In today’s blog post, we’re highlighting four events that we expect to make headlines in December.
- On Dec. 1, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in what’s been coined as “the most important abortion case in 30 years.” Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization brings into question a Mississippi law that bars abortion 15 weeks following conception and that would reverse the court’s historic Roe v. Wade decision.
- Federal funding will expire on Dec. 3, marking the latest deadline for congressional leaders to reach a resolution that would prevent a partial government shutdown. This follows Congress’s decision in September to pass a continuing resolution that would fund the government at existing spending levels until early December. If a spending bill is not approved by the end of the day Friday, non-essential government services will be forced to cease operations.
- The criminal trial of Kimberly Potter, the former Minnesota police officer facing manslaughter charges in the death of Daunte Wright, is expected to begin on Dec. 8. Potter, who reportedly mistook her handgun for her Taser, fatally shot Wright during a struggle with police after pulling him over for expired tags. The incident occurred during the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
- New Year’s Eve will mark the second anniversary of the first case of the novel coronavirus being reported to China’s World Health Organization office in the form of a cluster of 44 patients with “pneumonia of unknown etiology.” The disease was later named “severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)” or “COVID-19” by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses on Feb. 11, 2020, and has since claimed more than 5.2 million lives.
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