Human Race

Aged

The McCaughey septuplets—Kenny Jr., Alexis, Natalie, Kelsey, Nathan, Brandon, and Joel—turned 18 on Nov. 19. The first septuplets to survive infancy, Kenny and Bobbi McCaughey’s children are finishing high school and preparing to leave the nest. The Iowa couple, both professing Christians, rejected abortion and received national support in 1997, with Gerber donating food. Brandon has enlisted in the Army and will be the first to leave home in June. The family says it is thankful reality television wasn’t a thing in 1997.

Responded

Jahi McMath, a California teen on a ventilator for nearly two years, may be closer to having her death certificate revoked. An Oakland hospital declared her dead after a tonsillectomy went bad, but her family contests the brain-death diagnosis. A malpractice court allowed the family to present evidence of life, which it did Nov. 4. An unidentified “experienced pediatric neurologist” reportedly says Jahi, 15, is menstruating and at times responding to verbal commands. The girl, being cared for in New Jersey, still has several evidentiary court hurdles to clear.

Announced

Pledging to end his party life and become philanthropic, actor Charlie Sheen announced on Nov. 17 that he’s HIV-positive. Sheen received the diagnosis about four years ago, he told NBC, and he’s paid perhaps $10 million in hush money to prostitutes who learned of his HIV-positive status. Sheen’s public and private sexual escapades, along with drug and alcohol abuse, led finally to his ouster from the sitcom Two and a Half Men in 2011.

Arrested

Secret Service agent Lee Robert Moore, 37, turned himself in to authorities on Nov. 9 and faces charges of soliciting sex from a minor. Investigators say Moore admits to a sexual interest in 14-year-old girls, and one of those “girls” was an undercover Delaware investigator. Affidavits say Moore sent a nude photo of himself to the investigator and sexted while on duty. The scandal is the latest in a string of Secret Service blunders.

Returned

James Smith, the widower of the only female NYPD officer to die on 9/11, has returned his wife’s Glamour magazine award. Glamour named Moira Smith its “Woman of the Year” in 2001. Bruce Jenner, now called Caitlyn, won the same award on Nov. 10, which Smith called “insulting” to his wife’s memory. Glamour gave the award last year to another male, transgender actor Laverne Cox. Smith told CNN he’d met suicidal and abused transgender youth as an NYPD officer, persons who didn’t have the luxury of the “Kardashian circus.”

Denied

A Swedish district court ruled Nov. 12 against midwife Ellinor Grimmark, who was denied employment four times for her objection to abortion. European law protects conscience and outlaws discrimination based on conscientious objection to abortion. But the court ruled that employers have a right to define job descriptions and that it’s appropriate and necessary to require midwives to perform abortions. Midwives in Sweden are similar to nurses in other countries. Grimmark, who owes $109,000 in legal fees, plans to appeal to Sweden’s Göta Court of Appeal.

Killed

Believed to be the victim of a home invasion and rape, Indiana pastor’s wife Amanda Blackburn, 28, died Nov. 11 of a gunshot wound to the head. Davey Blackburn found his wife, who was 13 weeks pregnant with daughter Everette “Evie” Grace, the morning of Nov. 10 after a trip to the gym. Their 15-month-old son, Weston, was unharmed. Davey told Good Morning America that he’s relying on Jesus in his pain and anger. More than 2,000 persons from four Indianapolis-area churches—including Gov. Mike Pence—attended her memorial. Police arrested three male suspects in connection with the case.

Appointed

A new House panel investigating the abortion industry named March Bell its staff director and chief counsel on Nov. 17. Bell has served on staff in both chambers of Congress and specialized in prosecuting human trafficking at the U.S. Department of Justice. The Energy and Commerce Committee created the Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives in October following the release of undercover videos alleging body part trafficking at Planned Parenthood. Chaired by Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., it will investigate abortion practices and relationships with tissue companies.

Died

Former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL quarterback Doug Flutie lost both his parents Nov. 18 within an hour of each other. Flutie posted on Facebook that his father, Dick, died of a heart attack after being ill at the hospital. His mother, Joan, had a sudden heart attack soon after. The couple had been married for 56 years. “They say you can die of a broken heart,” wrote Flutie, “and I believe it.”

By the numbers

15 | The number of years in former Subway spokesman Jared Fogle’s prison sentence after he pleaded guilty on Nov. 19 to federal charges related to child pornography and sexual conduct with minors.

140,000 | The net loss of Mexicans from the United States between 2009 and 2014, according to the Pew Research Center. More than a million Mexicans returned to Mexico from the United States during that period, while only 870,000 Mexicans came to the United States.