashed into vehicles on a busy road in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo.

A fire department spokesperson confirmed the deaths to local media.

The plane crashed on Marques de Sao Vicente Avenue in Barra Funda at around 7.20am local time.

Images and video footage showing a bus on fire in the aftermath.

Two people – a motorcyclist and a woman who was on the bus – were injured after they were struck by debris from the explosion, CNN Brasil reported.

The aircraft – a small twin-engine King Air – had left Campo de Marte Airport, the Brazilian television news channel reported. The control tower lost contact with the plane minutes later.

The cause of the crash is being investigated.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

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Politics

Kentucky joins growing list of US states to introduce Bitcoin reserve bill

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Kentucky joins growing list of US states to introduce Bitcoin reserve bill

Kentucky’s bill is a “massive vote of confidence in Bitcoin” that brings the US closer to a federal Bitcoin reserve.

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