Florida’s CFO blames wokeness for insurers leaving the state: ‘I do call them the Bud Light of the insurance industry’
Chris Morris – July 20, 2023
As yet another insurance company is pulling back from issuing policies in Florida following a string of natural disasters, the state’s chief financial officer has accused the industry of pulling out not because of losses, but due to wokeness.
Jimmy Patronis, CFO of the state, lit into Farmers Insurance for its plans to leave the state on CNBC recently, saying “if they would just leave ESG [environmental, social, and corporate governance ] and put it away, and focus on the bottom line, they may not have made this decision to leave the state of Florida with the tail between their legs.”
“I do say they’re too woke,” he added. “I do call them the Bud Light of the insurance industry. I do feel like they have chaos in their C-suite.”
The accusations aren’t helping the state hang onto insurers, though. This week, AAA announced it would not renew the auto or homeowners policies of some customers in Florida, making it the fourth insurer in the past year to back away from the state. (Bankers Insurance and Lexington Insurance, a subsidiary of AIG, left Florida last year.)
All of the companies that have reduced or eliminated their presence in the state have said the string of local hurricanes, including last year’s catastrophic Hurricane Ian, have made it too expensive to cover residents of the state.
The shrinking number of insurance options and the growing number of disasters is hitting Floridians in the wallet. The average homeowner’s premium in the state costs over $4,000, compared to the U.S. average of $1,544, according to E&E News, a division of Politico that focuses on environmental and energy news.
The companies are leaving the state despite legislation meant to encourage them to stay. Last year, Florida created a $1 billion reinsurance fund and set up laws meant to prevent frivolous lawsuits.
Insurance companies have also stepped back from California, with AIG, Allstate and State Farm no longer taking new customers, as wildfires in that state have driven up costs.
Is America on the brink of tyranny? Trump’s plan if elected in 2024 should frighten us all.
Austin Sarat and Dennis Aftergut – July 20, 2023
The New York Times published an article Monday that’s bone-chilling for anyone who cherishes our freedom, democracy and constitutional governance. The story recounted, with full cooperation of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, his plans to eliminate executive branch constraints on his power if he is elected president in 2024.
The obstacles to be eliminated include an independent Justice Department, independent leadership in administrative agencies and an independent civil service. Richard Neustadt, one of the country’s best known students of the American presidency, has said that in a constitutional democracy the chief executive “does not obtain results by giving orders – or not. … He does not get action without argument. Presidential power is the power to persuade.”
Trump now may face federal charges for his role in fomenting the riot.
And while he was president, in addition to appointing subservient heads of executive departments, he took steps to increase his control over the regulatory authority of administrative agencies. To cite one example, in 2019, Trump forced climate change researchers in the Department of Agriculture to move from Washington, D.C., to Kansas City, Missouri, producing a huge exodus from federal employment.
In 2020, he attempted to undermine the independence of the civil service by issuing an executive order adopting “Schedule F.” It purported to vastly augment a president’s power to hire and fire federal officials by expanding the number of “political appointees” throughout government employment who were outside civil service protections.
Trump’s plan is to centralize power in Oval Office
The Times story outlined his 2025 road map to implement this command-and-control model of executive authority and centralization of power if he’s returned to the Oval Office. In effect, the article described how his team would replace our constitutional republic with an authoritarian state.
Such a state seeks to eliminate the independence of civil servants. Saying good things about bureaucracy may be unpopular, but federal employees’ competence, expert judgment and commitment to governance by law is essential to democratic government.
One definition of an authoritarian state is that it is characterized by the consolidation of power in a single leader, “a controlling regime that justifies itself as a ‘necessary evil.'” That kind of control necessarily features “strict government-imposed constraints on social freedoms such as suppression of political opponents and anti-regime activity.”
Those characteristics describe the contours of the 2025 blueprint that the Trump campaign wanted the public to see via the Times’ report. As the story notes, they are setting the stage, if Trump is elected, “to claim a mandate” for the goal of centralizing power in him.
The Times quoted John McEntee, Trump’s 2020 White House director of personnel, defending the rejection of checks and balances on a president: “Our current executive branch was conceived of by liberals for the purpose of promulgating liberal policies. … What’s necessary is a complete system overhaul.”
Founders warned about danger of too much presidential power
In fact, the executive branch, like the two other branches, was devised by the framers of our Constitution, to limit power by dividing it. Even Alexander Hamilton, who defended energy in the executive branch, suggested that the path to tyranny was marked when government officials are “obliged to take refuge in the absolute power of a single man.”
James Madison joined Hamilton in warning in The Federalist 48 that “power is of an encroaching nature.” For that reason, The Federalist 51 states, “Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.”
It described the paradox facing the framers as this: One must “enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.”
Trump’s 2025 blueprint would end governmental control on a president so he can dominate and control the governed.
Along with divided power, the central constraint that our founding documents create is the overarching legal institution known as the rule of law. That is why Trump’s plan for a radical reorganization of the executive branch starts with ending “the post-Watergate norm of Justice Department independence from White House political control.”
Controlling the prosecutorial power allows a president to use it to favor friends, destroy enemies and intimidate ordinary citizens tempted to speak out.
That would sound the death knell of American freedom. As John Locke, the 17th century political philosopher who inspired the authors of the Declaration of Independence, wrote, “Wherever law ends, tyranny begins.” Or as Blake Smith put it in an article in Foreign Policy last year, “The bureaucratic ethos is essential to the functioning of the state and the preservation of private life as a separate, unpolitical domain of tolerated freedom.”
At the close of America’s first decade as a constitutional republic, George Washington voluntarily chose not to seek a third term as president to avoid setting the country on the road to the tyranny of lifetime rule by a president. He understood from the revolution against a king that retaining the personal power of one person is the central goal of authoritarianism.
If voters elect Trump president in 2024, he will implement the plan his campaign has purposefully leaked. The outcome is easy to foretell. A bureaucracy purged of those loyal to the Constitution rather than to Trump will send free and fair elections to history’s landfill, along with the Bill of Rights and the freedoms they were designed to protect.
Austin Sarat is the William Nelson Cromwell professor of jurisprudence and political science at Amherst College in Massachusetts.Dennis Aftergut, a former federal prosecutor, is counsel to Lawyers Defending American Democracy.
Authoritarianism Expert Warns Why It’s Critical To Listen To Trump’s Words Right Now
Lee Moran – July 20, 2023
Authoritarianism expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat warned on Wednesday that when Donald Trump talks about obliterating and then politicizing the civil service, and seizing control of every aspect of government if he wins the White House in 2024, he really means it.
“Nobody is ever prepared” for an authoritarian takeover of their country, Ben-Ghiat, a history professor at New York University and author of “Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present,” told MSNBC’s Ali Velshi.
“They think they are going to be the exception. They don’t listen to the warning signs until it’s too late,” she continued.
But Trump is actually “being very clear” with what he is saying, said Ben-Ghiat.
Last week, a New York Times article said Trump would seek to expand presidential authority “over every part of the federal government that now operates, by either law or tradition, with any measure of independence from political interference by the White House.”
Ben-Ghiat cautioned: “Authoritarians always tell you what they are going to do as a kind of challenge and as a warning, and people don’t listen until it’s too late.”
If Trump wins election again, he will “be finishing the job that he started, and by the way that’s not just destroying democracy internally,” she added. His other main aim was “to take America out of the realm of democratic internationalism and align it with autocracies. That will happen as well.”
Homes become ‘air fryers’ in Phoenix heat, people ration AC due to cost
Isabella O’Malley – July 20, 2023
Manuel Luna, left, a volunteer at the Salvation Army, gives out items to a patron at a cooling station on July 19, 2023, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)JP Lantin, right, owner of Total Refrigeration, and service tech Michael Villa, work on replacing a fan motor on an air conditioning unit July 19, 2023, in Laveen, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File) After finishing up an air conditioning repair call, Michael Villa, a service tech with Total Refrigeration, finds shade as he wipes sweat from his face July 19, 2023, in Laveen, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
Temperatures have peaked at or above 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 degrees Celsius) the entire month of July in Phoenix. Air conditioning, which made modern Phoenix even possible, is a lifeline.
When a cloudless sky combines with outdoor temperatures over 100 F, your house turns into an “air fryer” or “broiler,” as the roof absorbs powerful heat and radiates it downward, said Jonathan Bean, co-director of the Institute for Energy Solutions at the University of Arizona. Bean knows this not only from his research, he also experienced it firsthand this weekend when his air conditioner broke.
“This level of heat that we are having in Phoenix right now is enormously dangerous, particularly for people who either don’t have air conditioning or cannot afford to operate their air conditioner,” said Evan Mallen, a senior analyst for Georgia Institute of Technology’s Urban Climate Lab.
Yet some are cutting back on AC, trying to bear the heat, afraid of the high electricity bills that will soon arrive.- ADVERTISEMENT -https://s.yimg.com/rq/darla/4-11-1/html/r-sf-flx.html
Camille Rabany, 29, has developed her own system to keep herself and her 10-month-old Saint Bernard Rigley cool during the Arizona heat wave. Through trial and error, Rabany found that 83 F is a temperature she is willing to tolerate to keep her utility bill down.
By tracking the on-peak and off-peak schedule of her utility, Arizona Public Service, with the help of her NEST smart thermostat, Rabany keeps her home that hot from 4 to 7 p.m., the most expensive hours. She keeps fans running and has a cooling bed for Rigley, and they both try to get by until the utility’s official peak hours pass.
“Those are the hours that I have it at the hottest I’m willing to have it because I have a dog,” she said. Last month, Rabany said her utility bill was around $150.
Emily Schmidt’s home cooling strategy in Tempe, Ariz. also centers around her dog. Air conditioning is “constantly a topic of conversation,” with her partner, too, she said.
“Sometimes I wish I could have it cooler, but we have to balance saving money and making sure the house isn’t too hot for our pets.”
With the unrelenting heat of the recent weeks, “I’m honestly afraid what the electric bill will be, which makes it really hard to budget with rent and other utilities.”
Katie Martin, administrator of home improvements and community services at the Foundation for Senior Living, said she sees the pet issue, too. Older people on limited incomes are making dangerous tradeoffs and often won’t come to cooling centers when they don’t allow pets.
“In recent years we are finding that most of the seniors we serve are keeping their thermostat at 80 F to save money,” she said.
Many also lack a support network of family or friends they can turn to in case of air conditioner breakdowns.
Breakdowns can be dangerous. Models from Georgia Tech show that indoors can be even hotter than outdoors, something people in poorly-insulated homes around the world are well acquainted with. “A single family, one-story detached home with a large, flat roof heats up by over 40 degrees in a matter of hours if they don’t have air conditioning,” Mallen said.
The Salvation Army has some 11 cooling stations across the Phoenix area. Lt. Colonel Ivan Wild, commander of the organization’s southwest division, said some of the people visiting now can’t afford their electricity bills or don’t have adequate air conditioning.
“I spoke to one elderly lady and she that her air conditioning is just so expensive to run. So she comes to the Salvation Army and stays for a few hours, socializes with other people, and then goes home when it’s not as hot,” he said.
While extreme heat happens every summer in Phoenix, Wild said that a couple of Salvation Army cooling centers have reported seeing more people than last year. The Salvation Army estimates that since May 1, they have provided nearly 24,000 people with heat relief and distributed nearly 150,000 water bottles in Arizona and Southern Nevada.
Marilyn Brown, regents professor of sustainable systems at Georgia Tech, said that high air conditioning bills also force people to cut spending in other areas. “People give up a lot, often, in order to run their air conditioner… they might have to give up on some medicine, the cost of the gasoline for their car to go to work or school,” she said.
“That’s why we have such an alarming cycle of poverty. It’s hard to get out of it, especially once you get caught up in the energy burden and poverty,” Brown added.
Beatrice Dupuy contributed to this story from New York and Melina Walling contributed from Chicago.
Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations.
How Paramount buried a Vice documentary on Ron DeSantis at Guantanamo Bay
Max Tani – July 20, 2023
The Scoop
Showtime slated “The Guantanamo Candidate,” a 30 minute-long episode of its Vice documentary series, for May 28.
The episode opens with a shot of the outside the US prison complex at the southern tip of Cuba, where Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis served as a lawyer from March 2006 to January 2007.
Vice reporters had secured on camera interviews with a former detainee, Mansoor Adayfi, and a guard at the prison, staff sergeant Joe Hickman. Both said they remembered seeing DeSantis at the prison during a controversial detainee hunger strike. The Vice crew traveled to Guantanamo Bay to attempt to try to speak to military staff, and made several attempts to ask DeSantis about the allegations directly, eventually confronting him at a press conference in Israel, according to a detailed description provided to Semafor.
But Showtime viewers who turned on their televisions May 28 never saw the episode. (They were treated to a re-run of the scripted drama Yellowjackets.)
Showtime and Vice cited “scheduling” in a statement after The Hollywood Reporter noticed the missing episode.
But in fact, two people familiar with the incident said, the Paramount-owned cable channel ditched the DeSantis episode over fears of the political consequences. One person briefed on the decision told Semafor that the company’s Washington lobbyist, DeDe Lea, raised concerns about the piece.
Showtime declined to comment on the decision to pull the episode.
“We not only stand behind our rigorous reporting but are proud of the incredible journalism showcased in this story,” a spokesperson for Vice, Elise Flick, told Semafor.
Know More
The politicized decision to kill the DeSantis episode came as Showtime’s parent company, Paramount, cut costs to reflect a gloomy streaming business. The company folded a diminished Showtime under the streaming umbrella Paramount+, and laid off a wave of staffers, including the executive who greenlit prestige unscripted shows and documentaries.
The new president Chris McCarthy, has a background in less expensive reality TV.
But the first sign of trouble for the DeSantis episode came on only Thursday, May 25 days before it was set to air.
The episode had already been vetted by Vice’s internal legal team, and returned by Showtime executives without any requests for changes. Both Showtime and Vice had already sent around promotional materials and screeners for the episode to reporters.
On Showtime’s site, the network said the episode contained allegations from “former detainees that he was present at force-feedings that were condemned as torture by the UN” raised the “role of Navy JAGs in the investigation of the detainee deaths.”
But just four days before the show was set to air, Vice received a note from Showtime’s post-production staff, which normally focuses on issues like color and sound. The production team told Vice “the broader network group teams are taking a deeper internal look at this Sunday’s episode, which will delay its premiere.”
Vice, which had just declared bankruptcy and was desperate to save anything it could, proceeded delicately. Subrata De, Vice’s EVP and global head of programming and documentary, and Vice’s showrunner Beverly Chase, sent a note to the production team at Showtime asking for more details. They told employees they would return to the DeSantis piece later in the season.
The new Showtime team didn’t respond to their inquiries, people familiar with the situation said. And Showtime quickly scrubbed promotion of the episode from its website.
When the Hollywood Reporter broke the news a week later that the episode had been shelved, Vice asked that the two sides work together to draft joint statements to give to reporters, and a spokesperson told reporters that “we are very much still in discussion about the scheduling of this episode. We are proud of our reporting and of our continuing partnership with Showtime.”
But within days, it became clear that Showtime was not still in discussion about the scheduling of the episode. Executives at the network stopped communicating with editorial employees at Vice including De and Chase. And immediately after the seventh episode aired, the company filed a motion in bankruptcy court to opt out of its contract to pay Vice.
Max’s view
Showtime’s decision to kill the DeSantis story has gotten lost amid the two companies’ other woes — Vice’s bankruptcy, Paramount’s scramble to cut expensive original programming.
But the episode is in fact a rare, and serious, glimpse at how a big media company killed a potentially controversial story. Perhaps they had reason to be fearful: DeSantis showed that he was willing to take on a much bigger and more influential media company, Disney.
And that kind of decision is made far more likely by the fragile state of the television business, where “the challenges are greater than I had anticipated,” as Disney CEO Bob Iger said earlier this month.
Both Vice and Paramount have spent the last several months sharply reducing costs, laying off staff and gutting the operations that produced critically-acclaimed work. And Vice’s bankruptcy presented a good opportunity for Showtime to claw back at least several million dollars at a moment when it is on a much tighter budgetary leash within Paramount.
When Vice was at the top of the world, Showtime executives may have thought twice about canceling an episode it didn’t particularly care for. Of course, Showtime wasn’t the distributor of the Vice docuseries at its peak. That would be HBO, which unceremoniously parted ways with the Vice weekly years ago when its parent company gave a similar edict: Trim the fat. And with it, the risk.
The View From Tallahassee
DeSantis has declined to discuss his time at Guantanamo recently, but the Washington Post reported that he discussed it in previous interviews. He had advised guards they could force-feed prisoners, he said.
He said in 2018 that he learned from the hunger strikes that detainees “are using things like detainee abuse offensively against us. It was a tactic, technique and procedure.”
Notable
“DeSantis had little authority to address these crises as a 27-year-old lieutenant at a notorious facility micromanaged from Washington. But it was a formative period for a career-minded officer who had enlisted hoping for a deployment to Guantánamo Bay, where he would come face to face with the realities of America’s least conventional war,” McClatchy reported.
DeSantis was present for the investigation of three apparent detainee suicides whose circumstances remain in dispute, The Guardian wrote.
“DeSantis was stationed at Guantanamo during a year marked by riots, hunger strikes and death,” according to the Independent.
Vice is now looking for a new home for the series, according to THR.
Donald Trump; Hunter Biden Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images
Donald Trump continues to threaten death, murder, and other mayhem upon his “enemies” or any individual(s) or group(s) who dare to oppose him and the neofascist MAGA movement. Last week, in a post on his Truth Social disinformation platform, Trump wished death upon Hunter Biden because President Joe Biden’s son was able to enter a plea deal in response to minor federal tax crimes.
Weiss is a COWARD, a smaller version of Bill Barr, who never had the courage to do what everyone knows should have been done. He gave out a traffic ticket instead of a death sentence. Because of the two Democrat Senators in Delaware, they got to choose and/or approve him. Maybe the judge presiding will have the courage and intellect to break up this cesspool of crime. The collusion and corruption is beyond description. TWO TIERS OF JUSTICE!
Trump’s death wish for Hunter Biden comes several weeks after Trump shared what he believed to be the address of former President Barack Obama’s home in Washington D.C. on his Truth Social platform. Trump’s intent was obvious: he wanted one of his cultists to assassinate or otherwise commit acts of serious violence against Barack Obama and likely his family. Trump would (almost) get his wish, when one of his followers, who was armed with several guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, apparently attempted to gain access to Obama. The man, named Taylor Taranto, bragged online about his plans to assassinate Obama. Taranto was also a participant in the Jan. 6 coup attempt and attack on the Capitol. Fortunately, the Secret Service stopped the would-be assassin before he could follow through on his nefarious plans.
As a practical matter, why would Donald Trump stop making violent threats?
As FBI agent Clarice Starling says of the serial killer known as Buffalo Bill in the film “The Silence of the Lambs”, “He’s got a real taste for it now, and he’s getting better at his work.”
Until very recently, Trump has never been held seriously responsible for his decades-long public crime spree that includes sexual assault as confirmed in the E. Jean Carrol civil case and a panoply of other antisocial and antihuman behavior. Trump attempted a coup on Jan. 6 that involved a lethal assault by his followers on the Capitol. He has repeatedly bragged about being able to kill someone in broad daylight and get away with it because of his popularity. At his rallies and other events Trump repeatedly encouraged his followers to engage in acts of violence against journalists, the news media, Black Lives Matters protesters, “Antifa” and others deemed to be “the enemy” because they are “not real Americans” like his MAGA followers.
Trump has publicly threatened, both explicitly and implicitly, the lives and safety of President Biden, Hillary Clinton, Special Counsel Jack Smith, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and the prosecutors and law enforcement who are trying to hold him accountable for his crimes. Trump’s main 2024 presidential campaign message is a promise that if elected there will be a “final battle”, a reign of terror and revenge against the Democrats, liberals, progressives and any other Americans who oppose the neofascist MAGA movement.
Of course, Trump’s violent and other pathological behavior has not disqualified or otherwise seriously hurt his quest to be the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nominee. In fact, the party and its voters are ever more united behind Donald Trump where his criminality and other aberrant behavior has made him more popular and not less.
Earlier this week, the New York Times reported on Trump and his cabal’s plans to eliminate any and all opposition to the regime through the normal process of institutional checks and balances by civil servants, the rule of law, and other democratic institutions if he takes back the White House in the 2024 Election. Trump would in essence become an American dictator. If such a nightmare scenario were to materialize, then a man who has a demonstrated and proven attraction to and capacity to engage in violence and destruction would have almost free rein to follow through on his most dark and evil impulses.
Trump cannot achieve his revolutionary goal of destroying America’s multiracial, pluralistic democracy – and the Constitutional order more broadly – by himself. He needs a political party, a movement and other allies and forces to achieve such an outcome. On this, historian Heather Cox Richardson warns in a recent issue of her newsletter how the Republican Party “appears to have fully embraced the antidemocratic ideology advanced by authoritarian leaders like Russia’s president Vladimir Putin and Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán”:
They claim that the tenets of democracy—equality before the law, free speech, academic freedom, a market-based economy, immigration, and so on—weaken a nation by destroying a “traditional” society based in patriarchy and Christianity.
Instead of democracy, they have called for “illiberal” or “Christian” democracy, which uses the government to enforce their beliefs in a Christian, patriarchal order.
Trump leads a fascist-authoritarian-fake right-wing populist cult of personality. As such, Trump exerts a powerful if not inexorable amount of influence and control over his followers which translates into his violent impulses and behavior spreading across American society like a plague.
New research by The Lincoln Democracy Institute on political polarization and violence in the Age of Trump and beyond reinforces how severe America’s democracy crisis really is:
The survey found that extremism is born out of increasing polarization and the normalizing of extremist rhetoric. The right and left deal with their competing worldviews by directing their anger at the “other side”. Long-standing generational divides further feed into this: the baby boomers are more likely to be extremist and have ideological divides than any other generation. Other divides include generational experiences such as the end of the Cold War, relationships with technology, and the propensity to embrace cultural change.
This is all being fed by a new right wing media ecosystem that plays off the fears of its viewers and pushes them towards radicalization. Particularly troublesome is the new right extremist media that promotes election denialism and frequently pushes false narratives designed to anger their audience and the MAGA base.
“As the electorate is becoming more politically extremist, and some are radicalizing the threat of violence is growing exponentially,” said Trygve Olson, Survey author and Lincoln Democracy Institute Senior Advisor. “The lack of belief that a fair election is possible in 2024 is setting the stage for wholesale rejection of the results that could lead to violence during and after the election. This is a critical moment for democracy and it is imperative that the nation respond to the moment by supporting our democratic institutions and calling out bad actors.”
Donald Trump is 77 years old. He is not going to change. The greater concern in terms of American society and what happens in the years and decades to come – independent of Trump – is how the American people as a whole, the mainstream news media, and too many political elites have become so quickly used to and habituated to a former president, one of the most powerful people in the country, who routinely if not a daily basis threatens violence, death, mayhem and other harm upon his “enemies” in the rival political party and across society.
After the horrors of the Holocaust and World War II, social psychologists spent much time and energy trying to determine how an entire democratic and cosmopolitan society like Germany can quite literally go mad, intoxicated by violence and hatred in what would become a project of self-destruction.
One does not have to look to the past or abroad for answers: The Age of Trump and the rise of American neofascism is providing a direct and personal lesson in real-time for the American people in how such horrors unfold and become normalized.
In an attempt to find some clarity during these horrible years, I have repeatedly returned to Milton Mayer’s important book “They Thought They Were Free: The Germans 1933-45.” The following two passages have proven to be remarkably helpful:
“But the one great shocking occasion, when tens or hundreds or thousands will join with you, never comes. That’s the difficulty. If the last and worst act of the whole regime had come immediately after the first and smallest, thousands, yes, millions would have been sufficiently shocked—if, let us say, the gassing of the Jews in ’43 had come immediately after the ‘German Firm’ stickers on the windows of non-Jewish shops in ’33. But of course this isn’t the way it happens. In between come all the hundreds of little steps, some of them imperceptible, each of them preparing you not to be shocked by the next. Step C is not so much worse than Step B, and, if you did not make a stand at Step B, why should you at Step C? And so on to Step D….”
“In the body politic as in the body personal, nonresistance to the milder indulgences paves the way for nonresistance to the deadlier.”
The Trumpocene and what it birthed has done great harm to us as individuals, collectively, and as a society.
We the Americans are very sick right now and most don’t even realize it. This includes the many tens of millions of Americans in the MAGA movement, the Republican fascists, and the larger white right who are very sick but believe that they are in fact healthy. The human mind’s capacity for denial and delusion is that extreme.
Grocery prices are bringing many Florida residents to their wit’s end. What can we do?
Edward Bunch III, Pensacola News Journal – July 20, 2023
High food costs are stretching the budgets of consumers across Florida. In the face of inflation, housing issues and insurance crisis, many residents have enough on their plates before ringing up their usual groceries for more expensive receipts than they are accustomed to.
Residents of Pensacola are likely no stranger to the slow uptick on prices that inflation has created. Price fluctuation of gas, food and more commodities have been an issue so important that it’s become a mainstay in the policymaking platforms for local, state and national public official candidates. Across the state, Floridians are receiving the short end of the stick and scrambling to find solutions.
Inflation in the U.S. stood at 3% in June, its lowest point since early 2021 when the world was still reeling from the complications of the pandemic. Despite this, Florida’s inflation rate remains above its peers at 6.9% in the Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach areas. Data outside of these areas, including Pensacola, were not included in the report.
Data provided by the Joint Economic Committee of Congress indicates that Florida’s inflation rates surpassed the national average nearly two years ago in November 2021. The state has maintained its position relative to the rest of the country.
In May 2022, workers in the Pensacola area had an average hourly wage of $24.37 compared to the national average of $29.76, an 18% discrepancy.
Floridians are also spending double the amount of money for groceries than they spend on food outside of their home. According to the same survey, food is the third-highest expense for Floridians behind costs for transportation and housing.
Despite food and groceries being the most crucial product for consumers everywhere, housing remains the biggest expense for Floridians and has likely become the highest priority.
Florida’s homeless population totaled at nearly 26,000 individuals last year, third-highest number in the nation according to the Annual Homelessness Assessment Report and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Research conducted for the U.S. Census determined that Florida had surpassed Idaho in 2022 to become the fastest-growing state in the nation, a distinction Florida hasn’t earned since 1957. Despite Florida’s population increasing by 1.9%, the costs of living and inflation rates across the state could suggest that many newcomers may struggle with maintaining their standard of life soon after arrival.
Much of Florida’s housing inventory was scooped up following the implementation of low-interest rates which allowed many to purchase their first home or refinance their existing one. This drove up home prices, another factor in the current housing crisis.
According the Bureau of Labor Statistics, grocery prices have risen by four percent since May 2022. Despite the livelihood of families being a priority for Florida’s government officials, it is unclear whether there will be meaningful reductions in the price of groceries across the state.
A recent protest was planned by truckers with a distaste for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ recent immigration bill SB1718 that could have crippled the state’s food distribution network. Although the protest bore little fruit due to many of the truckers needing the hours, some are questioning what state officials plan to do to combat the issue without fanning the flames.
How can I get affordable groceries?
Here are some ways shoppers can save on groceries:
Join reward programs for perks like cashback or member-exclusive deals. Chains like Publix and Target have free-to-join programs which allow you to clip digital coupons and eventually personalizes them to your needs and usual items.
Speaking of coupons, utilizing both digital and physical coupons can save you extra as well. Buy one, get one offers can help stock up your shelves for an extended period of time.
Check often for sales, either seasonal or markup, that can offer similar buy one, get one deals.
If possible, purchasing a membership at stores like Sam’s Club or BJ’s can save time and money intended for your next groceries trip. Buying in bulk can feel expensive upfront, but families can save in the long run even with the membership costs. Sam’s Club has two membership levels with varying perks that costs either $50 or $110 annually. BJ’s also has two membership options that cost $55 and $110 respectively. Both stores offer a credit card alongside its higher-priced membership option that rewards you with two percent cashback from purchases at the store and more helpful perks.
Freezing food is an effective way to store food for longer periods of time. If a sale or bulk purchase is more than one can handle at the moment, saving it for later is better than letting it spoil.
Buy fruits and vegetables while they’re in season, making them more nutritious and cheaper overall.
Take advantage of cheaper generic items, they often have the same ingredients as their name brand counterparts.
Comparing prices across stores can save you money at your preferred grocer with a price-matching system.
Re-grow vegetables like celery, potatoes and green/white onion at home and slowly take them off your grocery list.
Don’t buy food items that were prepared previously before being packaged. Not only are they more expensive, sometimes they are prepared due to being close to unsafe for sale. Items like meat, vegetables and cheese are cheaper before being prepared into something else.
Make a budget that you can reference or stick to in order to shop smarter.
If you’re not much of a chef, many restaurants and fast-food chains have implemented rewards systems for purchases that may save consumers some money in the long run.
What are Florida’s public officials doing about inflation?
DeSantis signed the ‘Live Local Act’ earlier this year to incentivize new housing development and assist more Floridians with getting access to housing in their communities.
U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, lays blame for inflation at the feet of the president. “With the Biden administration overspending, the principal mandate for Republicans is to curb inflation,” Gaetz said in an interview with NewsNation.
Russia preparing to attack cargo ships in Black Sea, Britain and America warn
James Kilner – July 20, 2023
A cargo ship is loaded at the port of Novorossiysk, Russia – Zhannaprokopeva/iStockphoto
Ukraine will attack all Russian cargo ships travelling in the north-eastern sector of the Black Sea, its military has said, in retaliation to a similar warning from the Kremlin.
It issued the warning after Russia pulled out of a grain export deal and said that it would now regard all ships heading to Ukraine as smuggling weapons.
”The Kremlin has turned the Black Sea into a danger zone,” Ukraine’s military said in a statement. “The fate of the Moskva cruiser proves that Ukraine’s defence forces have the necessary means to repel Russian aggression.
A Russian missile destroyed the ‘Moskva’, the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, in April 2022.
Ukraine’s military said that it too would now regard all cargo ships bound for Russia as carrying weapons.
At least one person was killed in Odesa and seven more were injured – Libkos/AP
Tension has soared in the Black Sea since Monday when the Kremlin pulled out of a deal that allowed Ukraine to export grain.
The Black Sea is an important trade shipping route. As well as carrying cargo from ports in Russia and Ukraine ships also transport goods between Georgia, Turkey and the EU.
The British Ministry of Defence said on Thursday that Russia would now attack or intercept all cargo ships heading to Ukraine.
Ukrainian firefighters battle a blaze at a building which was struck by a rocket in the port city of Mykolaiv – EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
“The Russian Black Sea Fleet will likely now take a more active role in disrupting any trade which continues,” it said.
Russia has laid additional sea mines in the approaches to Ukrainian ports, White House National Security Council spokesman Adam Hodge said.
“We believe that this is a coordinated effort to justify any attacks against civilian ships in the Black Sea and lay blame on Ukraine for these attacks.”
The warnings come as Russian missiles hit Odesa and Mykoliav, Ukraine’s largest ports, for the third consecutive night.
Odesa has suffered three nights of Russian strikes – Igor Tkachenko/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Videos from the missile strikes on the ports show flames pouring out of destroyed buildings. At least one person was killed in Odesa and seven more were injured. In Mykolaiv, 20 people were injured.
“Russians hit the city centre. A garage and a three-storey residential building are on fire,” said Vitaliy Kim, the Mykolaiv governor.
The Kremlin has said that it is retaliating against an alleged Ukrainian strike on the 12-mile bridge that connects occupied Crimea to the Russian mainland, but Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, linked the attacks to Russia’s withdrawal from the grain deal.
“The target is not only Ukraine,” he said. “Everybody in the world is being affected by this Russian terror.”
A destroyed building in Odesa – Libkos/AP
He said the Kremlin had destroyed a silo in Odesa that was storing 60,000 tonnes of grain bound for China, one of Russia’s key allies.
Under the UN-negotiated deal, Russia had approved Ukrainian cargo ships to dock at the ports to pick up grain after it had inspected them for weapons.
Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, has said that he will return to the grain deal if Ukraine reopens an ammonia pipeline that runs from central Russia.
Ukraine is one of the world’s biggest grain exporters. Global leaders have warned that grain prices will now surge and people in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia will go hungry.
“It worsens the food security outlook and risks adding to global food inflation, especially for low-income countries,” the International Monetary Fund said.
The Kremlin has been courting African leaders and they are due in St Petersburg for meetings with Putin next week.
Ukraine-Russia war: Ukraine launches first cluster bomb attack on Russian troops
Maighna Nanu – July 20, 2023
Ukraine has launched its first cluster bomb attack against Russian forces in southeastern Ukraine, according to reports.
The Washington Post reported that the controversial weapons were fired at Russian trenches slowing down Ukraine’s advance, citing Ukrainian officials familiar with the matter.
It is the first report of the weapons use since the US started sending them to Kyiv this month.
Cluster bombs are also expected to be used near Bakhmut. The weapons spray “bomblets” across an area three times the size of a football pitch.
03:09 PM BST
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02:59 PM BST
Belarus Red Cross chief admits illegally taking Ukrainian children out of the country
The Belarus Red Cross has sparked international outrage after its chief told Belarusian state television that the organisation is actively involved in bringing Ukrainian children from Russian-occupied areas to Belarus.
Both Ukraine and the Belarusian opposition have decried the transfer as unlawful deportations, and there have been calls for international war crimes charges for Alexander Lukashenko, the authoritarian Belarus leader, similar to the charges against Russian president Vladimir Putin.
The actions of the Belarus Red Cross drew stern criticism from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Moscow slaps domestic travel restrictions on UK diplomats in Russia
Moscow has announced that British diplomats working in Russia will need to notify authorities in advance about their movements around the country.
Russia’s foreign ministry said it summoned Britain’s charge d’affaires Tom Dodd to inform him of a “notification procedure for the movement of employees of British diplomatic missions”.
Moscow said it was introduced in response to the “hostile actions” of London, a key ally of Ukraine. The measures will not apply to the British ambassador and several other diplomats.
02:21 PM BST
Kyiv condemns Russian warning against ships travelling to Ukraine
Ukraine’s foreign ministry has condemned a warning by Russia that any ships travelling to Ukrainian Black Sea ports will be seen as possibly carrying military cargoes.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine strongly condemns any threats to use force against civilian ships, regardless of their flag,” it said.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Wednesday it would deem all ships travelling to Ukraine to be potentially carrying military cargo and “the flag countries of such ships will be considered parties to the Ukrainian conflict”.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry said: “The intention to consider foreign ships as military targets grossly violates Russia’s obligations under international law not only to Ukraine but also to all countries engaged in peaceful shipping in the Black Sea.”
It added that Russia’s statement had no legitimate military purpose, but was aimed at intimidating Ukraine and neutral states.
02:21 PM BST
Wagner in military exercises near Polish border
Wagner fighters will conduct military exercises near the Polish border in Belarus, the Belarusian defence ministry has said.
The militia will train Belarussian special forces at a firing range near Brest, triggering concern from Nato-member Poland.
It comes as Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was shown in a video on Wednesday welcoming his fighters to Belarus, telling them they would take no further part in the Ukraine war for now but ordering them to gather their strength for Africa.
Poland said earlier this month it would send 500 police to shore up security at its border with Belarus to deal with potential threats after Wagner mercenaries as well as rising numbers of migrants crossing.
A deal was struck for the mercenaries to move to Belarus after Wagner’s failed June 23-24 mutiny.
01:45 PM BST
UK sanctions people, businesses ‘linked’ to Wagner’s Africa ops
Britain announced sanctions against 13 individuals and businesses it said have links to the Russian mercenary group Wagner in Africa, accusing them of crimes there including killings and torture.
The people and entities targeted – which will no longer be able to deal with UK citizens, companies and banks, and have any UK assets frozen – are allegedly involved in Wagner’s activities in Mali, Central African Republic (CAR) and Sudan.
They include the purported head of Wagner in Mali, Ivan Aleksandrovitch Maslov, its chief in CAR, Vitalii Viktorovitch Perfilev, and the group’s operations head there Konstantin Aleksandrovitch Pikalov.
London noted Pikalov is known as the “right hand man” of Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has already been sanctioned by Britain alongside several of his key commanders who have participated in Russia’s war in Ukraine.
01:44 PM BST
Pictured: A man reacts at the scene of a rocket strike on an administrative building in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa
A man reacts at the scene of a rocket strike on an administrative building in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa – IGOR TKACHENKO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock/Shutterstock
12:45 PM BST
‘A third hellish night’
Russian missiles and drones hit the Ukrainian port of Odesa for a third “hellish” night in a row, Sergiy Kruk, head of the Ukrainian State Emergency Service has said.
In Odesa, a man was found dead “under the rubble”, regional governor Oleg Kiper said. The body of another man was found in Mykolaiv, officials said.
A number of residential buildings as well as stores, cafes and banks in the city were damaged, while some continued to burn in the hours after the strikes.
Rescue teams were searching through the debris under pouring rain to find survivors after the Russians struck the city center.
12:21 PM BST
Ukraine urges restoration of Black Sea grain initiative
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has called for the restoration of the Black Sea grain initiative to meet the challenge of global food insecurity.
Mr Kuleba is visiting Islamabad on a two-day trip.
His counterpart in Pakistan Bilawal Bhutto Zardari endorsed his comments, saying he planned to take the issue up with the secretary general of the United Nations.
The Black Sea grain deal expired on Monday after Russia quit it.
“We had to find the way to export our grain to the global market,” said Kuleba, adding, “land corridors cannot export the full amount of cereals available for export, this is the issue, which means prices will go up because of shortages of delivery.”
12:03 PM BST
Children are not the only ones being abducted by Russia
Elderly and vulnerable Ukrainians were taken into Russian territory, stripped of their citizenship, forced to give blood and left in agony from botched medical procedures, a Telegraph investigation has found.
The senior citizens were placed in the Russian care system after Vladimir Putin’s forces occupied their hometowns and villages in the early stages of the war.
Those who managed to escape back to Ukraine have told how they were “treated with disdain” and abused.
Zelensky: We will make it through this terrible time
11:08 AM BST
Death toll rises to two in Odesa strikes
At least two people were killed in the Odesa attacks, its governor has said.
Oleh Kiper, the governor of Odesa, said the two people who died in Odesa were a 21-year-old security guard and another person who was found dead under rubble during a search and rescue operation.
In Mykolaiv, another southern city close to the Black Sea, at least 19 people were injured overnight, the region’s Governor Vitalii Kim said in a statement on Telegram.
10:47 AM BST
Odesa and Mykolaiv in pictures:
Firefighters extinguish fire at damaged house after attacks in Odesa – Anadolu Agency/AnadoluEmergency services personnel work at the site of a building that was damaged by a Russian missile strike – NATIONAL POLICE OF UKRAINE/via REUTERS
10:16 AM BST
One killed in Russian attack on Ukrainian port cities
One person was killed and 27 wounded after Russian strikes hit Odesa and Mykolaiv for a third consecutive night after Moscow pulled out of a grain export deal, officials said.
In Mykolaiv, fire fighters tackled a huge blaze overnight. A three-storey residential building was left without its top floor and a line of adjacent buildings was left charred and gutted by fire.
Kyiv’s air force said the military shot down five cruise missiles and 13 attack drones launched by Russian forces overnight at the southern Mykolaiv and Odesa regions.
A previous round of overnight strikes on Odesa destroyed 60,000 tonnes of grain meant for export, Kyiv said on Wednesday, with president Volodymyr Zelensky accusing Moscow of “deliberately” targeting the supplies.
One person was also killed in Russian shelling in the northeastern region of Kharkiv, regional authorities said.
09:46 AM BST
Poland ‘monitoring situation’ on Belarus border
Poland’s defence ministry is monitoring the situation on the border with Belarus and is prepared for various scenarios, it said, after Belarus said mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group would take part in military exercises near the border.
“Poland’s borders are secure, we are monitoring the situation on our eastern border on an ongoing basis and we are prepared for various scenarios as the situation develops,” the defence ministry said in an emailed statement.
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was shown in a video on Wednesday welcoming his fighters to Belarus, telling them they would take no further part in the Ukraine war for now but ordering them to gather their strength for Africa.
09:31 AM BST
21 injured in overnight strikes in southern Ukraine
A third night of Russian air attacks targeted Ukraine’s southern cities and wounded at least 21 people, Ukrainian officials said.
At least 19 people were injured in Mykolaiv, a southern city close to the Black Sea, the region’s Governor Vitalii Kim said in a statement on Telegram.
Russian strikes destroyed several floors of a three-story building and caused a fire that affected an area of 450 square meters and burned for hours.
Kim said two people were hospitalized, including a child.
In the port city of Odesa, at least two were injured following a Russian air attack that damaged buildings in the city centre and caused a fire affecting an area of 300 square meters (3200 square feet), said Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper.
09:22 AM BST
Ukrainian grain ‘cannot be left to rot in silos,’ says German foreign minister
Germany is working with allies to ensure that Ukrainian grain is not left to rot in silos after Russia pulled out of an export deal, and will intensify work on getting the grain out by rail, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has said.
Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels, Ms Baerbock accused Russia of blackmail and trying to use the grain as a weapon at the expense of the world’s poorest.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Western countries of “perverting” the grain deal, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey.
“Hundreds of thousands of people, not to say millions, urgently need the grain from Ukraine, which is why we are working with all our international partners so that the grain in Ukraine does not rot in silos in the next few weeks, but reaches the people of the world who urgently need it,”Ms Baerbock said.
08:50 AM BST
Russia ‘causing global food crisis’ with grain deal withdrawal, says EU official
Russia is responsible for a major global food supply crisis, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell has said, some days after the Kremlin announced it would suspend an agreement for Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea.
“What we already know is that this is going to create a big and huge food crisis in the world..”, Mr Borrell told journalists before heading into a EU foreign ministers’ meeting.
Mr Borrell also accused Russia of deliberately attacking grain storage facilities in the southern port city of Odesa, which he said would further deepen the food crisis.
08:30 AM BST
Aftermath of Odesa attack in pictures:
Rescuers work at a site of a building heavily damaged by a Russian missile attack in Odesa – STRINGER/REUTERSRescuers work at a site of a building heavily damaged by a Russian missile attack in central Odesa – STRINGER/REUTERS
08:27 AM BST
Wagner fighters and Belarus hold military exercises near Poland’s border
Mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner group will help train Belarusian special forces during exercises at a military range near the border with Nato member Poland, the Belarusian defence ministry has said.
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was shown in a video on Wednesday welcoming his fighters to Belarus, telling them they would take no further part in the Ukraine war for now but ordering them to gather their strength for Africa.
“The armed forces of Belarus continue joint training with the fighters of the Wagner PMC (Private Military Company),” the Belarusian defence ministry said.
“During the week, special operations forces units together with representatives of the Company will work out combat training tasks at the Brest military range.”
08:24 AM BST
Latest MoD update: Russia ‘likely’ made the decision to leave grain deal some time ago
08:05 AM BST
Putin threats to Ukraine ships sends wheat prices soaring
Wheat prices have soared further after the Kremlin threatened to attack ships carrying grain to Ukrainian ports.
US wheat futures rocketed by 8.5 per cent on Wednesday, their biggest daily rise since just after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense warned that all vessels in the Black Sea heading to Ukrainian ports would be considered potential carriers of military cargo starting Thursday.
08:03 AM BST
Explosions in Odesa for third night in a row
08:02 AM BST
Majority of Britons believe UK should support Ukraine for ‘as long as it takes’
A majority of Britons believe the UK should provide assistance to Ukraine for as long as it takes, new polling has found.
A survey of more than 2,158 people found 53 per cent of Britons are in favour of helping Ukraine for as long as it takes.
Only 6 per cent thought the UK should immediately withdraw support from Ukraine.
According to the survey from the British Foreign Policy Group by JL Partners, which polled 2,158 people, the majority of Britons support all forms of aid being offered to Ukraine, including:
Providing humanitarian assistance (85 per cent)
Imposing economic sanctions on Russia (75 per cent)
Accepting Ukrainian refugees (70 per cent)
Providing military aid (68 per cent)
Providing F-16 fighter jets (56 per cent)
07:44 AM BST
‘Welcome to hell’: Russia’s Wagner chief welcomes fighters to Belarus in first sighting since mutiny
18 wounded in Russian strike says Mykolaiv governor
At least 18 people were wounded by a Russian strike on the Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv, regional governor Vitaliy Kim said.
“Russians hit the city centre. A garage and a 3-story residential building are on fire,” Mykolaiv governor Vitaliy Kim wrote on Telegram.
Members of emergency services work at a building destroyed by a Russian attack in Mykolaiv, Ukraine – National Police of Ukraine/AP
Eighteen people had been wounded and nine of them had been hospitalised, including five children, he added, without specifying their condition or if they had been in the residential building.
He did not give details on the strike.
07:33 AM BST
Ukraine ‘shot down 13 drones’ launched by Russia overnight
Ukraine’s military shot down five cruise missiles and 13 attack drones launched by Russian forces overnight at the southern Mykolaiv and Odesa regions, Kyiv’s air force has said.
It said Russia fired 19 cruise missiles and 19 drones in total, but did not specify exactly where the others struck.
07:32 AM BST
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Nearly two years after Texas’ six-week abortion ban, more infants are dying
Isabelle Chapman – July 20, 2023
Texas’ abortion restrictions – some of the strictest in the country – may be fueling a sudden spike in infant mortality as women are forced to carry nonviable pregnancies to term.
Some 2,200 infants died in Texas in 2022 – an increase of 227 deaths, or 11.5%, over the previous year, according to preliminary infant mortality data from the Texas Department of State Health Services that CNN obtained through a public records request. Infant deaths caused by severe genetic and birth defects rose by 21.6%. That spike reversed a nearly decade-long decline. Between 2014 and 2021, infant deaths had fallen by nearly 15%.
In 2021, Texas banned abortions beyond six weeks of pregnancy. When the Supreme Court overturned federal abortion rights the following summer, a trigger law in the state banned all abortions other than those intended to protect the life of the mother.
The increase in deaths could partly be explained by the fact that more babies are being born in Texas. One recent report found that in the final nine months of 2022, the state saw nearly 10,000 more births than expected prior to its abortion ban – an estimated 3% increase.
But multiple obstetrician-gynecologists who focus on high-risk pregnancies told CNN that Texas’ strict abortion laws likely contributed to the uptick in infant deaths.
“We all knew the infant mortality rate would go up, because many of these terminations were for pregnancies that don’t turn into healthy normal kids,” said Dr. Erika Werner, the chair of obstetrics and gynecology at Tufts Medical Center. “It’s exactly what we all were concerned about.”
The issue of forcing women to carry out terminal and often high-risk pregnancies is at the core of a lawsuit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights, with several women – who suffered difficult pregnancies or infant deaths shortly after giving birth – testifying in Travis County court this week.
One witness became so emotional while testifying Wednesday that she began to vomit on the stand.
After the court called a recess she explained that the reaction is a response to the emotional trauma she endured: “I vomit when there’s certain parts that happen that kind of just makes my body remember.”
Another sobbed as she described feeling afraid to visit a Texas doctor after receiving an abortion out of state. A third spoke tearfully about waiting for her baby’s heart to stop beating so her doctors could provide an abortion she desperately needed.
Prior to the recent abortion restrictions, Texas banned the procedure after 20 weeks. This law gave parents more time to learn crucial information about a fetus’s brain formation and organ development, which doctors begin to test for at around 15 weeks.
Samantha Casiano, a plaintiff in the suit filed against Texas, wished she’d had more time to make the decision.
“If I was able to get the abortion with that time, I think it would have meant a lot to me because my daughter wouldn’t have suffered,” Casiano told CNN after testifying Wednesday.
‘You have no options’
Anti-abortion demonstrators gather in the rotunda at the Capitol in Austin, Texas, in March of 2021. – Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman/AP
When Casiano was 20 weeks pregnant, a routine scan came back with devastating news: Her baby would be stillborn or die shortly after birth.
The fetus had anencephaly, a rare birth defect that keeps the brain and skull from developing during pregnancy. Babies with this condition are often stillborn, though they sometimes live a few hours or days. Many women around the country who face the prospect choose abortion, two obstetrician-gynecologists told CNN.
But Casiano lived in Texas, where state legislators had recently banned most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. She couldn’t afford to travel out of the state for the procedure.
“You have no options. You will have to go through with your pregnancy,” Casiano’s doctor told her, she claimed in the lawsuit.
In March, Casiano gave birth to her daughter Halo. After gasping for air for four hours, the baby died, Casiano said during her testimony on Wednesday.
“All she could do was fight to try to get air. I had to watch my daughter go from being pink to red to purple. From being warm to cold,” said Casiano. “I just kept telling myself and my baby that I’m so sorry that this had to happen to you.”
Casiano and 14 others – including two doctors – are plaintiffs in the lawsuit. They allege the abortion ban has denied them or their patients access to necessary obstetrical care. The plaintiffs are asking the courts to clarify when doctors can make medical exceptions to the state’s ban.
Casiano and two other plaintiffs testified Wednesday about hoping to deliver healthy babies but instead learning their lives or pregnancies were in danger.
Plaintiffs Anna Zargarian, Lauren Miller, Lauren Hall, and Amanda Zurawski at the Texas State Capitol after filing a lawsuit on behalf of Texans harmed by the state’s abortion ban on March 7 in Austin, Texas. – Rick Kern/Getty Images/FILE
“This was just supposed to be a scan day,” Casiano told the court. “It escalated to me finding out my daughter was going to die.”
Lawyers representing the state argued Wednesday that the plaintiffs’ doctors were to blame, saying they misinterpreted the law and failed to provide adequate care for such high-risk pregnancies.
“Plaintiffs will not and cannot provide any evidence of any medical provider in the state of Texas being prosecuted or otherwise penalized for performance of an abortion using the emergency medical exemption,” a lawyer said during the state’s opening statement.
Kylie Beaton, another plaintiff, also had to watch her baby die. Beaton, who didn’t testify this week, learned during a 20-week scan that something was wrong with her baby’s brain, according to the suit.
The doctor diagnosed the fetus with alobar holoprosencephaly, a condition where the two hemispheres of the brain don’t properly divide. Babies with this condition are often stillborn or die soon after birth.
Beaton’s doctor told her he couldn’t provide an abortion unless she was severely ill, or the fetus’s heart stopped. Beaton and her husband sought to obtain an abortion out of state. However, the fetus’s head was enlarged due to its condition, and the only clinic that would perform an abortion charged up to $15,000. Beaton and her husband couldn’t afford it.
Instead, Beaton gave birth to a son she named Grant. The baby cried constantly, wouldn’t eat, and couldn’t be held upright for fear it would put too much pressure on his head, according to the suit. Four days later, Grant died.
Maternal mortality
Amanda Zurawski of Austin, Texas, center, is the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit. – Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/AP
Experts say that abortion bans in states like Texas lead to increased risk for both babies and mothers.
Maternal mortality has long been a top concern for doctors and health-rights activists. Even before the Supreme Court decision, the United States had the highest maternal mortality rate among wealthy nations, one study found.
Amanda Zurawski, the lawsuit’s lead plaintiff, testified Wednesday that her water broke 18 weeks into her pregnancy, putting her at high risk for a life-threatening infection. Zurawski’s baby likely wouldn’t survive.
But the fetus still had a heartbeat, and so doctors said they were unable to terminate the pregnancy. She received an emergency abortion only after her condition worsened and she went into septic shock.
Zurawski described during Wednesday’s hearing how her family visited the hospital, fearing it would be the last time they would see her. Zurawski has argued that had she been able to obtain an abortion, her life wouldn’t have been in jeopardy in the same way.
“I blame the people who support these bans,” Zurawski said.
Zurawski previously said the language in Texas’ abortion laws is “incredibly vague, and it leaves doctors grappling with what they can and cannot do, what health care they can and cannot provide.”
Pregnancy is dangerous, and forcing a woman to carry a non-viable pregnancy to term is unnecessarily risky when it’s clear the baby will not survive, argued Dr. Mae-Lan Winchester, an Ohio maternal-fetal medicine specialist.
“Pregnancy is one of the most dangerous things a person will ever go through,” Winchester said. “Putting yourself through that risk without any benefit of taking a baby home at the end, it’s … risking maternal morbidity and mortality for nothing.”
CNN’s Casey Tolan and Daniel A. Medina contributed to this report.
