Administration pauses enforcement of abortion restriction
By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is giving taxpayer-funded family planning clinics more time to comply with its new rule that says they no longer can refer women for abortions.
But the clinics reacted warily to the administration’s enforcement pause, and the widening rift could eventually affect basic health services for many low-income women.
A notice sent Saturday night to representatives of the clinics by the Department of Health and Human Services said the government “does not intend to bring enforcement actions” against clinics that are making “good-faith efforts to comply.” A copy of the notice, which includes a new timetable for the clinics, was provided to The Associated Press.
The department had said last Monday that it would require immediate compliance. That caught clinics off guard and led Planned Parenthood and other providers to say they would defy the order.
In a statement Sunday, the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association called the administration’s action “wholly insufficient.” The umbrella group, which represents the clinics, is suing in federal court to block the abortion restrictions.
Clare Coleman, president of the group, said the administration’s latest notice amounts to “a few bullet points.”
“Failure (by HHS) to provide detailed implementation guidance may be the start of a game of ‘gotcha’ as it assesses compliance with the rule,” the statement added.
The latest timetable from the administration says clinics must submit a compliance plan next month, and by mid-September must show they are carrying out most of the new requirements. Clinics have until next March to separate their office space and examination rooms from the physical facilities of providers that offer abortions.
By law, federal family planning money cannot be used to pay for abortions. But until now women who want to end their pregnancies could be referred by clinics to an abortion provider. Planned Parenthood, whose affiliates operate 400 clinics, provides both family planning and abortion services.
Under the administration rule, clinics also will be restricted in how they can discuss abortion as an option with pregnant women. Only physicians and advance practice clinicians will be able to have such discussions with patients. Counseling about abortion will be optional, instead of standard practice.
Known as Title X, the federal family planning program serves about 4 million women a year, and many low-income women also get basic health care from the clinics. The department distributes about $260 million a year in grants to keep the program running.
The rule barring abortion referrals is part of a series of administration efforts to remake government policy on reproductive health to please conservatives who are a key part of President Donald Trump’s political base. Religious conservatives see the family planning program as providing an indirect subsidy to Planned Parenthood, and they have long sought to deny the organization any federal money.

Coroner: Boy, 1, pulled from pool dies; autopsy slated
KUTZTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Authorities say a 1-year-old boy died after he was pulled from an eastern Pennsylvania swimming pool over the weekend.
The Lehigh County coroner’s office reports that King Reyes was found Saturday in the pool at his Weisenberg Township home.
The coroner said he was pronounced dead shortly before 4:30 p.m. at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Salisbury Township. An autopsy is scheduled Monday to determine the cause and manner of death.
State police at the Fogelsville barracks are investigating along with the coroner’s office.

Graduation party shooting wounds 4; no arrests reported
CLAIRTON, Pa. (AP) — Police in western Pennsylvania say four young people were wounded in an early morning shooting at a graduation party near Pittsburgh.
Allegheny County police say multiple 911 callers reported the shooting shortly before 12:30 a.m. Saturday in a yard in Clairton.
Police say several dozen people fled the area as officers and emergency responders arrived. They found a 16-year-old girl with a gunshot wound to the abdomen, a 17-year-old girl and an 18-year-old woman with gunshot wounds to the lower extremities, and a 14-year-old boy with gunshot wounds to upper and lower extremities. All were in stable condition.
Police say 100 to 125 people were at the party before the shooting began. The motive wasn’t clear and no arrests have been reported.

Heat, humidity grips East Coast as central US sees reprieve
NEW YORK (AP) — The East Coast on Sunday sweated through another day of heat and humidity in a stretch of weather so oppressive that a New Jersey drawbridge got stuck and suburban Boston police jokingly asked criminals to take it easy.
The central part of the country, meanwhile, enjoyed some relief. A cold front was steadily moving southward and eastward across the country, bringing down the temperatures in the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes, according to the National Weather Service.
But portions of the Central Plains and Mississippi Valley and much of the East Coast were still expected to see temperatures approaching nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius). The cooler weather settling in Monday and Tuesday will also bring severe storms and heavy rain that could cause flash flooding and produce damaging winds, the agency warned.
The Carolinas up to Maine were expected to see the highest temperatures Sunday. Daytime highs were expected in the mid-to-upper 90s, which, coupled with high humidity, could feel as hot as 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius).
Boston has opened up city pools free to residents this weekend as the region could see temperatures again approach 100 degrees, and area police posted a tongue-in-cheek request on their Facebook page.
“Due to the extreme heat, we are asking anyone thinking of doing criminal activity to hold off until Monday,” Braintree police wrote as the high temperatures set in Friday. “Conducting criminal activity, in this extreme heat is next level henchmen status, and also very dangerous.”
New York City has directed office buildings to set thermostats no lower than 78 degrees (26 degrees Celsius) through Sunday to reduce strain on its electrical grid.
In Philadelphia on Saturday, several hundred people were evacuated from a retirement community because of a partial power outage that officials say may have been heat-related.
Elsewhere in Pennsylvania, nine firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion and six transported to a hospital for treatment while fighting a house fire in sweltering conditions. The Strinestown Fire Company said all of the firefighters were released by the time Saturday’s Conewago Township blaze was extinguished.
In New Hampshire, rescue crews helped rescue a 29-year-old hiker after he was overcome by the heat in the White Mountain National Forest on Saturday.
In New Jersey, the Oceanic Bridge over the Navesink River was closed Saturday evening after it got stuck open. Monmouth County officials say heat caused expansion of the metal encasing the drawbridge, which is a popular route for residents and beachgoers.
The heat wave is starting to break in the northern reaches of New England.
A Canadian cold front brought a series of thunderstorms Saturday evening that dropped temperatures across northern Vermont and upstate New York. A heat advisory remains in effect Sunday for southern sections of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, where heat indexes could still top 100 degrees.
But in many parts of the country, it’s not expected to get much better when the sun goes down. Temperatures are expected to remain at or above the high 70s overnight (26 degrees Celsius).
Inland, strong wind and rain were expected to persist Sunday in the Midwest, and a cold front stretching between the Central Plains and the Great Lakes region is forecast to move south. But in addition to lower temperatures, the cold front is expected to carry showers and thunderstorms, which could lead to heavy rainfall and flash flooding in the Midwest.
Storms knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of residents in Michigan and Wisconsin Saturday.
Experts have warned residents in affected areas to limit their time outdoors. The risks are greatest for young children, the elderly and the sick.
On Saturday, the heat wave canceled events across the affected region.
In New York, authorities scrubbed a Times Square commemoration of the 1969 moon landing and an outdoor festival featuring soccer star Megan Rapinoe and musician John Legend.
Horse racing tracks from Maryland to upstate New York cancelled races and pushed back others, including the $1 million Haskell Invitational that went off after 8 p.m. at Monmouth Park in New Jersey.
In Chicago, a 5K run in Grant Park was nixed.
And baseball fans broiled at big-league ballparks across the country. At Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, “Let It Snow” and other winter-themed songs blared through the stadium PA.
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Associated Press writers Philip Marcelo and Mark Pratt in Boston, Wilson Ring in Vermont and Ron Todt in New Jersey contributed to this report.