LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The president has made abundantly clear that he has no tolerance for leaks and he thinks leaks are damaging to our national security interests.”
Jay Carney, White House press secretary,
after Mitt Romney accused President Barack Obama of leaking classified information about the U.S. military raid that killed Osama bin Laden Article, this page
Judges allow S.D. abortion warning
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - South Dakota can require doctors to warn women seeking abortions that they face an increased risk of suicide if they go through with the procedure, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.
The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the part of the 2005 South Dakota law dealing with the suicide advisory 7-4.
“On its face, the suicide advisory presents neither an undue burden on abortion rights nor a violation of physicians’ free speech rights,” the court wrote in its majority opinion.
In September, a three-judge panel upheld U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier’s decision to overturn the requirement following a lawsuit brought by Planned Parenthood. The decision Tuesday by the full 11-member court grants judgment to the state and vacates the permanent injunction against enforcing the provision.
The ruling ultimately was a battle of medical studies.
The state submitted several studies published in peer-reviewed medical journals to demonstrate a “statistically significant correlation between abortion and suicide.” Planned Parenthood relied on another study to argue its belief that certain underlying factors, such as mental health issues, predispose women to have both unwanted pregnancies and suicidal tendencies.
Bad tire blamed in crash killing 15
McALLEN, Texas - A pickup’s front tire that apparently came apart was likely the cause of a weekend crash on a rural south Texas highway that claimed its 15th victim Tuesday, authorities said.
The truck packed with 23 suspected illegal aliens crashed Sunday evening near Goliad, about 90 miles southeast of San Antonio. Eight passengers remain hospitalized. Investigators were working to identify the victims, who they said are from Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala.
“More than likely the crash was caused by front-right tire separation,” Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Gerald Bryant said Tuesday.
The investigation into the crash continues, and Bryant would not say whether the tire was old and worn or whether the separation was a manufacturing issue. He did not name the tire brand.
Eleven people died at the scene, including two girls.
Four more died later at hospitals, including a man who died Tuesday.
GOP questions uniform use in parade
WASHINGTON - Congressional Republicans challenged Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Tuesday to explain why the Defense Department allowed active-duty troops to wear their uniforms while marching in San Diego’s gay-pride parade last weekend.
In a letter to Panetta, Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma said department rules bar service members from participating in political activities while in uniform and pressed Panetta on why a waiver was granted, who requested it and why it was considered over others.
Inhofe, who serves on the Armed Services Committee, also pointed out that administrative action has been taken against service members who have violated the rule.
The Pentagon had advised all its branches that it was making an exception for the San Diego parade because organizers had encouraged military personnel to march in their uniform and the event was getting national attention.
House explosion kills girl, injures 4
WILSON, N.Y. - An early-morning blast leveled a twostory house in a rural part of western New York on Tuesday, killing a 14-year-old girl and injuring her parents and two siblings, authorities said.
The occupants told investigators they had detected an odor of propane a day earlier, but it was unclear what action was taken, if any, Niagara County Undersheriff Michael Filicetti said. The cause of the explosion was being investigated.
The force of the 6 a.m. explosion in the town of Wilson, about 30 miles north of Buffalo, reduced the large home to a pile of waist-high rubble that caught fire.
The sheriff’s office said homeowners Jody and Judith Johnson, their 16-year-old son, Nathan, and 18-year-old daughter, Katie, survived. Sarah Johnson’s body was found about four hours later in the charred debris.
The parents and Nathan were hospitalized in stable condition later Tuesday. Katie Johnson was in critical condition with severe burns, authorities said.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 07/25/2012