Abortion, Like Gun Control, Is Now Subject to Minority Whim

For The Washington Post, Philip Bump examines the reasons why public support for stricter gun laws and protecting access to abortion fail to translate to public policy in both national and state politics. As PRRI data shows, in most states, most people believe abortion should be legal in most or all cases. Despite this support, Bump describes how “manifested minority power,” has led to both the repeal of Roe v. Wade and succeeded in blocking all efforts to regulate access to firearms in recent years, ​​making abortion restrictions and access to firearms the new status quo.

Florida Can’t Ban Teacher From Asking Students to Use Her Preferred Pronouns, Judge Rules

Sam Levine at The Guardian reportsthat a federal judge has ruled that Florida cannot prohibit a 10th-grade math teacher from asking her students to address her with she/her pronouns. Katie Wood, a transgender 10th-grade algebra teacher, along with two other transgender educators sued the state in 2023, saying that the expansion of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law violated federal laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex in addition to other protected rights. PRRI finds that Republicans (80%) are notably more likely than independents (46%) and Democrats (25%) to agree with the idea that public schools are giving students harmful information about gender and sexual orientation.

Extreme Temperatures Are Tied to More Than Half a Million Stroke Deaths a Year. With Climate Change, Expect More

Jen Christensen at CNN reports on a new study published in the medical journal Neurology that found more than half a million people across the world died from strokes linked to extreme temperatures in 2019 alone. Researchers looked at 204 countries and territories and found that “nonoptimal temperatures” are a significant contributor to the increased risk of stroke. This includes the human body’s response to the cold temperatures caused by climate change as warmer temperatures disrupt the polar vortex. PRRI data show that millennials and Gen Zers are much more likely to see climate change as a crisis than older generations.

Scoop: Biden Plans Order to Limit Southern Border Crossings by End of Month

Following a recent Univision interview in which President Biden said his administration continues to explore issuing an executive order to shut down the southern border, Axios reports that such an executive order is likely by the end of April. The provision the Biden administration is considering would restrict the ability of immigrants to claim asylum and doesn’t require congressional approval. PRRI’s 2023 American Values Survey found that less than one-third of Americans (31%) approve of the job that Biden is doing to handle immigration, while 65% disapprove.