The bill was drafted by the National Right to Life Committee and it’s called “The Kansas Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act”. It prohibits the use of forceps, clamps, scissors and other instruments in order to cut or otherwise reduce the fetus as part of the removal procedure. Though similar bills have been introduced in other states, so far Kansas is the only one to pass such a ban. It does allow for limited exceptions. In recent years, the state has passed more and more restrictive legislation to limit access to the abortion procedures. Opponents call this newly-enacted ban dangerous, saying it dictates to qualified physicians how they can practice medicine and treat their patients. For NPR News, I’m Aileen LeBlanc in Wichita. 

 

A white police officer in South Carolina has been charged with murder in the shooting death of a black motorist Saturday. The charges come after a video surveillance showing the officer firing several times at the victim as he tried to run away. Officer Michael Slager later said he shot the man because he feared for his life. 

 

Man-made changes to the Earth’s climate could result in more cases of heat stroke, asthma and insect-borne diseases. NPR’s Scott Horsley reports the Obama administration is highlighting the findings of a new inter-agency report on the potential health effects of climate change. 

 

Many reports suggest a growing concentration of heat trapping gases will leave more people vulnerable to heat-related illnesses, especially the very young and old. Allergies are likely to be more severe and long lasting and disease-carrying ticks and mosquitoes may spread to areas where they are not or rarely common. President Obama underscored those potential health threats during a round-table discussion at Harvard University. 

 

“We’ve got a lot more work to do if we are going to deal with this problem in an effective way and make sure that our families and our kids are safe.”

 

Later this spring the Surgeon General will host a White House summit meeting on the potential health effects of a changing climate. Scott Horsley, NPR News, the White House. 

 

Senator Rand Paul says he’s running for president and his top priority is to keep Washington out of Americans’ lives. 

 

“The Washington machine that gobbles up our freedoms and invade every nook and cranny of our lives must be stopped.”

 

Paul announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination in Louisville Kentucky today. He said he’s worried that opportunity and hope are slipping away and both parties along with the entire political system are to blame. 

 

On Wall Street today, the Dow fell 5 points to close at 17, 875. The Nasdaq was down 7 points. 

 

This is NPR.

 

House speaker John Boehner is lashing out against the framework deal reached with Iran last week. He says it would pave the way to a nuclear-armed Iran and warns the deal’s inspection and verification provisions are not full proof. 

 

The UN Security Council is calling for immediate humanitarian access to help thousands of people trapped in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria. The Yarmouk camp is just south of the capital Damascus. As NPR’s Alison Muse reports, people are stuck amid clashes and shelling by self-declared Islamic State militants trying to gain control.

 

The UN calls the situation in Yarmouk “beyond inhumane”. Some 18,000 residents have been living under a regime sieged there for the past two years. With the ISIS power grab, their situation is even worse as clashes rage in streets. Salim Salamah of the Palestinian Leagure for Human Rights says residents also face government airstrikes and inaccurate barrel bomb attacks—25 in the past day alone. Stuck at home with no running water, families are running out of supplies. Salamah says those who want to leave the camp must be allowed safe passage, especially opposition activists. Those who have nowhere else to go should be provide urgent aid. Alison Muse, NPR News, Beirut. 

 

A jury in Boston is deliberating 30 charges against admitted marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. His lawyers say Mr. Tsarnaev conspired with his brother to carry out the attack and planted a bomb, but they argue that it was the older brother killed during a police shootout who masterminded the bombing. 

 

I’m Barbara Klein, NPR News in Washington.