Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. U.S. health agency finalizes conscience and religious freedom rule

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday released a final rule allowing doctors, nurses and other health workers to opt out of procedures such as abortions and sterilizations which violate their personal or religious beliefs. The rule, proposed more than a year ago, reinforces a set of 25 laws passed by Congress that protect "conscience rights" in healthcare, HHS said. Those laws allow health providers and entities to opt out of providing, participating in, paying for or referring for healthcare services that they have personal or religious objections to, HHS said. Facebook bans Alex Jones, other extremist figures

Facebook Inc said on Thursday it was banning Alex Jones and other controversial U.S. political personalities for violating the social media company's policies on "dangerous individuals and organizations." Most of the individuals whose accounts are being removed are popular figures on the far right, including commentators Milo Yiannopoulos, Laura Loomer and Paul Joseph Watson. As measles returns, U.S. states look to cut vaccine exemptions

Maine could soon prohibit parents from citing religious or personal beliefs to avoid vaccinating their children, making the U.S. state one of a half dozen cracking down during the nation's largest measles outbreak in 25 years. State legislatures in New York, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont, Minnesota and Iowa are looking at similar bills that would only allow exemptions from vaccinations for medical reasons as determined by the child's doctor. SpaceX confirms crew capsule destroyed in April test accident

Nearly two weeks after a fiery explosion during a ground test of its new crew capsule, SpaceX confirmed on Friday that the vehicle was destroyed, but neither the company nor NASA, its primary customer, have publicly acknowledged the nature of the mishap. Instead, Hans Koenigsmann, vice president of flight reliability for California-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp, known as SpaceX, continued to refer to the accident simply as an "anomaly" - science jargon for when something goes wrong. Sexual assaults in U.S. military spike despite Pentagon attempts to crackdown

The U.S. Defense Department said on Thursday the estimated number of sexual assaults in the military climbed nearly 38 percent in 2018 compared with a survey two years earlier, data that critics say laid bare broken Pentagon promises of a crackdown. The Pentagon said there were 6,053 reports of sexual assaults last year, according to an anonymous, bi-annual survey. It is the highest since the U.S. military began collecting this kind of survey data in 2004. Founder, execs of drug company guilty in conspiracy that fed opioid crisis

The founder of Insys Therapeutics Inc on Thursday became the highest-ranking pharmaceutical executive to be convicted in a case tied to the U.S. opioid crisis, when he and four colleagues were found guilty of participating in a scheme to bribe doctors to prescribe an addictive painkiller. A federal jury in Boston found John Kapoor, the drugmaker's former chairman, and his co-defendants guilty of racketeering conspiracy for engaging in a scheme that also misled insurers into paying for the drug. Minnesota governor signs law making marital rape illegal

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on Thursday signed a law that repeals the state's marital rape exception, which protected rapists against prosecution if they lived and had an ongoing sexual relationship with the victim. Walz, a Democrat, signed the bill in St. Paul, saying that the "reprehensible exception should never have been part of our criminal statutes." Accused gunman in North Carolina college shooting due in court

A former student at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte was due to appear in court on Thursday, accused of murdering two students and attempting to kill others when he opened fire in a crowded classroom on Tuesday. Trystan Andrew Terrell, 22, was taken into custody on Tuesday and charged with two counts of murder and four counts of attempted murder after police and witnesses say he began firing a handgun in a classroom full of nearly 50 students on UNC Charlotte's campus shortly before 6 p.m. on Tuesday. Baltimore mayor quits amid questions over $500,000 book deal

Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh, whose home and offices were raided by federal agents last week as part of an investigation into her financial dealings, abruptly resigned on Thursday. Pugh, a Democrat and former state lawmaker, apologized for harming the city's image in a statement read by her lawyer. Maine Senate rejects ending religious exemptions for vaccinations

An effort to end all non-medical exemptions for childhood vaccinations in Maine was in limbo on Thursday after the state Senate voted to amend it to allow parents to keep opting out on religious grounds. The bill had passed the Democratic-controlled state House of Representatives last month, making Maine one of at least seven states considering ending non-medical exemptions amid the worst outbreak of measles in the United States in 25 years.