Culture

Supreme Court Nominee Amy Coney Barrett Declines To Comment on Abortion Rights & More in Today’s News

Lead Photo: Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the third day of her Supreme Court confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on October 14, 2020 in Washington, DC. Photo by Andrew Caballero-Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images
Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the third day of her Supreme Court confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on October 14, 2020 in Washington, DC. Photo by Andrew Caballero-Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images

Las Notis is a daily news column that gets you up to speed on the political, media + other goings-on in the United States, Latin America, and the diaspora—all in one quick digest.

Here’s your glimpse at what’s going on today:

    • The Senate Judiciary continued with its third day of hearings for Amy Coney Barrett, Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee. Barrett has remained elusive on several topics, declining to comment on her legal views toward abortion rights, the Affordable Care Act, and votings rights. She also rankled Democrats when she shared that “no one is above the law,” but refused to clarify if the president has the legal power to pardon himself. [WaPo]
    • Coronavirus cases are trending upward in 36 American states, with surges occurring in the Midwest and West in particular. The numbers are especially serious in North Dakota and South Dakota, which are reporting more new cases per person than any state has previously. [NYT]
    • After launching an investigation into hysterectomies performed without the consent of migrant women while in ICE detention, Mexico says it has identified two potential victims who were subject to non-consensual surgeries while detained in the U.S. Mexico’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that one Mexican woman received “a surgical intervention” that she did not authorize, while another said she received “a surgical intervention” that she did not authorize. [CNN]
    • Thousands of people took part in demonstrations against the government in Argentina as the country’s coronavirus cases continued to rise, hitting more than 900,000 infections on Monday. The protesters took aim at the government’s response to the health crisis as well as issues of corruption. [BBC]
    • AOC’s birthday was yesterday, and her supporters celebrated by posting AOC-inspired make-up tutorials on social media and encouraging others to vote. Laurie Hernandez, a member of the United States’ gold-medal women’s gymnastics team, was one of the people who posted a tribute to the Congresswoman on TikTok. [Teen Vogue]