www.thecentersquare.com – By Kim Jarrett | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-03-27 13:01:00
(The Center Square) – State legislatures across the country are considering bills that would limit legal liability for pesticide makers.
The bills would protect pesticide makers from lawsuits as long as they have a label that meets U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards. The bill passed the Georgia House of Representatives on March 13 and is now on Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk.
The legislation passed in Georgia days before a jury awarded a man $2.1 billion in a lawsuit against Bayer, the makers of Roundup Weed Killer. The Georgia man said the product caused his cancer.
Bayer officials said in a statement the company would appeal the verdict and it stood behind its Roundup product.
“The company remains committed to trying cases, having secured favorable outcomes in 17 of the last 25 trials,” the company said. “Our track record demonstrates that we win when plaintiffs’ attorneys and their experts are not allowed to misrepresent the worldwide regulatory and scientific assessments that continue to support the products’ safety.”
The Tennessee Senate Judiciary Committee heard a similar bill this week and received an earful from those opposed to the legislation.
Amy Miller accused Bayer of a “fear campaign.”
“It is taking away our ability to fight for truth, for discover and if we get harmed,” Miller told the committee.
“Since litigation against glyphosate began, Bayer has paid out roughly $10 billion from an expensed & provisioned total of $16 billion to address these cases – funds that could be invested in R&D and used toward creating new technology for farmers, consumers and patients,” the company told the newspaper.
Farmers call the products “crop protection.” Smith County farmer George McDonald told the Tennessee Senate Judiciary Committee that farmers are trained to use the products.
“If we keep chipping away at these tools that we have in our toolbox, we will not be able to use those tools and if we do not have these pesticides, taking them away from farmers will be like taking away tractors from farmers,” McDonald told the committee.
The Tennessee bill passed the Judiciary Committee 6-2 and goes to the full Senate for approval. The Tennessee House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on their version on Wednesday.
Other states are considering similar bills.
The Missouri House of Representatives passed the bill in February and a Senate committee passed it on Thursday, according to its website.
The Iowa Senate passed it on Monday, according to WKRG. The bill moves to the House, where it failed last year.
Montana’s bill never made it out of the House of Representatives and missed the deadline for general bill transmittal, according to Montana Legislative Services.
SUMMARY: The St. Louis metro area is preparing for another round of severe weather on Wednesday, with chilly morning temperatures in the low 40s and a breeze. The day will remain cool, with highs in the low 50s. An enhanced risk of severe weather is expected, with conditions favoring storms, including strong winds, humidity, and potential twisting winds. The severe weather is anticipated to develop in the afternoon and evening, with the possibility of widespread impacts. Residents are advised to prepare for various severe weather conditions and stay updated for more details.
Sunday wasn’t too bad in the metro area but Garry Frank is already looking at severe weather chances on Wednesday.
Missouri Planned Parenthood clinics remain unable to offer medication abortions after the state rejected their complication plans this week.
Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, which operates clinics in the St. Louis region, Rolla and Springfield, and Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which operates clinics in Kansas City and Columbia, received a letter from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services on Thursday stating their complication plans did not meet state requirements.
The decision means that almost five months after voters approved a constitutional amendment restoring abortion rights, the most common method to terminate a pregnancy is not available in Missouri.
This rejection was based on the criteria of an emergency rule published the same day by the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office.
That rule requires the complication plan for any facility prescribing abortion medication to more than 10 women a month must:
Have an on-call OB-GYN who lives within 25 miles of the clinic available at all times for seven days after a patient takes the medication. This physician would be required to treat any complications that arise as a result of the medication unless the standard of care requires someone else to treat them. Provide for patients who live further than 25 miles from the clinic, the name of the emergency room and a physician “within a reasonable distance of the location where the patient will complete the abortion.”Submit the full names of all physicians involved in the local complication plans.
While three clinics —Columbia, Kansas City and St. Louis — have resumed some procedural abortions, Planned Parenthood leadership have said they will not begin prescribing medication abortions without an approved complication plan.
Leadership with Planned Parenthood Great Rivers is still deciding on next steps, a spokesperson said.
The Department of Health and Senior Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a statement in February, department spokeswoman Sami Jo Freeman said complication plans are “important to ensure the safety of patients because medication abortions will likely be completed at home without a physician present.”
When the clinics submitted their complication plans in February, they did not include the names of any physicians involved. The proposals state that patients could contact the clinic at any time with concerns, including an after-hours line staffed by licensed nurses who can refer calls to an on-call physician.
“If a potentially urgent complication is suspected based on the patient’s symptoms or the patient is not able to return to the health center in a timely way, the nurse will direct them to the emergency department (ED),” the initial plans submitted by Planned Parenthood read.
With the patient’s consent, the proposal continued, the ER would be told the patient’s medical history if possible. Planned Parenthood would follow up with the patient the next day.
Across the country, abortion medication is the most common method used to end a pregnancy.
In 2023, nearly two-thirds of abortions in the United States took place using medication as opposed to in-clinic procedures, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights research group.
In states where abortion is legal, medication that induces a miscarriage is available to patients in their first trimester of pregnancy. Patients typically take two doses of medication, the second of which is often taken at home. In recent years, a growing number of women have been ordering abortion medication from online providers in the United States and abroad, including to states where abortion remains illegal.
According to the FDA, mifepristone is safe to use if taken as directed. Cramping and bleeding are common side effects of the medication. Those prescribed mifepristone are urged to call their doctor if they experience heavy bleeding, abdominal pain or a fever. The same guidance applies to those who recently underwent procedural abortions, experienced miscarriages or delivered a baby.
Since the medication was approved for use 28 years ago, only 32 deaths have been reported associated with mifepristone, according to the FDA.
Earlier this month, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey issued a notice of an intent to serve a cease and desist letter to the Planned Parenthood clinics, doubling down on his demand that Planned Parenthood stop performing a type of abortion that its clinics aren’t actually offering patients.
Several Planned Parenthood clinics remained open even after the procedure was outlawed statewide in June 2022. The clinics primarily provide family planning services, cancer screenings and STI testing and treatment, including to patients on Medicaid.
Shortly after Missourians in November narrowly approved Amendment 3, granting the constitutional right to an abortion, Planned Parenthood sued the state, arguing dozens of regulations on abortion providers were no longer constitutional.
In mid-February, a Jackson County judge struck down most of the regulations, allowing Planned Parenthood to resume in-clinic procedural abortions for the first time in years.
The first abortion to happen in Missouri since the procedure was outlawed statewide in June 2022 took place in February at a Kansas City clinic. In early March, procedural abortions returned to the clinic in Columbia for the first time since 2018.
And on Thursday, the clinic in St. Louis quietly performed its first two abortions since 2022.
The clinic plans to take additional abortion patients who are earlier than 12 weeks gestation over the coming weeks, but the number of days abortion is provided in St. Louis will depend on physicians’ schedules, Nick Dunne, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood, said Friday.
Staff at the St. Louis clinic did not initially indicate they would bring back procedural abortions this soon.
“Ahead of the December ruling, our staff had been preparing to start providing medication abortion — including staff training, as well as ordering supplies and medications,” Dunne said in a statement. “Recognizing more recently that we were likely to face additional hurdles from state officials on medication abortion, our medical and patient services teams pivoted to allocating staff, equipment, and other necessary resources in order to begin offering procedural abortion again.”
Planned Parenthood likely won’t be able to begin offering procedural abortions at its clinics in Rolla or Springfield until additional physicians are hired, Dunne said, adding that Planned Parenthood is “working aggressively” to expand their physician numbers.
There are currently two long-term staff physicians and one contracted physician at Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, which also oversees the clinic in Fairview Heights. The two long-term physicians are both based in the St. Louis area.
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Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com.
www.youtube.com – FOX 2 St. Louis – 2025-03-28 08:18:10
SUMMARY: The PWHL Takeover Tour arrives in St. Louis at the Enterprise Center tomorrow afternoon, showcasing women’s hockey with the Boston Fleet competing against the Ottawa Charged. Mandy Gottman, VP of Communications for the Professional Women’s Hockey League, emphasizes the excitement as they reach their 99th stop on the tour. The league, formed in January 2024, features top players, including St. Louis native Tommy Gincy Rose, a notable Olympian. This event highlights women’s hockey’s growth, with increased participation in the region. Fans are encouraged to arrive early for warm-ups and to support their teams with signs.
Mandy Gutmann, Communications for the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL), joined the morning show to preview a matchup between the Ottawa Charge and Boston Fleet, who will be playing at the Enterprise Center on Saturday. For tickets, visit ticketmaster.com
