Six minutes of news from around the nation.

The Supreme Court allows abortion pill access by mail; Indiana schools prepare for phone-free classrooms; Environmental justice raised over data centers targeting rural New Mexico; Florida delays KidCare expansion as uninsured rate rises.

TRANSCRIPT

The Public News Service daily a newscast, May the 15th, 2026.

I'm Mike Clifford.

A decision by the nation's highest court ensures the abortion pill mefipristone can continue to be available by mail.

NBC News does a ruling by the New Orleans-based Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on May 1st had imperiled widespread access to the pill.

Now the Supreme Court has granted emergency requests brought by drug makers Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro seeking to block that ruling.

Meantime, Indiana students will soon have to power down their phones for the whole school day.

Our Joe Yolori tells us Governor Mike Braun signed into law this week, Indiana's all-day school cell phone ban.

It takes effect July 1st, in time for the 2026 to 2027 school year.

The law expands Indiana's current ban, which only restricts phone usage during instructional time.

Mary Alice Hale, a student at St.

Pius X School in Indianapolis, says the change may sound bigger than it feels.

It really just doesn't affect us much, and I think if we did have our phones on us, the day would be much different, and I feel like there would be a lot more people getting in trouble, like pushing the limits.

Some critics worry students may lose a lifeline during emergencies.

Supporters say the band gives teachers back control of the classroom.

This story was produced with original reporting from Garrett Bergquist for Wish TV.

And it's a trend we've been following.

A massive data center proposed for southern New Mexico received local pushback, but the federal government has nonetheless stepped in to help.

Ian Tafoya with Green Latinos says environmental justice is a major reason communities object to data centers because artificial intelligence developers want to locate them in areas already experiencing poor health and economic disparities.

Project Jupiter in Santa Teresa will create a huge need for water and energy while generating substantial emissions.

The $165 billion project was halted over pipeline permitting until the Bureau of Land Management granted expedited permission.

You basically have a power plant being built to serve one industry that's not regulated in the same way as other utilities.

And so we're saying, hey, just because you're bringing your own energy, it needs to be clean energy.

I'm Roz Brown.

Earlier this week, Colorado ended its 2026 session without changes to how the state regulates the data center industry.

Next, parenting has been called one of the hardest jobs in the world, and researchers say women in particular are struggling to handle an increasingly heavy load.

Leah Rumpinar is author of the book Drained, Reduce Your Mental Load to Do Less and Be More, and says women often deal with more complex care in the home.

Something as small as monitoring what's happening in your house becomes almost like catastrophic. because it's tied to that emotional thinking of work about love and care for the people we love and care for.

She says too many moms can never fully relax because their energy is constantly being spent.

This is Public News Service.

If you look back to 2023, Florida lawmakers voted unanimously to expand kid care.

The state marketplace for the Children's Health Insurance Program, they raised the eligibility threshold to 300% of the federal poverty level.

That would have extended affordable coverage to more than 40,000 kids.

For families like Erin Booth's, the consequences are real.

So now my son goes without PT, OT, and speech.

And it's now getting to the point where it's getting my son's behind physically, emotionally, and mentally.

His mental health is deteriorating because he can't keep up with his peers.

Her son Landon was diagnosed with leukemia at age 5.

Now in remission at age 10, he suffers from treatment-related disabilities, including osteoporosis.

Booth pays nearly $280 a month for healthy kids coverage, plus co-pays.

But the therapies he needs are not covered.

According to KFF Health News, Florida has not implemented a 2023 expansion that would help families like hers.

I'm Tramiel Gomes.

Next, New York advocates are celebrating wildlife protections for Endangered Species Day.

This year marks the 21st anniversary and honors the numerous species saved by the Endangered Species Act, like New York's piping plover and the bald eagle.

But there's more work to be done, given there are 55 endangered species in New York.

Tara Thornton with the Endangered Species Coalition says there are ways people can act to save endangered species.

Volunteer with some of these local organizations and help them out with what they do.

Plant some native plants in your garden this year, helping out those pollinators.

They could use a lot of help as well.

So there's lots of those actions that people can do.

This comes as the state is being proactive about keeping some species from being endangered.

In 2025, New York passed a law calling on the Department of Environmental Conservation to regulate horseshoe crab management and prohibit taking them for commercial and biomedical uses.

I'm Edwin J. Viera.

Finally, some of the biggest social media sites on the internet are becoming more toxic for LGBTQ plus users.

That's according to the new LGBTQ Social Media Safety Index produced by GLAAD.

Researchers from the nonprofit media advocacy organization evaluated the company's policies related to LGBTQ safety, privacy, and expression.

Jenny Olson, senior director of GLAAD's social media safety program, says Meta, X, and YouTube's scores hit new lows.

The platforms are largely failing to mitigate harmful anti-LGBTQ hate and disinformation.

Representatives from X, Meta, and YouTube did not respond to a request for comment.

I'm Suzanne Potter.

Last year, YouTube removed gender identity from the list of protected characteristics in its hate speech policy.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service, member and listener supported.

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