National

Doctors at Children's Medical Center Dallas will be allowed to intake and treat transgender youth who seek gender-affirming care for at least another year after a  county judge granted a temporary injunction on Monday, the Dallas Morning News reports.

Why it matters: The move comes after the hospital decided to stop providing certain medical treatments, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy, to new trans patients. Texas has implemented several anti-trans policies in the past year, including one that allows the state to investigate parents for child abuse if they seek gender-affirming care for their trans kids.

Ximena Lopez, the doctor who led the program for trans youth, had requested the injunction in a bid to restore treatments amid the larger court battle over whether to end the policy for good.

The injunction will remain in place until the court holds a trial to hear arguments for and against the program. The trial is currently slated for April 18, 2023.

Dallas

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Dallas hospital can continue treating new adolescent trans patients, judge rules

The hospital had opted to stop providing some medical treatments, such as puberty blockers, to new trans patients.

Photo of the Dallas skyline on a sunny day

The Dallas skyline on July 21, 2020. Photo: Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images

Doctors at Children&#x27;s Medical Center Dallas will be allowed to intake and treat transgender youth who seek <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="gender-affirming care" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/03/04/texas-order-trans-kids-greg-abbott-mental-health" data-vars-content-id="30a94ef3-9087-4860-b7ba-1b2e2353dd96" data-vars-headline="Dallas hospital can continue treating new adolescent trans patients, judge rules" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/03/04/texas-order-trans-kids-greg-abbott-mental-health" target="_self">gender-affirming care</a> for at least another year after a county judge granted a temporary injunction on Monday, the <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Dallas Morning News reports" data-vars-click-url="https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2022/05/23/treatments-for-trans-youth-at-dallas-hospital-can-continue-until-april-court-orders/" data-vars-content-id="30a94ef3-9087-4860-b7ba-1b2e2353dd96" data-vars-headline="Dallas hospital can continue treating new adolescent trans patients, judge rules" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2022/05/23/treatments-for-trans-youth-at-dallas-hospital-can-continue-until-april-court-orders/" target="_blank">Dallas Morning News reports</a>.Why it matters: The move comes after the hospital decided to stop providing certain medical treatments, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy, to new trans patients. Texas has implemented several anti-trans policies in the past year, including one that allows the state to <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="investigate parents for child abuse" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/05/13/texas-supreme-court-investigation-trans-kids" data-vars-content-id="30a94ef3-9087-4860-b7ba-1b2e2353dd96" data-vars-headline="Dallas hospital can continue treating new adolescent trans patients, judge rules" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/05/13/texas-supreme-court-investigation-trans-kids" target="_self">investigate parents for child abuse</a> if they seek gender-affirming care for their trans kids.

The U.S. faces a range of health care flashpoints — unaffordable drugs, opioids, vaping — as we debate whether to adopt universal care. For now, the Affordable Care Act is the law of the land, but Republicans want to issue it a final death blow.

Health

President Biden has made the COVID-19 crisis and a post-Trump return to national unity and traditional democratic ideals his top priorities. From vaccinations to stimulus to schools, Biden is seeking bipartisan compromise while showing a willingness to use executive authority and bare Democratic majorities in the U.S. House and Senate to implement his policies. Republican leaders are navigating deep party divisions over if and how to move beyond former President Trump.

Politics & Policy

New Jersey's Acting Attorney General Matthew Platkin said Monday that the state has launched an investigation into the social media platforms Discord and Twitch in connection to the Buffalo mass shooting.

Why it matters: The alleged shooter killed 10 people, all of whom were Black, and posted footage from the attack in real-time to Twitch, a platform owned by Amazon that often features live videos of gaming. The probe will determine whether lax content moderation and policy enforcement allowed the platforms to serve as a hub for violent extremism.

Details: The suspect in the Buffalo mass shootings allegedly used both Discord and Twitch to plan and publicize the shooting, according to Platkin's office.

The investigation will examine whether the platforms are "violating state consumer protection laws by failing to moderate harmful content and enforce policies prohibiting violent extremism and hateful conduct."

It will also focus on how moderation policies are applied to minors and children who use the sites.

What they're saying: "These social media platforms have enormous reach, especially with young people, and have shown themselves to be staging grounds for hateful and extremist content that may radicalize children and others," Platkin said in a statement. 

"Under New Jersey law companies must deliver on their promises, and the persistence of violent extremism and hateful conduct on these platforms casts doubt on their purported content moderation and enforcement policies and practices."

The big picture: New York has launched a similar probe into social media companies and other online resources that the alleged shooter might have used to discuss and amplify his intentions.

Go deeper: Live streaming motivated the Buffalo shooter

New Jersey launches probe into Twitch, Discord after Buffalo shooting

The suspect allegedly used both Discord and Twitch to plan and publicize the attack, which killed 10 people.

Photo showing a black gaming console set in front of a large screen with the purple Twitch logo

Photo: Lionel Bonaventure/AFP via Getty Images

New Jersey

Gaming

New Jersey&#x27;s Acting Attorney General Matthew Platkin said Monday that the state has launched an investigation into the social media platforms Discord and Twitch in <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="connection to the Buffalo mass shooting" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/05/14/buffalo-shooting-tops-supermarket" data-vars-content-id="46d3c277-ca4c-4937-9bcd-384152a1acdb" data-vars-headline="New Jersey launches probe into Twitch, Discord after Buffalo shooting" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/05/14/buffalo-shooting-tops-supermarket" target="_self">connection to the Buffalo mass shooting</a>.Why it matters: The alleged shooter killed 10 people, all of whom were Black, and <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="posted footage from the attack" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/05/15/buffalo-mass-shooter-what-we-know" data-vars-content-id="46d3c277-ca4c-4937-9bcd-384152a1acdb" data-vars-headline="New Jersey launches probe into Twitch, Discord after Buffalo shooting" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/05/15/buffalo-mass-shooter-what-we-know" target="_self">posted footage from the attack</a> in real-time to Twitch, a platform owned by Amazon that often features live videos of gaming. The probe will determine whether lax content moderation and policy enforcement allowed the platforms to serve as a hub for violent extremism.

From the Valley to D.C., Big Tech players like Facebook, Google and Amazon are under more scrutiny than ever as new technology develops and privacy and antitrust concerns grow in lockstep with companies’ ambitions.

Technology

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Monday officials are in the process of releasing some Jynneos vaccines to help prevent monkeypox, Reuters reports.

Why it matters: Monkeybox is not likely to cause a global pandemic like COVID did, but confirmed cases in at least 12 countries have spurred concern about the spread of infections. 

Monkeypox can be transmitted by droplets and via close contact with infected skin lesions or contaminated materials.

Details: The U.S. has over 1,000 Jynneos doses in its national stockpile, CDC officials said Monday.

Rollout is expected to ramp up quickly in the coming weeks, per Reuters.

Jynneos is licensed in the United States to prevent monkeypox and smallpox.

The big picture: There are currently no specific treatments available for monkeypox, according to the CDC.

What we know about the new monkeypox outbreak

Monkeypox symptoms to watch for as first U.S. outbreak cases reported

CDC to release some Jynneos vaccines for monkeypox

The U.S. has over 1,000 Jynneos doses in its national stockpile, CDC officials said Monday.

Photo of the CDC logo hanging on a wooden wall

A podium with the logo for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at the Tom Harkin Global Communications Center on Oct. 5, 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia. Photo: Kevin C. Cox via Getty Images

Monkeypox

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Monday officials are in the process of releasing some Jynneos vaccines to help prevent <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="monkeypox" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/05/19/monkeypox-outbreak-us-world" data-vars-content-id="8a939339-08b3-40a3-b86e-f4c68a8c5b24" data-vars-headline="CDC to release some Jynneos vaccines for monkeypox" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/05/19/monkeypox-outbreak-us-world" target="_self">monkeypox</a>, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Reuters reports" data-vars-click-url="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-health-officials-releasing-some-jynneos-vaccine-doses-monkeypox-cdc-2022-05-23/?taid=628bd62d7f522f0001585dd1&amp;utm_campaign=trueanthem&amp;utm_medium=trueanthem&amp;utm_source=twitter" data-vars-content-id="8a939339-08b3-40a3-b86e-f4c68a8c5b24" data-vars-headline="CDC to release some Jynneos vaccines for monkeypox" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-health-officials-releasing-some-jynneos-vaccine-doses-monkeypox-cdc-2022-05-23/?taid=628bd62d7f522f0001585dd1&amp;utm_campaign=trueanthem&amp;utm_medium=trueanthem&amp;utm_source=twitter" target="_blank">Reuters reports</a>.Why it matters: Monkeybox is not likely to cause a global pandemic like COVID did, but <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="confirmed cases in at least 12 countrie" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/05/19/monkeypox-outbreak-us-world" data-vars-content-id="8a939339-08b3-40a3-b86e-f4c68a8c5b24" data-vars-headline="CDC to release some Jynneos vaccines for monkeypox" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/05/19/monkeypox-outbreak-us-world" target="_self">confirmed cases in at least 12 countrie</a>s have spurred concern about the spread of infections.

As the Supreme Court seems poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, Native American women are sounding the alarm about how it would disproportionately endanger their lives.

Why it matters: Advocates fear overturning Roe would lead to a flood of unsafe abortions, health problems and deaths for Native American women, who suffer some of the highest rates of sexual violence in the U.S. and are two times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women. 

Context: The vast majority of Native Americans receive health care through the federal Indian Health Service per treaty agreements, but the Hyde Amendment prohibits the use of federal funding for abortions except in cases of rape, incest or when a pregnant person's life is threatened.

The risk of rape or sexual assault is 2.5 times higher for Native women compared to the rest of the U.S., according to the Urban Indian Health Institute. A 2018 study found that one in two Native women will be victims of sexual violence in their lifetime.

Some states have recently enacted abortion bans that do not allow exceptions for rape or incest. "Now that they are denying these services, Indigenous women are out again. There's nowhere to turn," said Lauren van Schilfgaarde, a member of the Cochiti Pueblo, who serves as director of UCLA Law School's tribal legal development clinic. 

State of play: The nonprofit Indigenous Women Rising saw a surge in abortion-related requests for funding after Texas' abortion ban took effect in September. 

Co-founder Nicole Martin, who is Laguna and Diné, said the leaked ruling has only heightened the increase in "frantic and panicked callers." 

Most need money to cover transportation, child care and hotel costs while traveling out of state. Native American women make roughly $0.60 to the dollar of white men as of 2019, according to the Institute for Women's Policy Research. 

With high maternal mortality rates among Native Americans, many also worry that bans similar to Texas' will hurt doctors' abilities to treat people who suffer miscarriages.

What they’re saying: Without Roe, the U.S. would see disparities widen when it comes to maternal mortality, poverty and mental health issues — especially among Indigenous folks who are forced to carry pregnancies after being raped, said Abigail Echo-Hawk, a member of the Pawnee Nation and the chief research officer of the Seattle Indian Health Board. 

"This is going to impact detrimentally the current crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls," she added, pointing to the role abortion plays for survivors.

Some anti-abortion Indigenous women have argued that the procedure hurts "unborn Native Americans" who are among the most vulnerable in the U.S., but Echo-Hawk rejected that line of thinking.

"It is our responsibility to carry on the future for the next generations, and that includes being able to make autonomous choices on when we birth and when we don't."

Reproductive autonomy is especially important for Native Americans, who are still suffering in the aftermath of mass forced sterilizations in the 20th century, Martin said. 

"The possibility of Roe being overturned is another tool of conquest," she said. "That's what colonizers knew worked best: Eliminate women and you eliminate the community." 

"We shouldn't have to plan for creating abortion funds to get women into specific states to ensure that they can get safe and legal abortions ... And we shouldn't have been and shouldn't have to be dependent on states but we know the federal government isn't going to uphold our right and so we're going to have to do whatever it takes," Echo-Hawk added.

Indigenous women fear for their safety in a post-Roe America

"The possibility of Roe being overturned is another tool of conquest."

Photo of a person holding up a sign that says "Reproductive rights are human rights" at a protest 

Abortion rights activists at the "Bans Off Our Bodies" Reproductive Rights rally on May 14 in Los Angeles. Photo: Araya Doheny/FilmMagic via Getty Images

Abortion

Zelensky proposes compensation for "victims of Russian aggression"

"Russia will feel the true weight of every missile, every bomb, every projectile it has fired at us."

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky speaks in a live video during the opening ceremony for the 75th annual Cannes Film Festival on May 17, 2022 in Cannes, France. Photo: Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images

Russian invasion of Ukraine

Russia

Ukrainian President <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Volodymyr Zelensky" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/02/22/russia-ukraine-invasion-putin-live-updates" data-vars-content-id="e3d735b9-29ab-4592-b89d-8347f2f90277" data-vars-headline="Zelensky proposes compensation for &quot;victims of Russian aggression&quot;" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/02/22/russia-ukraine-invasion-putin-live-updates" target="_self">Volodymyr Zelensky</a> proposed a deal Friday to secure compensation for countries that &quot;<a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="suffered from Russia&#x27;s actions" data-vars-click-url="https://t.me/V_Zelenskiy_official/1714" data-vars-content-id="e3d735b9-29ab-4592-b89d-8347f2f90277" data-vars-headline="Zelensky proposes compensation for &quot;victims of Russian aggression&quot;" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://t.me/V_Zelenskiy_official/1714" target="_blank">suffered from Russia&#x27;s actions</a>.&quot;Why it matters: Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova told the U.S. Helsinki Commission earlier this month that Russia has committed <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="nearly 10,000 war crimes" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/05/05/ukraine-invasion-venediktova-russia-war-crimes" data-vars-content-id="e3d735b9-29ab-4592-b89d-8347f2f90277" data-vars-headline="Zelensky proposes compensation for &quot;victims of Russian aggression&quot;" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/05/05/ukraine-invasion-venediktova-russia-war-crimes" target="_self">nearly 10,000 war crimes</a> over the course of the war. A compensation deal would show aggressors that they will be held accountable for their actions at the international level, Zelensky said.

China is becoming the most formidable rival America has faced, and the risk of confrontation with Russia, North Korea or Iran still looms. Authoritarians are rising, the chaotic Afghanistan exit revealed the limits of U.S. power, and the pandemic, climate change and other critical challenges continue to pose grave threats.

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Stories

Dallas hospital can continue treating new adolescent trans patients, judge rules

New Jersey launches probe into Twitch, Discord after Buffalo shooting

CDC to release some Jynneos vaccines for monkeypox

Indigenous women fear for their safety in a post-Roe America

Zelensky proposes compensation for "victims of Russian aggression"