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There are different types of flu viruses, and the one causing illnesses in most parts of the country is a surprise. It’s a version that normally doesn’t abound until March or April. That virus generally isn’t as dangerous to older people — good news, since most flu hospitalizations and deaths each winter occur in the elderly. However, such viruses can be hard on children and people younger than 50. Louisiana was the first state to really get hit hard, with doctors there saying they began seeing large numbers of flu-like illnesses in October. In both of the previous two flu...

WASHINGTON—Parents of infants under 1 year of age or adopted children of any age could receive in advance up to $5,000 of their child tax credit to help cover expenses under a bipartisan bill introduced Dec. 4. The “Advancing Support for Working Families Act” was unveiled during a joint Capitol Hill news conference by Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), as well as Reps. Colin Allred (D-Texas) and Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.). .... “This does not raise taxes, and it does not have mandates. We give options to the parents,” Cassidy said during the news...

Just under 30 amicus briefs were filed for June Medical Services v. Gee on Monday, urging the Supreme Court to protect access to abortion and strike down a Louisiana law that could effectively eliminate abortion in the state. The "friend of the court" briefs represented about 200 organizations and more than 700 individuals. Though many of the briefs came from pro-abortion rights advocates like Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union, a handful came from non-partisan groups including the American Bar Association, the American Medical Association, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Academy of Pediatrics....

An embattled Mississippi judge's nomination to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans faces opposition from civil rights groups that claim he has a poor record on issues involving race and sexual assault—and from conservatives who claim he is not conservative enough. For the fifth time, the U.S. Senate committee in charge of advancing federal court nominees cancelled plans to hold a vote on Judge Halil Suleyman "Sul" Ozerden last month, and has not rescheduled plans to hold a vote. In an October letter, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights President Vanita Gupta wrote to...

A Fifth Circuit Court ruling provides even more concerning details about the Louisiana abortion facility at the center of a U.S. Supreme Court case. Last week, news broke that the Hope Medical Group abortion facility may be covering up the sexual abuse of young girls. Now, a Fifth Circuit ruling, issued on Nov. 27, suggests one abortionist in the state may be performing abortions that lead to second-trimester babies being born alive. In November, the Louisiana Department of Justice announced suspicions about alleged criminal activity that may have happened at the Hope Medical Group. It accused the Hope Medical Group...

Monday on his MSNBC show “Morning Joe,” Joe Scarborough addressed Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) “parroting Russian propaganda points” by suggesting Ukraine and Russia both interfered with the 2016 presidential election. Scarborough said that by repeating talking points that have been “discredited,” GOP lawmakers are turning themselves into “Russian assets.”

More than 350 lawyers and legal professionals who had abortions filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court Monday as part of the latest landmark abortion case. "My hope is that my classmate on the Supreme Court will not want to demonize me," Claudia Hammerman, a partner at the prestigious law firm Paul, Weiss, told ABC News. Hammerman is also the lead signer of the brief and a Harvard Law School alumnae. "I was smart and I deserved my career and I deserved to be able to give it my all and to become a mother when I was fully,...

A construction worker who became a witness in a federal workplace safety investigation after he was injured during the collapse of a new Hard Rock Hotel in New Orleans was deported by immigration authorities Friday, his lawyers said. The worker, Delmer Joel Ramirez Palma, had to scramble to stay alive while metal and debris rained down and parts of the 18-story structure pancaked around him and killed three of his colleagues on Oct. 12. Mr. Ramirez Palma had raised concerns about problems with the construction with supervisors multiple times, according to his lawyers. After the building crumbled around him, he...

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry has announced the Louisiana Department of Justice may have uncovered evidence that an abortion center in Baton Rouge committed “criminal and professional misconduct” and then tried to hide the evidence of its actions from authorities. According to the Washington Times, Hope Medical Group for Women hid evidence from the U.S. Supreme Court in its legal challenge against the state’s regulations on abortion clinics. The abortion center has challenged Louisiana law that requires abortion doctors to have admitting privileges at local hospitals, a case expected to be heard by the high court in March 2020. Under...

The Supreme Court has set a date, March 4, to hear oral arguments in a case over a Louisiana abortion law. The hot-button case is about a Louisiana law that would require doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital. Critics say this is aimed at forcing abortion clinics to close. In February, the court ruled to prevent the law from taking effect while it faces a legal challenge. Chief Justice John Roberts joined the liberal justices in this decision, but it is unclear whether he would vote to block the law permanently. A similar law...

Last night's Democratic presidential debate featured a slew of predictable boilerplate from the candidates advocating for abortion. First, Sen. Amy Klobuchar got asked about it, and she stated the usual stuff, and then Sen. Elizabeth Warren got asked a slightly different question by MSNBC host Rachel Maddow about whether there was any room left in the Democratic party for a pro-life Democrat, such as Louisiana's governor John Bel Edwards. Warren was evasive, failing to answer the question directly, but she made it pretty clear there was no room.

FULL TITLE: Democratic Attorneys General Association to Impose ‘Abortion Litmus Test’ before Endorsing Candidates The Democratic Attorneys General Association announced Monday that it would only endorse candidates who publicly pledge to defend and expand access to abortion, becoming the first national party committee to establish such an explicit test. “Attorneys general are on the front lines of the fight for reproductive freedom,” New York attorney general Letitia James said in a video promoting the announcement. “They have the power to protect your rights.” Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum of Oregon, who is a co-chair of the committee and seeking re-election next...

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), speaking to Fox News’ Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday,” refused to let the anchor railroad him or put forward an anti-Trump agenda regarding the ongoing impeachment hearings against the president. It’s worth reading their fiery exchange word for word to see what went on here — and how Scalise pushed back hard against a certain line of questioning and reasoning to set the record straight. “David Holmes,” said Wallace, is “the American official in Ukraine who says he overheard a conversation between the president and Gordan Sondland on July 26, the day after President Trump...

A popular song once told us that “One is the loneliest number that there’s ever been.” And that’s the case for Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards. Edwards is the only Democrat governor in the nation who is pro-life on abortion. He one of just a handful of pro-life Democrats elected at any major federal or statewide level — a reminder that most pro-life Democrats have become Republicans as the Democrat Party has drifted further left and become ubiquitously pro-abortion. Edwards beat pro-life Republican businessman Eddie Rispone 51.3% to 48.7% over the weekend. national pundits tried to use the victory as...

Marco Rubio was roundly criticized when during the 2016 primary he made suggestive remarks about Donald Trump's supposedly small hands. But Joe Scarborough decided to jump right down in the same gutter on Monday's Morning Joe. Commenting on the loss of Ed Rispone, the Trump-backed candidate in the Louisiana governor's race, Scarborough smirked: "Little hands, little fingers, little coattails."Get the rest of the story and view the video here.

Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards will win a second term as Louisiana governor, defeating his Republican opponent Eddie Rispone. Going into Saturday’s runoff election, surveys conducted by pollsters showed the two virtually tied, with few undecideds and neither candidate making significant inroads into the other’s base. Analysts had predicted the race would come down to who got their supporters to the polls. Urban ministers, organized labor and African-American politicians worked for the 53-year-old Edwards, who is the only Democratic governor in the Deep South. Rispone, a 70-year-old businessman making his first run for public office, had President Donald Trump at...

Voters elected John Bel Edwards to a second term as Louisiana’s governor in a General Election held Saturday, Nov. 16, according to projections by WAFB Political Analyst Jim Engster. Edwards was first elected in 2015, breaking through an eight-year lockout of Democratic governors across the Deep South. ... With a clear challenger for Edwards, President Trump and other prominent Republicans rallied behind Rispone. But, Edwards used President Trump’s backing of Rispone to his own advantage, increasing his support among minority voters. Edwards is expected to make his victory speech shortly.

The contest is also an increasingly close one. Incumbent Gov. John Bel Edwards faces a serious challenge from Republican businessman Eddie Rispone, who’s attempted to tie himself tightly with Trump during the campaign. In the week ahead of the election, polling had the two candidates nearly tied, and Cook Political Report has classified the race as a “toss-up.”

f you thought there weren’t any major elections until the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 3, guess again. On Saturday, Louisiana will choose between incumbent Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards and Republican businessman Eddie Rispone for governor. And the race down in the Bayou looks increasingly close, so it’s an open question whether Edwards can once again overcome Louisiana’s deep red hue to win reelection. Here’s where things stand heading into Election Day.

Eddie Rispone has a very narrow lead in the newest poll in the Louisiana governor’s runoff. Rispone received 45.5% compared to 45% for Governor John Bel Edwards with 9% undecided. The poll was conducted by JMC Analytics and Polling. The survey showed that both Edwards and Rispone lost ground from their previous poll a couple of weeks ago but Edwards lost more ground. Previously, Edwards was leading Rispone 48%-46%. The poll shows Edwards winning in metro New Orleans and metro Baton Rouge. The two men have virtually tied in metro Shreveport. Meanwhile, Rispone is winning the rest of the state....