(NEW YORK) — A 4.8 magnitude earthquake rocked the Northeast Friday morning, shaking buildings from Philadelphia to New Jersey to New York City to Connecticut to Westchester, New York.
The earthquake was centered near Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Reports of injuries were not immediately clear.
John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey and Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport are all on a ground stop while runways are inspected for damage.
Con Edison said there are no reports of outages or damage.
There is no damage or service disruption to New York City’s subway system, according to the MTA.
New York City schools are staying open as normal, according to the city’s Department of Education press secretary, Nathaniel Styer.
“At this time, there is no indication that our buildings were compromised, and our facilities staff are quickly and thoroughly inspecting buildings to ensure safety. The safest place for our kids right now is in our schools,” Styer said.
The New York City mayor’s office said there’s no immediate reports of damage in the city but crews are still assessing the impacts.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the quake was felt throughout New York.
“My team is assessing impacts and any damage that may have occurred, and we will update the public throughout the day,” she wrote on social media.
Cars at the Holland Tunnel between New Jersey and Manhattan are being temporarily held so the tunnel can be inspected, according to the Port Authority.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
At least 10 states have implemented restrictions on diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI: Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.
Some of these policies ban state funds from being used for diversity-based programs, activities, and offices on college campuses, as seen in Alabama. Some states, like Texas, ban diversity offices at universities altogether. Florida’s law also targets diversity training or programs in private workplaces.
Legislators in at least 19 other states have proposed similar restrictions, although several efforts have failed to pass or were vetoed.
DEI, as defined by professionals in the field, is intended to correct inequities within an organization. This could include implementing accessibility measures for people with disabilities, correcting discriminatory hiring practices, addressing gender and racial pay inequities, anti-bias training and more.
DEI practices have their roots in the anti-discrimination legislative movement of the 1960s, when the Civil Rights Act and Age Discrimination in Employment Act were born, according to past interviews with DEI professionals.
Though every DEI program may be different, professionals say they are aimed at addressing exclusionary practices concerning race, age, gender, sexual orientation, veteran status, disability, economic class and more.
Anti-DEI efforts spark debate
The recent wave of efforts to target diversity programs seemingly began after the Supreme Court set new limits on affirmative action, a policy that allowed higher education institutions to use race as one factor among many in student admissions to address historical inequalities.
Supporters of legislation against diversity programs claim they promote “radical indoctrination that promotes division in our society,” Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz, Jr. suggests.
“My administration has and will continue to value Alabama’s rich diversity. However, I refuse to allow a few bad actors on college campuses – or wherever else for that matter – to go under the acronym of DEI, using taxpayer funds, to push their liberal political movement counter to what the majority of Alabamians believe,” said Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey when signing an anti-DEI bill in March.
Critics of anti-DEI legislation, including national and state teachers unions and free speech advocacy groups, likened these laws to censorship and say they will halt progress addressing inequality.
“This is all about silencing students,” United Faculty of Florida union’s president Andrew Gothard said in an interview with local news outlet WLRN. “It’s about silencing faculty. It’s about withholding funding from individuals who have beliefs, speak ideas, or take actions that would disagree with the politics of elected leaders.”
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona called legislation targeting DEI “very deliberate attempts to seek division in our schools,” in a recent roundtable, according to the National Education Association, the largest labor union in the United States.
Impact of anti-DEI legislation
Since anti-DEI policies have been implemented, some universities – including the University of Texas, the University of Florida and the University of North Florida – have disbanded offices and programming related to diversity.
The University of Texas discontinued programs and activities within the Division of Campus and Community Engagement and laid off employees in DEI-related positions.
The office said it integrated “access and belonging into the University’s core mission” and connected “intellectual resources to communities across Texas and offer education to those who may face the most significant challenges in accessing it.”
As a result, longstanding UT programs such as “New Black Student Weekend, Adelante, CultivAsian…Latino Leadership Council, Native American and Indigenous Collective, [and] Students for Equity and Diversity,” all have been shuttered, reported the Texas Observer this week.
Earlier this year, the University of North Florida closed its Office of Diversity and Inclusion, including the women’s, interfaith, intercultural, and LGBTQ centers, to comply with restrictions, according to local news reports.
The University of Florida also eliminated all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) positions at the university to comply with recent Board of Governors restrictions.
These changes have come amid ongoing scrutiny against higher education institutions and diversity.
Social inequities have long impacted access to higher education for students of color, poor students, and other marginalized groups – such as economic inequality, segregation and academic inequity in K-12 schools. This has led to the continued underrepresentation of these groups in four-year institutions.
“DEI programs recruit and retain BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and other underrepresented faculty and students to repair decades of discriminatory policies and practices that excluded them from higher education,” said the ACLU in a statement on anti-DEI laws. “The far right, however, claims that DEI programs universally promote undeserving people who only advance because they check a box.”
The NEA has said that schools across the country are shuttering access to information and resources geared toward marginalized groups because of the restrictions.
The group also has said teachers are self-censoring their classrooms when it comes to social or political topics in the classroom because of legislative restrictions on discussions on race, gender and sexual orientation.
They’ve cited concerns over losing their job or lawsuits from angry parents.
This kind of legislation’s ability to hold up in court remains unclear.
Judges have blocked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “Stop WOKE” Act in Florida from restricting race-related training or programs in the workplace and higher education, arguing that the law’s restrictions are unenforceable and violate the First Amendment.
A composite showing progression of a total solar eclipse in El Molle, Chile, July 2, 2019. — Courtesy of Stan Honda
(NEW YORK) — The historic total solar eclipse on April 8 is set to be one of the most photographed events this year.
In the U.S., 31 million people already live inside the path of totality and millions are likely to travel to cities within that path, watching the moon pass over and then completely block the face of the sun for a short period.
It’s a phenomenon that almost every viewer will want to capture in a photograph, but it may be difficult to figure out what’s the best gear to use or how to set up.
Eclipse Across America, will air live Monday, April 8, beginning at 2 p.m. ET on ABC, ABC News Live, National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo WILD, Disney+ and Hulu as well as network social media platforms.
Photographer Stan Honda, who is based in New York City, has photographed three total solar eclipses and at least 10 partial solar eclipses. He gave his tips to ABC News on the best ways to capture this rare celestial event.
Before you start taking pictures, wear eclipse glasses
One of the most important things, before and as you are setting up equipment, is to never look up at phases of the partial eclipse — when the moon is partly obscuring the sun — without wearing eclipse glasses.
Looking up with the naked eye or regular sunglasses can burn the retina, leading to long-lasting — even permanent — damage. The glasses can only be removed during the totality period, when the sun is completely blocked by the moon.
Make sure the glasses are certified ISO 12312-2, which is the international safety standard for products designed for direct viewing of the sun.
This standard does not apply to solar filters that fit in the front of devices such as camera lenses, so make sure you’re purchasing a proper solar filter to fit when photographing the partial phases of the eclipse.
Keep the setup simple
If you’ll be taking photographs with a professional or digital camera, Honda recommends keeping the set-up as simple as possible.
The type of lens you use will depend on what kind of photographs you would like to capture, but Honda says he tries to use two types of lenses for his photographs.
The first is a long telephoto lens to get a close view of the sun during the eclipse and the second is a wider angle lens to capture both the eclipse and the landscape around you.
“To me, that’s almost a more interesting picture because it places the eclipse in a location,” he said of the wider-angle photographs. “When you zoom in and when you do close-ups of the sun, it isolates it up in space, and you’re not really sure where you are. The wide-angle ones really show the location where you are, and often can show people, things like that.”
For amateur photographers, or those experiencing their first total solar eclipse, Honda recommends using just one camera, one lens and a tripod.
“I always tell people, especially if this is your first total eclipse, try not to think too much about the photography because you really want to see it with your own eyes,” he said. “If you’re spending all the time trying to fiddle around with your cameras, then it’s sort of a lost opportunity to experience this just unbelievable event.”
What if I’m using a smartphone?
With the majority of Americans owning smartphones, millions will likely capture the event with an iPhone or Android camera.
Honda recommends keeping the basic settings on the phone and pointing the camera toward the sun and moon during totality. He adds that it’s not worth capturing the partial phases unless you have a solar filter over the camera lens.
“Don’t zoom in. A wide shot will probably work OK, and it will show the surrounding environment,” he said. “I’ve seen good photos, some videos and even a panorama on phone cameras taken during total eclipses. Like with the bigger cameras, try a few shots but then make sure to watch with your own eyes.”
He added that recording a short video of the eclipse on a smartphone might also be useful because it will also record the sound of the surrounding environment, such as people in the area.
Plan for the weather
Weather can play a factor in how your eclipse photograph turns out. If the cloud cover — the fraction of the sky obscured by clouds — is higher than average, it might be more difficult to capture picture-perfect moments.
Honda will be in Fredericksburg, Texas, during the eclipse, which has historically low cloud cover in early April compared to other parts of the country, he says.
If your plans are to be in an area in the path of totality and the forecast calls for a cloudy day, Honda recommends being flexible.
“If you’re in a location where there is a probability of weather, keep track of the cloud cover,” he said. “If weather is coming in, try to be mobile … check out the roads like a day or two before and figure out a plan to try to get to a different location.”
Even if there are clouds in the sky, it will still be darker during the period of totality and good photographs can still be taken, Honda said.
Practice, practice, practice
To make sure you understand your camera’s capabilities, Honda said it’s a good idea to practice taking pictures with your camera.
Even NASA recommends practicing. The federal space agency advises eclipse observers to become familiar with the adjustable exposures to help darken or lighten an image as well as practicing how to manually focus the camera.
“Practice a lot before April 8,” Honda said. “If it’s clear where you are, the sun’s up and you definitely could practice a little bit of trying to get the sun in the frame.”
Enjoy the moment
While it can be enjoyable to capture a great photo of the eclipse, the most important thing is to enjoy the event you’re witnessing, Honda said.
“It’s one of these just completely amazing events that you’ll never ever forget,” he said. “I think the best thing is to try to really enjoy the eclipse as much as you can because it could it really could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
(NEW YORK) — New York Attorney General Letitia James questioned Thursday whether the California company that underwrote former President Donald Trump’s $175 million bond in his New York civil fraud case is financially qualified to handle a bond of that size.
In a court filing, James requested that Knight Specialty Insurance Company submit papers demonstrating it is financially capable of paying the bond should Trump lose his appeal in the case.
The California company is not registered with the New York Department of Financial Services.
The dispute is part of the nearly half-billion-dollar civil fraud judgment imposed on the former president after New York Judge Arthur Engoron in February found Trump and his adult sons liable for using “numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation” to inflate his net worth in order to get more favorable loan terms.
Trump has denied all wrongdoing and has appealed the decision in the case.
In a brief interview with ABC News, the chairman of Knight Specialty’s parent company, Don Hankey, said he had “no concerns at all.”
“Seldom do our applications or our bonds get turned down,” said Hankey. “I imagine it is being scrutinized very carefully, and they’re checking to make sure all the I’s are dotted and the T’s are crossed.”
“It’s a large amount for anybody,” Hankey said.
Trump’s defense attorney, Christopher Kise, blasted the attorney general for questioning the surety.
“Yet another witch hunt!” Kise said in a statement provided to ABC News. “After hiding out in silence following an embarrassing loss in the First Department … the Attorney General now seeks to stir up some equally baseless public quarrel in a desperate effort to regain relevance.”
Judge Engoron has scheduled a hearing to discuss the bond on April 22.
(LOS ANGELES) — A Los Angeles money storage facility was ransacked on Easter Sunday, leaving a hole in the building’s roof and tens of millions of dollars vanished, sources told ABC News.
Sources said the exact amount that was stolen is not known, but it is believed to be in the tens of millions, which would make it one of the largest cash heists in Los Angeles’ history.
The FBI and Los Angeles Police Department’s investigation into the burglary is ongoing.
Where was the theft?
The multi-million-dollar theft took place Sunday, March 31 at a money storage facility in Sylmar, in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, law enforcement sources said.
Sources told KABC-TV’s Eyewitness News that the theft happened at a GardaWorld facility in the LA suburb of Sylmar.
GardaWorld is “one of the largest privately owned integrated security and risk” companies internationally, that partners with private companies, governments, humanitarian organizations and multinationals, according to the company’s website.
How did it happen?
The burglars managed to break into the money storage facility completely undetected on Sunday, law enforcement sources said, noting that the first report of the theft was Monday morning.
Officials briefed on the investigation believe the burglars broke through the facility’s roof and managed to enter the area where the money is kept, which may have been a vault.
KABC’s news helicopter AIR7 HD flew over the facility Wednesday and captured footage of “an apparent hole on the side of the building that was boarded up,” as well as “a pile of debris” next to it.
However, it’s currently unconfirmed if that damage is related to the burglary, KABC reported.
How much was stolen?
The exact amount of money that was stolen in the heist has not been officially confirmed, but law enforcement sources say it is believed to be in the tens of millions.
The Los Angeles Times, the first to report the theft, wrote the “thieves made off with as much as $30 million,” citing an LA police official.
Who are the suspects?
Law enforcement sources say there are no suspects in the theft at this point. However, due to the sophistication of the heist, the operation indicates a crew of some kind is responsible, the sources say.
In an interview with Eyewitness News, an unnamed employee questioned if the heist could have been an “inside job.”
“It’s just mind-blowing that you would never suspect it,” the employee said. “$30 million in the Valley, gone. How? Why? I’m still trying to process it. Was it an inside job? Was it just one person? Was it a group? You know, there’s a lot of questions.”
Previous Los Angeles heists
While the details surrounding the massive burglary are still being investigated, Los Angeles has faced several high-profile cash heists in recent history.
On July 11, 2022, jewelry, gemstones, luxury watches and more valuables worth as much as $100 million were stolen from a Brink’s transport vehicle when the driver pulled over at a rest stop in Lebec, an area about 70 miles north of LA.
The largest cash heist in Los Angeles history before Sunday’s incident took place in 1997, when a Dunbar Armored facility in the Fashion District was robbed of $18.9 million, according to the Los Angeles Times.
On September 12, 1997, a group of thieves led by Allen Pace III, a regional safety inspector for the facility at the time, reportedly broke into the building, stole several bags of cash, and destroyed security footage.
After evading arrest for two years, Pace and his accomplices were eventually caught through a money-laundering scheme and sentenced to prison, according to the newspaper.
(MIAMI) — A federal judge has denied former President Donald Trump’s attempt to have his classified documents case dismissed based on the Presidential Records Act.
Trump’s attorneys had argued, as part of four motions to dismiss, that Trump should have been able to have custody of the documents in question, even after he was president, due to the Presidential Records Act.
Judge Aileen Cannon last month denied another of Trump’s motions seeking to dismiss the case based on unconstitutional vagueness.
The former president has also sought dismissal on the grounds of presidential immunity, and on claims that Jack Smith’s appointment as special counsel was unlawful.
In her order Thursday, Judge Cannon also took a swipe at the special counsel over his filing late Tuesday that urged her to to reverse course on proposed jury instructions.
Smith, in Tuesday’s filing, urged Cannon to reverse course on entertaining the idea that Trump had any personal ownership over the classified materials he has been charged with unlawfully possessing.
Judge Cannon said she is declining Smith’s demand that she state her position over whether the Presidential Records Act will play any role in jury instructions, calling it “unprecedented and unjust.”
“The Court’s Order soliciting preliminary draft instructions on certain counts should not be misconstrued as declaring a final definition on any essential element or asserted defense in this case,” Cannon wrote. “Nor should it be interpreted as anything other than what it was: a genuine attempt, in the context of the upcoming trial, to better understand the parties’ competing positions and the questions to be submitted to the jury in this complex case of first impression.”
The judge also brushed off Smith’s suggestion he could seek intervention by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to order her to clarify her position, writing, “As always any party remains free to avail itself of whatever appellate options it sees fit to invoke, as permitted by law.”
Trump pleaded not guilty last June to 37 criminal counts related to his handling of classified materials, after prosecutors said he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information ranging from U.S. nuclear secrets to the nation’s defense capabilities, and took steps to thwart the government’s efforts to get the documents back.
Trump has denied all charges and denounced the probe as a political witch hunt.
(WASHINGTON) — Rep. Matt Gaetz’s deposition in a civil defamation case brought by a longtime friend has been moved to June after initially being set for April 5, multiple sources told ABC News.
Gaetz was subpoenaed in March by attorneys representing the woman who was at the center of a yearslong investigation into accusations that Gaetz had sex with her when she was a minor, ABC News was first to report last month.
Gaetz’s longtime friend, Chris Dorworth, brought the defamation suit against the woman and others, including the Florida congressman’s former friend Joel Greenberg, alleging he was defamed during the Justice Department’s probe into the matter. The probe ended last year with no charges being brought against Gaetz.
Gaetz is not a party to the defamation lawsuit.
The deposition could see Gaetz asked under oath about about whether he had sexual relations with the woman when she was a minor.
Gaetz’s office did not respond to request for comment from ABC News.
(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) — A three-judge panel heard arguments Thursday on throwing out a lawsuit challenging Tennessee’s abortion ban as well as a motion to block part of the ban.
The case stems from a lawsuit filed by seven women and two doctors against the state over its abortion bans. The judges are reviewing a motion to dismiss the lawsuit and a motion for a temporary injunction against the ban as it applies to dangerous pregnancy complications.
Tennessee ceased nearly all abortion services when a trigger ban went into effect in August 2022, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The state is one of 14 to cease nearly all abortions.
Performing or attempting to perform an abortion is a Class C felony in the state.
The panel, consisting of three women, said it will not issue a ruling Thursday. A ruling in writing is expected after they have reviewed the case.
In the lawsuit, the women allege they were denied “necessary and potentially life-saving medical care” because physicians “fear the penalties imposed by that ban,” according to the lawsuit. The Tennessee attorney general and state board of medical examiners are also named in the suit.
The state argued that the wording of the ban was clear, pushing back against claims that physicians are unsure what constitutes legal abortion care.
“A few doctors saying as a matter of fact that they are unclear about what serious risk might entail in an edge case does not show vagueness as a matter of law,” Whitney Hermandorfer, a lawyer with the Tennessee attorney general’s office, said Thursday in court in response to a question from judges about affidavits physicians have submitted in the case.
The state argued that the individuals who filed the lawsuit are not currently undergoing the medical emergencies mentioned in the suit or seeking emergency care — and thus lack the grounds to file the suit as they are asking for relief in hypothetical future scenarios.
“So while we can all agree the past health circumstances are incredibly unfortunate, I submit here that they do not provide a legal reason to invalidate the medical exception at issue in this case,” Hermandorfer said in court.
A narrow law passed last year in Tennessee allows abortions in cases of molar pregnancies, ectopic pregnancies, to remove a miscarriage or to save the life of the mother. The law was passed in response to pushback from physicians and advocates.
The trigger law did not have an exception but allowed an affirmative defense that allows physicians being prosecuted over providing an abortion to justify their actions, claiming it was done to prevent death or serious injury. This clause, which lawmakers point to as an exception, only comes into effect during a criminal trial after a physician is charged with the felony and their license has been suspended.
In response to assurances given by prosecutors that they would not prosecute certain cases, Chancellor Patricia Head Moskal, a judge in the case, pushed back that there is no guarantee that the district attorney would not prosecute just based on their statements, noting that district attorneys are elected and change regularly.
The state also pushed back on the claim that the law violated the right to life clause of the state constitution, pointing to the exception to the ban.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys argue against dismissing suit
Pushing back on the state’s claim that the patients are not affected persons because the law does not criminalize abortions for women seeking care, Center for Reproductive Rights attorney Marc Hearron said plaintiffs are directly impacted by their care being denied.
“I don’t really know how they can make that argument with a straight face,” Hearron said.
“The physician plaintiffs are directly affected by the threatened enforcement of Tennessee’s abortion ban. The abortion ban directly regulates what care they can and cannot provide their patients and it affects them by threatening them with imprisonment, fines and loss of their medical license if they violate the law,” Hearron said.
Hearron argued that as long as one of the plaintiffs has standing in a case, then the court’s jurisdiction should not be in question.
Pushing back against the state’s claim that there has not been any governmental action in the form of charges being brought against a physician for violating the ban, Hearron argued that physicians are facing a threat of enforcement and that the enactment of the law was itself a governmental action.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs also argued that physicians losing their medical licenses would constitute harm to their property, giving them standing to pursue the lawsuit.
The lawyers also alleged that patients in the state are not getting constitutionally required abortion care that they should get.
Center for Reproductive Rights attorneys also argued that the language of the exception law is just as vague as the original statute. They also argued that the language has multiple indeterminate meanings.
“Serious and substantial risk” to the life and health of a patient could mean different things to different people and are not, Linda Goldstein, the senior counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in court.
Attorneys argued there were four sources of linguistic vagueness in the law: the use of nonmedical language, ambiguous terminology, no indication of timing and the reasonable medical judgement standard.
“In combination, they have left physicians clueless as to what they should do,” Goldstein said in court.
“If we are going to send someone to prison for 15 years, they have to know that they are doing something that the statute prohibits,” Goldstein said.
Goldstein cited Kate Cox’s case, pointing to the dilemmas doctors are facing. Cox is a Texas woman who filed a lawsuit requesting an emergency abortion for a pregnancy with a severe anomaly.
After a trial court allowed her to get an abortion, the Texas Supreme Court blocked and then overturned that ruling, denying her an abortion. She eventually traveled out of state to access care.
The lawsuit
The lawsuit, filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights, is requesting a clarification of the medical exception in the abortion ban, through a declaration of when physicians can legally provide abortion care.
The Center for Reproductive Rights is asking the court to allow physicians to rely on their “good faith judgement” and consultation with patients in making their decisions in cases of medical conditions or pregnancy complications that pose a risk to the mother’s life; medical conditions that are exacerbated by pregnancy; conditions that cannot be effectively treated during pregnancy, or require recurrent invasive intervention; and in cases of fatal fetal anomalies.
The suit argues that the exception to the abortion ban as it applies to emergency medical conditions violates the Tennessee constitution’s due process and equal protections clauses. It also argues that the law is unconstitutionally vague for physicians who are unaware what care would meet the exceptions.
Despite claims from politicians, including Gov. Bill Lee, that the ban allows exceptions for pregnancies that threaten a woman’s life or could cause serious bodily injury, some doctors told ABC News they believe this is not the case.
The plaintiff’s stories
Nicole Blackmon, a 31-year-old living in Tennessee, said she stopped taking medication for hypertension and a rare brain condition when she learned she was pregnant in July 2022 to avoid harming her pregnancy.
Fifteen weeks into her pregnancy, Blackmon said she learned her baby had a fatal diagnosis. Because she said she could not afford the thousands of dollars it would cost to travel to another state for abortion care, she was forced to continue her pregnancy despite risks to her health. She gave birth to a stillborn baby, according to the suit.
Allie Phillips, 28, and her husband were excited about the birth of their second daughter when they received a fatal diagnosis, she told ABC News in October. At 18 weeks pregnant, the couple said they were told the fetus had multiple anomalies that were incompatible with life. She told ABC News that many of the fetus’ organs, including the heart and brain, had not properly developed and her doctor said the fetus’ condition would continue to deteriorate and that continuing her pregnancy could pose serious risks to Phillips’ health.
Due to Tennessee’s ban, Phillips said her doctor told her that she could not offer her any advice on how to access abortion care. After doing their own research, the couple made an appointment at an abortion clinic in New York for the following week. When she arrived, she said she learned her baby’s heart had stopped beating and she was taken in for emergency care because she was at risk of severe blood clots and infection, including sepsis.
Kaitlyn Dulong, who became pregnant in November 2022, was diagnosed with cervical insufficiency and told she would eventually lose her pregnancy, but she was not given abortion care until 10 days later when her cervix was dilated, she had lost all her amniotic fluid and the fetus’ body was in the vaginal canal, according to the lawsuit.
Monica Kelly was 12 weeks pregnant when her fetus was diagnosed with Trisomy 13, a severe fetal condition, and was unlikely to survive birth or would die shortly after birth, according to the lawsuit. She was also told her continued pregnancy would put her at risk of preeclampsia and infection. She traveled to Florida for abortion care, the lawsuit says.
Kathryn Archer’s fetus was diagnosed with severe fetal anomalies at 20 weeks of pregnancy, including irregular brain development and improperly developed organs and was unlikely to survive birth, according to the lawsuit. With assistance from an abortion fund, she traveled to Washington, D.C., for care.
Rebecca Milner was 20 weeks pregnant when she suffered pre-term premature rupture of membranes, making her pregnancy unlikely to survive and putting her at risk of a potentially life-threatening infection, according to the suit. She traveled to Virginia to get abortion care, but still developed an infection that doctors said was due to the delay in care, according to the lawsuit. She needed treatment for sepsis when she returned to Tennessee, the suit says.
Rachel Fulton was pregnant when an ultrasound showed inadequate fetal development of the nervous system, lower spine, lungs, abdomen, feet and hands, as well as fluid buildup in tissues and organs, the lawsuit states. She was also at risk of mirror syndrome, a life-threatening complication, so she drove to Illinois with her husband to access abortion care, according to the lawsuit.
Physicians Heather Maune and Laura Anderson are also plaintiffs in the lawsuit, suing on behalf of themselves and their patients. They are asking for clarity to provide care to their patients.
(MEMPHIS, Tenn.) — Martin Luther King III, his wife Arndrea Waters King and their daughter, Yolanda Renee King, made a rare visit to Memphis, Tennessee, on Thursday to mark the 56th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination.
The King family made an appearance at the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and killed on his second floor balcony on April 4, 1968 while visiting Memphis to support a sanitation workers strike.
This visit, which notably took place in an election year, is an opportunity to both commemorate the memory and legacy of Dr. King at a time when history is being attacked, the King family said.
“The triple evils that Martin Luther King Jr. talked about, of racism and bigotry and violence and poverty, the only way that those evils will ever be eliminated is through peace, justice and equity,” Waters King told ABC News. “I would encourage voters to look through the lens of voting for individuals and laws that lift us all up, voting for laws and individuals that are speaking to our noble character that are speaking to peace, justice and equity that are speaking to community, not chaos.”
The King family’s visit highlights what they see as a rise in political violence, violence and a rise in hate in general.
“It’s not about violence. It’s about inclusion. It’s about participation. It’s about electing people to office who will serve the interest of communities,” MLK III said. “My dad and mom and many other elected officials over the years have taught us how to navigate through issues. We may disagree on something, but they are far more things that we should be able to agree on. But we have to create that climate. It doesn’t come by osmosis. It comes by people coming together. It comes by treating people with dignity and respect.”
MLK III noted that he sees the similar patterns between fighting for a climate of democracy today and the sanitation workers fighting to be treated with dignity in 1968.
The Kings came to the National Civil Rights Museum together as a family for the first time last summer to give Yolanda, MLK Jr. and Coretta Scott King’s only grandchild, a space to have intimate moments with her ancestors. This visit is the first time the family of Dr. King’s oldest son, MLK III, all marked the civil rights activist’s passing at the site of his death.
In honor of the 56th anniversary of Dr. King’s death, the King family also announced Thursday that 16 grassroots programs and initiatives across the country will receive grant funding from the Drum Major Institute, which the King family founded on the ideals of Dr. King, to support their work in preserving democracy.
“In one sense it’s a dark day,” MLK III said in a press conference Thursday. “But the hope that we must continue to fuse is in this generation and generations yet unborn.”
(ATLANTA) — A Fulton County judge on Thursday denied a motion from former President Donald Trump and several of his co-defendants seeking to have the Georgia election interference case thrown out based on First Amendment challenges.
Trump and others had argued, in part, that the Fulton County indictment violated their First Amendment right to challenge the 2020 presidential election results.
In his order denying the motion, Judge Scott McAfee wrote that “Even core political speech addressing matters of public concern is not impenetrable from prosecution if allegedly used to further criminal activity.”
The judge, in his ruling, said that the indictment alleges more than just political statements.
“The State has alleged more than mere expressions of a political nature,” the judge wrote. “Rather, the indictment charges the Defendants with knowingly and willfully making false statements to public officers and knowingly and willfully filing documents containing false statements and misrepresentations within the jurisdiction of state departments and agencies.”
McAfee also wrote that he was unable to find “any authority that the speech and conduct alleged is protected political speech.”
The protection afforded specifically by the Petition Clause of the First Amendment — which allows the ability to communicate with government officials — “does not extend to allegedly fraudulent petitions,” McAfee wrote.
“In other words, the law does not insulate speech allegedly made during fraudulent or criminal conduct from prosecution under the guise of petitioning the government,” he wrote.
In a statement, Trump attorney Steve Sadow said they “respectfully disagree” with the ruling, but took note of McAfee allowing them to raise the issue later.
“It is significant that the court’s ruling was without prejudice, as it made clear that defendants were not foreclosed from again raising their ‘as-applied’ challenges at the appropriate time after the establishment of a factual record,” Sadow said.
Trump and 18 others pleaded not guilty last August to all charges in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia. Four co-defendants subsequently took plea deals in exchange for agreeing to testify against other defendants.
The former president has blasted the district attorney’s investigation as being politically motivated.
