Midday Roundup: Corporations shun Planned Parenthood

Keeping their distance. Three major companies have asked Planned Parenthood to remove their names as corporate sponsors, The Daily Signal reported. Planned Parenthood had listed Coca-Cola, Ford Motor Co., and Xerox among 41 companies that donated to the organization. After The Daily Signal republished the list, representatives of the companies said they did not donate to Planned Parenthood either directly or by matching employee contributions. The information has since been removed from the site. The companies are distancing themselves from the organization after two undercover videos showed Planned Parenthood executives talking about the harvesting and sale of aborted babies’ body parts.

Email indiscretion. Two inspectors general have recommended the Justice Department investigate Hillary Clinton for possible criminal actions in her handling of emails while she was secretary of state. Clinton used a private email account and server for State Department business, but has insisted she never used personal email to send classified information. A Clinton spokesperson said via Twitter the emails in question weren’t classified until “after the fact, and not at the time they were transmitted.” In memos obtained by The New York Times, inspectors general say the State Department could have been more diligent in monitoring the emails before they went out. Instead, the department relied on retired Foreign Service officers to evaluate potentially sensitive information, the Times reported.

Shifting stance. Turkey is going on the offense against Islamic State (ISIS) after militants fired at a Turkish military outpost, killing a soldier. Turkey has mostly stayed on the sidelines of the conflict raging just across the border in Syria, but earlier today its warplanes struck ISIS targets. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also agreed to allow the United States to use a base in southern Turkey for military operations against ISIS.

Overturned. An appeals court in Austin tossed out one of two felony indictments against former Texas Gov. Rick Perry today. The ruling gives the Republican presidential candidate a legal victory in the face of lagging polling numbers for the 2016 race. The case stemmed from Perry vetoing state funding for public corruption prosecutors. He blocked the funding when the Democrat head of the investigative unit refused to resign after she was convicted and jailed for drunken driving. The ruling does not affect a separate charge against Perry for abuse of power.

Higher authority. Nuns threatened with massive fines if they don’t comply with federal regulations are appealing to the Supreme Court. The Little Sisters of the Poor, an order that cares for the elderly poor, asked for an exemption from Obamacare’s contraceptive mandate, saying providing abortion-causing drugs or contraceptives to employees through health insurance—even indirectly—is against the members’ religious beliefs. A federal court last month ruled against the nuns on the grounds that the government takeover of the Catholic order’s healthcare plan removes their involvement. The nuns disagree and want the High Court to decide.

WORLD Radio’s Mary Reichard and The Associated Press contributed to this report.