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The Inflation Reduction Act, passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden last month, makes historic investments to address climate change and contains the most sweeping health care reforms in a decade. The policies in the law are monumental on a national scale, reducing the deficit by $300 billion and standing up programs to spur the transition to clean energy and lower prescription drug prices. The act also provides near-immediate, tangible benefits for American families by lowering costs for home energy, new vehicles, health coverage, and prescription drugs..-- CLICK STORY TO READ MORE

Last month, something potentially historic happened: A bipartisan group of senators announced a new bill that would help prevent the overthrow of a presidential election. The bill, led by Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Joe Manchin (D-WV), would reform the Electoral Count Act of 1887 (ECA), the outdated statute that dictates the process for casting and counting presidential electoral votes.

The new Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act is not the first or only such effort. In February, Sens. Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Richard Durbin (D-IL) released their own proposal to reform the ECA. -- CLICK STORY TO READ MORE

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Dobbs v

The gun lobby, led by the National Rifle Association (NRA), routinely deploys a series of common myths—designed to undermine legitimate arguments for commonsense gun reform—in the aftermath of high-profile mass shootings.1 These myths range from scapegoating mental health to “door control”2 in public spaces such as schools and are united by a set of dangerous and misleading arguments intended to increase gun ownership and decrease industry accountability. The myths play on fear and perpetuate misinformation to such a degree that they are drilled into the public consciousness as fact and can lead to reactionary policies that do little to deter gun violence.3 This fact sheet combats this misinformation and uplifts evidence-based solutions by debunking the myths that the gun lobby and conservative politicians frequently circulate following gun violence in America.

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By Jill Rosenthal

Across the United States and globally, human-caused climate change is producing more severe weather, and there is no escaping the increase in extreme heat and its devastating impact. The health implications of extreme heat—brought on by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases that raise both average and extreme temperatures—include heat stroke, heart disease, and respiratory disorders such as asthma. These conditions can result in disability and death. As a result, extreme heat is killing more people in the United States than any other type of severe weather or climate disaster and disproportionately affecting low-income areas and communities of color. -- CLICK STORY TO READ MORE

Abortion and contraception are distinct—medically, legally, and methodologically. Contraception is “any method, medicine, or device used to prevent pregnancy.” Abortion is “an intervention to end a pregnancy.” Nevertheless, some lawmakers at the state and federal level have begun attempting to conflate the two, suggesting that some forms of birth control are actually forms of abortion. In a world where people had access to full-spectrum reproductive health care—including abortion—the misclassification of contraception as abortion would be inaccurate but perhaps not dangerous.

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