Next week, Maryland voters will be asked to decide if the state should enshrine reproductive freedom in its constitution.
The ballot measure comes two years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and the constitutional right to abortion.
If passed, the measure would confirm the fundamental right to reproductive freedom around decisions to prevent, continue or end pregnancy. The amendment says the state may not interfere with that right “unless justified by a compelling state interest achieved by the least restrictive means.”
“It’s important to advocates that we make sure that the right to reproductive healthcare remains with a person and their doctor,” said Erin Bradley, chair of Freedom in Reproduction Maryland.
A University of Maryland, Baltimore County poll last month found about 69% of Maryland voters support it.
Currently in Maryland, abortion is legal under “very protective” policies, according to the Guttmacher Institute.
Gov. Wes Moore signed a shield law last year that offers protection for medical providers from out-of-state investigations.
State law holds that parents of minors must be notified of an abortion, with some exceptions.
“There is no serious effort to take away abortion rights in Annapolis, and so we think it’s just unnecessary,” said Jeffrey Trimbath of the Maryland Family Institute. “It’s an unnecessary distraction from what Marylanders really care about.”
The group Health Not Harm MD has been putting up signs saying, “Vote no on Question 1. No sex change surgeries on children without parental consent.”
The group told News4 it wishes the ballot measure would spell out that minors need to notify their parents before making decisions. It also says the amendment isn’t specific in its wording and worries “decisions around preventing pregnancy” could equate to transgender surgeries.
“We are concerned that by giving children the same rights as adults to obtain any types of drugs or surgeries related to their reproductive system, that is taking away a parent’s involvement in their child’s decisions for healthcare and education,” said Health Not Harm MD Chair Deborah Brocato.
Reproductive rights activists say Maryland laws wouldn’t change and minors would still have to notify parents. They also say the ballot measure doesn’t speak to transgender surgeries.
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A new lawsuit from Maryland accuses the WWE and its founders of fostering a culture of sexual abuse within the organization and looking the other way while a longtime ringside announcer preyed on young men he hired as “ring boys.”
BALTIMORE (AP) — A new lawsuit accuses the WWE and its founders of fostering a culture of sexual abuse within the organization and looking the other way while a longtime ringside announcer preyed on young men he hired as “ring boys.”
The suit was filed Wednesday in Maryland, where a recent law change eliminated the state’s statute of limitations for child sex abuse claims, opening the doors for victims to sue regardless of their age or how much time has passed.
The complaint alleges that Melvin Phillips, who died in 2012, would target young men from disadvantaged backgrounds and hire them as “ring boys” to help with the preparations for wrestling matches. Phillips would then assault them in his dressing room, hotels and even in the wrestlers’ locker room, according to the complaint, which was filed on behalf of five men.
The abuse detailed in the lawsuit occurred over several years during Phillips’ long tenure with the organization, which spanned from the 1970s to the early 1990s. Because of his death, Phillips is not among the named defendants.
Instead, the complaint targets World Wrestling Entertainment founders Vince and Linda McMahon, the husband and wife team who grew the organization into the powerhouse it is today. The couple was well aware of Phillips’ brazen misconduct but did little to stop him, according to the complaint.
“This wasn’t an isolated instance,” said attorney Greg Gutzler, who represents the five unnamed plaintiffs. “There was a culture of abuse and it started at the top.”
According to the lawsuit, which was filed in Baltimore County Circuit Court, the abuse occurred in several states, including Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania. The plaintiffs were all between 13 and 15 when they met Phillips.
Gutzler said the plaintiffs finally found the strength to come forward and sue after Vince McMahon resigned from WWE’s parent company TKO Group Holdings earlier this year amid his own sexual misconduct scandal. He resigned in January after a woman who previously worked for WWE filed a federal lawsuit accusing him of serious misconduct, including offering her to a star wrestler for sex and distributing pornographic pictures and videos of her. McMahon had already stepped down as WWE’s CEO in 2022 during an investigation into allegations that match those in the federal lawsuit.
An attorney representing McMahon, Jessica Rosenberg, denied the latest abuse allegations contained in Wednesday’s complaint. In a written statement, she referenced New York Post reporting from the early ’90s, saying the recent lawsuit asserts “these same false claims.”
“We will vigorously defend Mr. McMahon and are confident the court will find that these claims are untrue and unfounded,” the statement read.
Emails were sent to Linda McMahon and her organization seeking comment.
Attorneys for the other defendants aren’t yet listed in online court records. Emails seeking comment were sent to WWE and TKO Group Holdings.
McMahon was the leader and most recognizable face at WWE for decades. When he purchased what was then the World Wrestling Federation from his father in 1982, wrestling matches took place at small venues and appeared on local cable channels. WWE matches are now held in professional sports stadiums, and the organization has a sizable overseas following.
WWE merged last April with the company that runs Ultimate Fighting Championship to create the $21.4 billion sports entertainment company TKO Group Holdings.
The lawsuit alleges that WWE leaders “gave Phillips free rein to use his highly public WWE personality and image to entice local kids,” allowing them to meet famous wrestlers and attend the popular events.
It alleges the McMahons fired Phillips in 1988 because of abuse allegations surfacing around that time, but they rehired him six weeks later.
Linda McMahon, who stepped down as the company’s chief executive in 2009, later led the Small Business Administration under former President Donald Trump.
The lawsuit was filed under a Maryland law that went into effect last year after state lawmakers voted to eliminate the statute of limitations for such cases. Before the change, people in Maryland who were sexually abused as children could bring lawsuits up until they turned 38.
Lawmakers approved the change with the Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal in mind after a scathing investigative report revealed the scope of the problem within the Archdiocese of Baltimore. But it opened the door for legal action against a range of other entities, including the state’s juvenile justice agency.
However, the future of these claims is uncertain because the constitutionality of the law is currently being decided by the Supreme Court of Maryland.
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Maryland authorities have arrested three people from Alabama and one from Tennessee after they say the group conned an older woman out of tens of thousands of dollars.
Police in Prince George’s County, which is in metro Washington, D.C., arrested the four suspects “moments after” they were approached “their next potential victim” in a shopping center parking lot on Oct. 24, the department said Wednesday in a Facebook post.
Police became aware of the group on Oct. 22 after a woman called 911 and reported being scammed, police said.
Here’s what you need to know, including how the scam works.
Police say the group used a “pigeon drop” scam, which involves suspects “convincing a victim to give them a large amount of cash as collateral with the hope of sharing a sum of money.”
In this case, two of the suspects encountered the woman outside a business on Oct. 21 in the District Heights, Maryland area, police said. They told the woman they found a bag full of money and asked if it belonged to her, police said.
The suspects then convinced the woman to donate the money to charity instead of turning it into the police, according to the Facebook post. They persuaded the woman to withdraw money from her bank account to exchange those bills with the found cash so no one could trace the donation, police said.
Over two days, the woman withdrew nearly $40,000 from her account, which the suspects stole, police said. Upon realizing that she was being scammed, the woman called the police on Oct. 22.
Police describe the woman as “elderly” but did not share her age.
Prince George’s County Police have arrested: 77-year-old James Davis, 64-year-old Connie Williams, 59-year-old Mary Daniel and 36-year-old Kenneth Gooden. Davis, Williams and Daniel are from Birmingham, Alabama, while Daniel is from Antioch, Tennessee.
They remained in custody Wednesday but it’s unclear if they’ve been given a bond. USA TODAY could not immediately identify whether they had obtained an attorney.
The department said there could be other victims in the case and urged anyone who thinks they’ve been scammed to call authorities.
“The (department) reminds residents to never give money or financial information to anyone who you just met in person, online or on the phone,” the agency said. “If something seems to be good to be true, it usually is.”
A multi-vehicle crash has closed part of Interstate 81 in Franklin County near the Maryland line, traffic maps show.
Northbound lanes are closed as of 6:30 a.m. from exit 1 toward Mason Dixon Road, to exit 3 toward Route 11/Molly Pitcher Highway, according to 511PA.
It’s unknown if anyone was injured, or how many vehicles were involved in the crash.
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