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Editorial

Revoking abortion drug an overreach

In the post-Roe world, one of the prime targets of antiabortion activists is medication abortion, a two-drug regimen in which a pregnant person takes mifepristone followed by misoprostol. A lawsuit filed late last year by abortion opponents in an Amarillo, Texas, federal district court asks Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a conservative known for his antiabortion views, to revoke the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone. They argue the agency didn’t properly study the drug and has removed “even the most basic precautionary requirements” associated with its use. ...

No gripes about the rain

Complain about the rain? Not on Maui. You might hear mutterings from a bride who has her outdoor wedding chased under a tent, or by organizers of a high school baseball tournament with eight teams from around the state sitting and watching puddles form at Maehara Stadium. In the same breath, they will also probably refer to the passing showers as a “blessing.” Even folks who end up with a foot of mud in their flooded ground floor apartments usually qualify their laments with phrases like, “I know Maui needs the rain.” Recent winter soakers have taken the edge off our extended ...

Biden’s view on voting laws inaccurate

He seems to have abandoned “Jim Crow 2.0,” but that was the extent of the nuance in President Biden’s political remarks Sunday in Selma, Ala. He was there to commemorate the anniversary of “Bloody Sunday,” the 1965 brutality against a civil-rights march at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Calling for the freedom to vote, marchers were met by clubs and tear gas. “The right to vote and to have your vote counted is the threshold of democracy and liberty,” Mr. Biden said. “With it, anything is possible. Without it — without that right, nothing is possible. And this fundamental ...

Protections for internet companies

The Supreme Court seemed reluctant last month to narrow legal protections for internet companies so that families of the victims of terrorist attacks could sue social media sites they think bear some responsibility for their loved ones’ deaths. The justices’ caution is appropriate. Congress should determine whether there are to be changes in Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, not the court. That 1996 law protects interactive websites such as YouTube and Twitter from lawsuits stemming from content posted on those sites by third parties, while making it clear that such ...

Awaiting final report in yacht incident

In a dubious honor no company would wish for itself, the beached luxury yacht Nakoa has become a new poster child for environmental degradation on this island. For those too young to remember posters, the Nakoa has gone viral for all the wrong reasons. The 94-foot, 120-ton fiberglass boat operated by Noelani Yacht Charters out of Oahu snapped its mooring line Feb. 20 and drifted onto the reef at Honolua Bay. The hull was punctured and diesel fuel leaked into the protected bay that is part of the Honolua-Mokule’ia Marine Life Conservation District. Noelani Yacht Charters owner Jim ...

Housing aid may backfire

Housing prices are falling after surging 40 percent during the pandemic. This should help buyers frozen out of the market by rising mortgage rates. So why is the Biden administration seeking to support prices by increasing the government housing subsidy? The Federal Housing Administration said Wednesday that it will reduce its annual insurance premium for future mortgages by 30 basis points. “On average, homeowners will pay at least $800 a year less on their mortgage, and that’s 800 more dollars in your pocket for household expenses,” Vice President Kamala Harris ...