Nevada Residents Will Vote on Abortion Rights in November

Isabelle Taft at The New York Times reports that Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom has reached the required number of signatures in order to put a proposal enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution on the ballot this November. In 1990, Nevadans voted to make abortion legal up to 24 weeks, yet with the overturn of Roe v. Wade activists are worried that the state law is too easy to change. Five other states have successfully put abortion protections on the ballot this year. According to PRRI research, around three in four Nevadans (76%) believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

Supreme Court Curbs Charges Against Jan. 6 Rioters

Sam Baker at Axios reports that a Supreme Court decision last week narrows the obstruction charge used in over 300 January 6 cases, reverting the case back to a lower court to assess if defendants interfered with documents or records of an official proceeding. Despite this decision, Baker notes that many insurrectionists face additional charges that still stand. Special counsel Jack Smith has argued that the obstruction charge faced by former President Donald Trump fits within the narrower reading as Trump and his allies attempted to submit fraudulent election certifications. PRRI research finds that 68% of Republicans believe that the election was stolen from Trump.

Why Louisiana’s New Ten Commandments Law Raises Preferential Treatment Concerns

For the Associated Press, Holly Meyer and Peter Smith consider the specific text of the Ten Commandments ordered to be displayed in all Louisiana public school classrooms. While Catholics, Jews, and Protestants use different versions of the Ten Commandments, the wording chosen is a variation of a version commonly associated with Protestants. PRRI President and Founder Robert P. Jones, Ph.D., explained, “What it is really symbolizing is an evangelical Christian stamp on the space.” Less than a week after the bill was signed, Louisiana clergy, public school parents, and civil liberties groups filed a legal complaint stating, “H.B. 71 is not neutral with respect to religion.”

How Climate Change Is Changing the World of Sports

Ahead of the Paris Olympics, Jeffrey Brown and Winston Wilde at PBS discussthe impact of climate change on sports and how athletes are raising the profile of this issue. Teams have had to implement accommodations, such as building venues with roofs, in order to compensate for weather changes. At the last Winter Olympics, multiple sports had to use artificial snow. Earlier this year, the New York Yankees named Allen Hershkowitz, Ph.D., their team’s environmental science advisor; he commented, “Less than 20% of Americans regularly follow science, over 80% of Americans regularly follow sports… the most influential role models [on this issue] are athletes.” PRRI research finds that the majority of Americans (61%) say climate change is mostly caused by human activity.