Oklahoma Police Say Nonbinary Teen’s Death Was Not Result of Injuries From High School Fight

Sean Murphy at The Associated Press reports that after Nex Benedict, a 16-year-old Oklahoma student, died following an altercation in their school restroom, police have stated that Benedict did not die as a result of the trauma sustained in the fight based on preliminary autopsy results, though the cause of death remains unknown. In addition to legislation targeting trans youth and adults in the state, Oklahoma’s Superintendent of Public Schools recently appointed right-wing social media influencer Chaya Raichik, the creator of Libs of TikTok, to a state library panel. PRRI research finds that between 2016 and today, Republican support for laws that require transgender individuals to use bathrooms that correspond to their sex at birth increased by more than 30 percentage points (from 44% in 2016 to 80% in 2023).

A Presidential Rematch with Abortion at the Forefront

Grace Panetta and Mel Leonor Barclay at The 19th News compare former President Donald Trump’s and President Joe Biden’s histories and positions on abortion, one of the central issues in the likely rematch between the two presidential candidates. Before the Dobbs decision, abortion was not a leading issue in either man’s political career. Now, Biden is making the topic central to his campaign while Trump considers his position and that of possible running mates. Regarding Trump’s inconsistent position on abortion, PRRI CEO Melissa Deckman, Ph.D., told The 19th, “There’s a tendency of his voters to forgive almost anything that Donald Trump says and to project their own values onto Trump’s candidacy.”

Survey Shows Black Women Face Barriers on Path to Generational Wealth

Nathan Bomey at Axios reports on a new survey showing that despite progress, systemic barriers continue to thwart opportunities for Black women to build generational wealth. Homeownership rates and retirement savings among Black women remain lower than the national average, and compared to the overall adult population. Additionally, Black women are disproportionately more likely to allocate their income to support extended family members and engage in side hustles on top of full-time employment. PRRI data find that about half of Black Americans (49%), 36% of Hispanic Americans, and 30% of white Americans say that the growing wealth gap between rich and poor is a critical issue.

Catholic Immigrant Shelter Battles Texas AG, Biden Considers Border Shutdown

For NBC News, Suzanne Gamboadescribes the legal battle between Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Annunciation House, a Catholic organization that operates shelters for migrants in El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. After a judge sided with Annunciation House, allowing it 14 days to respond to Paxton’s demand for records, the attorney general sued to revoke the organization’s license to operate. The struggle over migrants and the border in Texas continues as the Biden administration considersexecutive action to restrict migrants’ ability to seek asylum at the US-Mexico border. PRRI’s 2023 American Values Survey found that less than one-third of Americans (31%) approve of the job Biden is doing on immigration, a decline from 37% in September 2022.