The Department of Labor issued a nationwide temporary restraining order and injunction against a Tennessee firm‚ accusing the company of hiring minors to work overnight shifts at slaughtering and meat packing plants‚ according to recent court filings.On Wednesday‚ the DOL claimed that Fayette Janitorial Service LLC‚ a commercial cleaning service provider‚ "illegally" hired "children to clean and sanitize spaces and equipment during overnight shifts to fulfill sanitation contracts at a Perdue Farms plant in Accomac‚ Virginia‚ and at Seaboard Triumph Foods LLC in Sioux City."The agency noted that the Fair Labor Standards Act prohibits minors from "working in dangerous occupations‚ including most jobs in meat and poultry slaughtering‚ processing‚ rendering and packing establishments."According to the department's court filings‚ the firm contracted 15 children as young as 13 years old in Virginia. It allegedly hired at least nine minors in Iowa to work overnight sanitation shifts.An investigation conducted by the DOL's Wage and Hour Division found that the company's contracted minor employees at the Iowa plant were hired to "clean power-driven machines‚ including meat and bone cutting saws‚ headsplitters‚ jawpullers‚ and skinners."Children employed at the Virginia facility were also tasked with cleaning power-driven meat processing machines‚ court filings claimed. The department reported that a 14-year-old child at the facility "suffered severe injuries while employed by Fayette" in 2022. According to the filings‚ the child "reached into a machine to remove a piece of debris‚" and the machinery tore the child's forearm. The minor suffered "significant blood loss and severe lacerations.""Someone at the Perdue Facility's sanitation office called 911 to report Minor Child J's injury. The dispatcher asked how old Minor Child J was. The caller responded 'um‚' and the line went dead... When the call reconnected thirty seconds later‚ the dispatcher again asked the age of the injured employee and was told Minor Child J was 19 years old‚" the court filings read.It added that the child was hospitalized for 12 days‚ missed a month of school‚ and required three surgeries‚ "including substantial skin grafts from his thighs to his arms‚ and six months of physical therapy before he could move his arm."Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda accused the company of committing an "egregious violation" of labor laws.A spokesperson for Fayette Janitorial LLC told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the company has "a zero-tolerance policy for minor labor in the workforce." The spokesperson stated that the firm has "been fully cooperating and complying with an ongoing investigation by the Department of Labor in relation to events that occurred in prior years.""We have continued to work diligently to ensure that something like this cannot occur. Fayette has made significant procedural improvements and enhancements over the past two years to bolster our hiring protocols‚ including a biometric technology to assist in employee processes‚ the hiring of a new CEO‚ and adding an additional third-party legal representation to aid in the vetting of employees. Fayette Janitorial is committed to always providing a lawful‚ ethical employment‚ as well as a safe and secure work environment – adhering to any and all guidelines set in place‚" the spokesperson told DCNF.Blaze News previously reported that the DOL had opened an investigation into Tyson Foods and Perdue Farms over allegations that the companies illegally contracted migrant children to work in hazardous positions at their slaughtering and meat packing facilities. In September‚ the New York Times published an exposé regarding the 14-year-old migrant child whose arm was mutilated while working at the Virginia facility. The child reportedly provided false documents that claimed he was in his 20s‚ the outlet reported. According to the Times‚ the Perdue plant was "full of migrant kids working in violation of child labor laws." "We are appalled by these recent allegations as they are not representative of who we are as a company and what we stand for‚" Perdue said in a September statement.At the time‚ both Perdue Farms and Tyson Foods stated that the DOL had not notified them about any pending investigations. Tyson Foods previously declined a request for comment from NPR.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

A few Democrats have joined more than a dozen of their Republican colleagues in the Maryland House of Delegates to propose a measure that would criminalize performing almost any form of trans-related medical intervention on a minor without parental consent.On Wednesday‚ the Maryland House began considering HB 722‚ which would prohibit medical professionals from "attempting to alter the appearance of" a minor’s gender or sex or to "affirm the minor’s perception" of his or her gender without parent permission. Under the bill‚ all of the following would be banned for gender-confused children without the consent of a parent or guardian: puberty blockers; cross-sex hormones; and any surgical procedures that "sterilize‚" artificially attempt to construct cross-sex genitalia‚ or remove "any healthy or nondiseased body part or tissue."The bill does allow a handful of exceptions‚ including for minors with a "medically verifiable disorder of sex development‚" those who have already been mutilated by previous gender-related medical interventions‚ and those who have sustained a catastrophic injury or illness that requires emergency surgery to prevent death or "major bodily" impairment. Of note‚ Maryland is one of just a handful of states that allows kids 12 and up to make some medical-related decisions without parental consent.Republican Delegate Lauren Arikan of Harford County‚ who proposed the bill‚ claims that it will "ensure the protection of minors from life-altering‚ permanent medical procedures that have not been proven as necessary or helpful in the treatment of gender dysphoria."At least 15 of her Republican colleagues have signed on as co-sponsors‚ as have three Democrats: Sheree Sample-Hughes‚ Gary Simmons‚ and Kym Taylor. Democrat support for the measure‚ no matter how small‚ is important in a state as deeply blue as Maryland. The state not only has a Democratic governor‚ lieutenant governor‚ and attorney general‚ but Democrats also have a sizeable majority in both legislative chambers. They outnumber Republicans 102 to 39 in the House of Delegates and 34 to 13 in the Senate.The Daily Signal suggested that the increasingly bipartisan nature of measures that ban or limit trans-related medical interventions‚ especially for minors‚ may be a sign that trans ideology is falling out of political favor. "The overwhelming public backlash against the push for minors’ access to gender treatments may have contributed to caution from Democrats in both red and blue states‚" the outlet stated.Still‚ the measure has a long way to go before it could become law in Maryland. The Health and Government Operations Committee was scheduled to consider the measure shortly after it was introduced in the House. The outcome of that committee meeting is unclear.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The Alabama Supreme Court has ruled that frozen embryos are children entitled to human rights under state law‚ which has many implications for in vitro fertilization. The case emerged from an incident in 2020 in which embryos from three couples were destroyed when an unauthorized person gained access to the embryos stored by the Center for Reproductive Medicine in Mobile‚ Alabama. The couples filed a lawsuit in a lower court‚ which found that Alabama’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act didn’t apply to them. The couples then appealed to the State Supreme Court‚ which then ruled 8:1 that unborn children are children‚ without exception. Allie Beth Stuckey believes the ruling makes perfect sense. “There hasn’t been a whole lot of consideration of how the life is created‚ if it’s moral‚ if it’s ethical to use in vitro fertilization‚” Stuckey says‚ noting that putting embryos on ice as people who believe that life begins at conception is a little odd. Frozen embryos are often left in a freezer‚ sometimes indefinitely‚ and they are also often discarded due to changed minds or divorce. Stuckey notes that there’s almost a eugenics process that goes into IVF. “The scientists‚ the doctors‚ can test these embryos to see if they have any kind of genetic disorder or some kind of special need‚” she says‚ adding‚ “Then parents can make the decision based on those findings‚ which embryos they want to kill‚ discard.” “My basic take is that’s no way to treat a child‚” Stuckey continues. Celebrities like Paris Hilton have claimed to have around twenty embryos on ice‚ which will not all be implanted. “So‚ as you can probably imagine‚ I support the reasoning in this Alabama Supreme Court ruling that said these un-implanted embryos qualify as human children‚ and so‚ they have rights like human children‚” Stuckey explains. To learn more‚ watch the episode below. Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture‚ news‚ and theology from a Christian‚ conservative perspective‚ subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America‚ defend the Constitution‚ and live the American dream.

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