National Digest: Dec. 13, 2015
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Version 0 of 1. Planned Parenthood sued the state’s health director Sunday in a dispute over how the organization’s affiliates handle the disposal of fetal tissue in the state. The organization is accusing the health department of changing the interpretation of a fetal tissue disposal rule without notice and then unfairly targeting Planned Parenthood, violating its due process and equal protection rights. The federal lawsuit filed in Columbus follows the state’s attorney general’s investigation of the organization’s three facilities in Ohio that provide abortions. Attorney General Mike DeWine announced the inquiry in mid-July after antiabortion activists began releasing undercover videos that they said showed Planned Parenthood personnel negotiating the sale of fetal organs. Planned Parenthood has said some fetal tissue is donated for medical research. Such donations are illegal in Ohio, and a Planned Parenthood state leader has said no donation program exists in Ohio. — Associated Press An ax-wielding University of North Texas student was fatally shot near the UNT campus after he advanced toward a university officer early Sunday, officials said. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s office identified the man as Ryan McMillan, who turned 21 on Saturday. He was a second-year transfer student from Fort Worth, said Kelley Reese, UNT spokeswoman. The university is in Denton, outside Dallas. Police had responded about 1 a.m. to a report that someone was breaking car windows about two blocks away from campus, said UNT spokeswoman Margarita Venegas. When an officer arrived, the suspect “advanced” toward him with the ax in his hand, Venegas said. The officer, whose name has not been released, fatally shot him. — Associated Press Man shot in Los Angeles refused to drop gun, police say: A black man who was fatally shot by Los Angeles deputies kept holding a gun as he lay dying on the ground, authorities said Sunday in response to questions about why they continued to fire on the man after he fell to the pavement. A close-up from security footage showed Nicholas Robertson, 28, stretched out on the ground with a gun in his hand. He died at the scene Saturday morning in the southern Los Angeles suburb of Lynwood. Two deputies fired 33 bullets at Robertson after he refused to drop the gun and walked across a busy street to a filling station where a family was pumping gas, said Capt. Steven Katz of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. “When he collapsed, his arms were underneath him, and the gun was still in his hand. There was never a time when the weapon was not in his possession,” Katz said. — Associated Press |