by R. Alonso-Zaldivar

WASHINGTON (AP)—A half-century after the advent of the pill, the Obama administration on Monday ushered in a change in women's health care potentially as transformative: coverage of birth control as prevention, with no copays.

Services ranging from breast pumps for new mothers to counseling on domestic violence were also included in the broad expansion of women's preventive care under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

Since birth control is the most common drug prescribed to women, health plans should make sure it's readily available, said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. "Not doing it would be like not covering flu shots," she said.

August 6

1965—President Lyndon Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act which was designed to guarantee the right of African-Americans to vote. The Act ended a wide range of discriminatory voting practices in the South including literacy tests. The Act was probably the most significant piece of civil rights legislation ever passed. It was renewed for another 25 years in July of 2006. It was weakened a bit by a 2009 U.S. Supreme Court decision but remains in effect.

PRESIDENT LYNDON JOHNSON

WASHINGTON (AP)—Turning 50 is hard enough. But it’s got to be even harder when you’re president, because the whole world knows about it, and harder still when one of life's milestones is nearly overshadowed by a nasty tussle with Congress over money.

Well, too bad for President Barack Obama. That's exactly how the big 5-0 is shaping up for him.

THE BIG 5-0—President Barack Obama speaks from the White House briefing room in Washington, July 31, about a deal being reached to raise the debt limit. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

NEWARK, N.J. (AP)—Their lives never intersected, but they were both daughters of Newark: two successful young women nearly the same age, both with good jobs and dedicated to improving their communities. Now, both are scheduled to be buried this week.

One grew up in the city's vibrant Portuguese immigrant enclave, fulfilling a dream to work in law enforcement. The other, an award-winning young musician, was raised in and around Newark before following her family South to become a grade-school teacher in Charlottesville, Va.

DAWN REDDICK and DEBORA FERREIRA