• Obama Administration's Transgender Bathroom Policy Raises Questions About Federal Funding

  The Obama administration's notice to U.S. public schools on Friday that transgender students must be allowed to use the bathroom of their choice raised questions about federal funding and legal authority that could play out for months.

  

• New Alabama Law Could Shutter Two Abortion Clinics Near Schools

  Alabama Governor Robert Bentley signed new abortion restrictions into law on Thursday, limiting the proximity of clinics to public schools and banning a procedure used to terminate pregnancies in the second trimester, local media reported.

  

• Pope Francis To Consider Allowing Women To Be Ordained As Deacons, US Catholics Praise Move

  Some prominent U.S. Roman Catholic groups welcomed the news on Thursday that Pope Francis has agreed to consider allowing women to be ordained as deacons, though some cautioned the move would be only a limited first step toward equality.

  

• Massachusetts Lawmakers Begin Debate Over Transgender Rights Bill

  The Massachusetts' Senate began debating a bill protecting the rights of transgender people on Thursday, a move some see as a rebuke to a North Carolina law (HB2) requiring people to use bathrooms corresponding to the sex on their birth certificates.

  

• Donald Trump, Paul Ryan To Meet in Effort to Heal Fissures in Republican Party

  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will hold an usual tete-a-tete on Thursday with Paul Ryan, the country's top elected Republican, to see if they can begin healing fissures in the party created by Trump's insurgent candidacy.