And as usual, Republican men are leading the charge:

House Bill 28 would ban abortions after 13 weeks unless there is a medical emergency. Current law in North Carolina bans abortions after 20 weeks.

House Bill 22 would require doctors to tell women who take the abortion pill that the process can be reversed halfway through. The bill would also require the Department of Health and Human Services to provide that information on its website.

It goes without saying the 13-week limit is not only extreme, but geared towards severely limiting a woman's choice. But the "abortion reversal" thing, especially forcing NC DHHS to sign off on such a snake-oil treatment, is fraught with both ethical and legal complications. Here's a little history about this "process":

Another victim of privatization:

Washington County Hospital CEO Melanie Perry tells WCTI in New Bern that the facility's owner has plans to resolve several problems, including dwindling medical supplies and workers not getting paid for two weeks. Empower HMS promised 50 employees that checks would arrive Monday, but staff members said they never came. There has been no word on when or if the medical supplies will be replenished.

Perry said closing the county's only hospital would be devastating to the town of Plymouth, approximately 125 miles east of Raleigh.

Before we dig deeper into this unfortunate situation, a few words on how this could have been avoided are in order. When a public (municipal) entity provides a service, whether it's health care, transportation, water & sewer, or any other critical infrastructure issue, all considerations about turning a profit (net revenue gain, if you will) or even "breaking even" should be disregarded. Providing services to citizens is what government is for, and that's why we pay taxes. And this goes double in rural areas, where the economy simply cannot support/sustain a perpetually profitable business. Had local elected officials understood that back in 2007, they might not have sold this hospital in the first place. Because once a facility like this enters the private sector, the sharks start circling:

Just another cog in the school privatization machine:

The tensions came to a head this week when hundreds of Teach for America alumni criticized the educator placement program for suggesting corps members who strike in Oakland would lose thousands of dollars promised to them at the end of their two-year service commitment.

Teach for America said there was a misunderstanding on the guidance it provided about the strike that could start next week. It said it gave the same message to other members facing recent strikes, including in Los Angeles.

I have a very good friend who took the TFA route several years ago, after receiving her Bachelor's in Communication. Don't know all the details, but she is no longer teaching. Two years in an inner-city school burned her out like a short candle. Their five week "boot camp" doesn't even come close to preparing TFA members for that particular high-stress job, but it looks like that is not their goal anyway. Creating a teacher pool for charter schools has become their main function:

You just can't fix stupid:

Mark Harris tells the AP he recruited McCrae Dowless because he produced election results in Bladen County and other Republicans vouched for him. Harris says a background check by his political consultants missed Dowless' felony convictions #NC09 #ncpol https://t.co/2IEBhWNMCl

— Joe Bruno (@JoeBrunoWSOC9) February 12, 2019

He produced a result, alright. And that result is an empty seat in Congress while we try to unravel this mess.