President Trump signed a fourth coronavirus relief bill on Friday following its passage by the House of Representatives. The bill, H.R. 266, The Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, provides an additional $484 billion in emergency supplemental funding for programs aimed at buoying up businesses hit by the pandemic, as well as money [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld Texas’ COVID-19 pandemic abortion ban Monday. The ban includes medication-induced abortions. Texas has banned the abortions citing concerns over the procedures causing a personal protection equipment (PPE) shortage during the COVID-19 crisis. Texas Governor Greg Abbot issued Executive Order GA-09 on March 22, 2020. The [...]
A federal judge on Friday blocked Tennessee Governor Bill Lee’s executive order to limit surgical abortions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Abortion providers, Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit after Lee promulgated Executive Order 25 on April 8. The order aimed to limit non-essential procedures to ensure abundant personal protective equipment (PPE) [...]
The Trump Administration announced a new program on Friday to help US farmers who are struggling economically because of disruptions from the pandemic. Farmers and ranchers are having a hard time getting their goods to markets because large buyers like restaurants and college dormitories have stopped buying. Not only is the lack of markets hurting [...]
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday commented on “issues of national importance regarding the interplay between the government’s compelling interest in protecting public health and safety from COVID-19 and citizens’ fundamental right to free exercise of religion,” ultimately siding with a Mississippi church. On April 7, the city of Greenville issued an “Executive [...]
The Nanterre Court of Justice in France issued an order on Tuesday limiting the types of products Amazon France is allowed to ship for the next 30 days. The order comes in response to a complaint filed by a French trade union on April 8. The complaint accused Amazon France of continuing normal shipping operations [...]
The El Salvador Legislative Assembly extended its COVID-19 state of emergency law Sunday by a 68-12 vote despite human rights concerns. The extension is effective until April 16. The state of emergency law allows the El Salvador government to detain those who violate lockdown orders. This provision has concerned human rights groups. According to the [...]
Face mask manufacturer 3M brought a federal lawsuit against a New Jersey-based company on Friday, claiming it used 3M trademarks to “perpetrate a false and deceptive price-gouging scheme on unwitting consumers, including agencies of government, during the global COVID-10 pandemic.” According to the 26-page complaint, Performance Supply, LLC, attempted to sell respirator masks to New [...]
Canada gave royal assent to an emergency wage bill Saturday evening, giving relief to many Canadian workers and businesses adversely impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. The $73 billion package enables private companies, non-profits, and charities to apply for government assistance to subsidize paychecks to employees. To qualify, entities must prove a reduction of revenue of [...]
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf issued an executive order on Friday authorizing the temporary reprieve of some incarcerated individuals to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 within state prisons. The order will apply to non-violent inmates eligible for release within the next nine months, as well as inmates considered to be high risk for complications due to [...]
