News – Page 2702 – 105.7 WDNY

With abortion rights on thin ice, medication abortions take center stage

May 6, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — As abortion rights increasingly come under threat across the country — with states like Oklahoma enacting “copycat” bills of sweeping Texas legislation that criminalizes abortion and with the Supreme Court poised to overturn abortion protections — advocates anticipate that women seeking abortion options will look outside the traditional health care system more and more.

For many women, that may mean pursuing a so-called medication abortion.

Medication abortions rely on pills, rather than surgery, to terminate the pregnancy. Usually two drugs — mifepristone and misoprostol — are used in combination to induce the abortion. In 2020, the number of medication abortions exceeded the number of surgical abortions for the first time, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health policy research organization.

In “self-managed” cases, women do not undergo their abortions in a formal health care setting, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

That’s in contrast with “supervised” cases where women undergo their abortions under the watchful eye of supervising clinicians. Currently, 19 states require clinicians to be physically present when the medication is administered, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

But since the Texas law and its copycats place health care providers who facilitate pregnancies at legal risk — including telehealth clinicians who support the process virtually — supervising health providers could be held legally liable, Elizabeth Sepper, a professor of law at the University of Texas at Austin, told ABC News.

For example, the recently passed Oklahoma legislation could hold any individual — doctors, nurses, pharmacists — that “aids or abets the performance or inducement of an abortion” legally liable. This raises the concern that — to avoid liability — those individuals might turn away women seeking abortions, Sepper told ABC News.

As a result, pursuing a medication abortion increasingly means self-managing the process without medical supervision, Alina Salganicoff, director of women’s health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, told ABC News.

Sometimes, that’s meant crossing international borders into Mexico or Canada to obtain pills.

“I think there’s no question that people seeking abortions will look into any option,” Salganicoff told ABC News, “just because you ban an abortion doesn’t mean women won’t continue to seek them.”

More often, that’s meant turning to the postal service.

In July 2020, following a suit by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Food and Drug Administration temporarily suspended restrictions allowing mifepristone to be delivered by mail. Last December, the FDA permanently lifted those restrictions.

There are now numerous companies and international pharmacies devoted to shipping pills, according to Plan C, an information portal for self-managed abortion services. Some companies even ship to a handful of states — like Arizona and Texas — where mailing abortion pills is illegal.

The number of pills currently being sent through the mail is difficult to track, Abigail Aiken, an associate professor in health policy at the University of Texas at Austin, told ABC News.

But requests for the medicines by mail have skyrocketed in Texas since the legislation: one study found that, after the passage of the law, requests sent to Aid Access — the country’s largest telehealth abortion provider — leapt 10-fold in the week after it was enacted. Daily requests remained twice as high as the pre-legislation baseline over the next three months, after which point the researchers stopped tracking.

“I think we can see that making abortion illegal doesn’t limit the need for abortion,” Abigail Aiken, who is also the lead investigator on the study, told ABC News, “it just shifts where individuals can find care.”

Data on information seeking for self-managed abortions acquired by ABC News suggests these patterns in Texas may foreshadow broader trends across the country.

In the week after the Supreme Court’s draft decision leaked to the press, page views and overall users on Plan C’s website increased seven-fold. The number coming from states with Texas copycat laws leapt further still: page views from users in Idaho increased 23-times, and page views from those in Oklahoma increased 18-times, according to Elisa Wells, co-director of Plan C.

The good news about self-managed medication abortions, Aiken told ABC News, is that they appear safe and effective for most women who use them early in pregnancy. Recent U.S.-based studies have reported that up to 96% of women undergoing self-managed medication abortions before 10 weeks of gestation successfully terminated their pregnancy.

But doctors fear that the success rates will likely be lower in women who turn to the medications in lieu of other options who are further along in their pregnancy. The later the pregnancy, the higher risk that something will go wrong for women attempting self-managed medication abortions – including blood infections that can be life-threatening without urgent medical care, experts said.

“I have some concern that … regardless of whether their self-assessment [for gestational age] says they’re eligible, they’ll use the pills — because they’re desperate,” Daniel Grossman, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California San Francisco, told ABC News.

Then there’s the legal risk. In Texas, women like Lizelle Herrera have already been arrested under murder charges after their abortions came to light. Seeking medical care could similarly leave them vulnerable to criminal prosecution, Sepper told ABC News, which would further discourage them from seeking care.

If women with abortions who need care avoid it out of concern for legal consequences, it could endanger their health, Grossman told ABC News.

Despite all the potential upsides of medication abortions, the risk of undue death is what advocates fear most. Especially, since abortion seekers are disproportionately from groups that already face the highest rates of maternal death, including communities of color.

“We know that when abortion is illegal, it doesn’t make it less common, it just makes it less safe,” Danika Severino Wynn, vice president of abortion access at Planned Parenthood, told ABC News.

“When we push people further into the shadows, it means we are undoubtedly making their care more dangerous,” Wynn said.

Why abortion restrictions disproportionately impact people of color

May 6, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — People of color will face the brunt of the impact if Roe v. Wade is overturned by the Supreme Court, abortion rights advocates warn.

The landmark decision that protected a person’s right to have an abortion is in danger of being overturned by the high court’s conservative majority, according to a draft court opinion leaked this week to Politico.

Activists who work in Black and brown communities fear the socioeconomic effects of this potential decision from the highest court in the country. Abortion rights, they say, are an economic and health justice issue.

Abortion rights advocates say there are several factors that may go into a person’s decision to seek an abortion, including health care access and quality, financial support and willingness to be pregnant.

“This is not something where it’s either: make a choice to choose to be a parent or not to choose to be a parent,” said Oriaku Njoku, co-founder and executive director of ARC-Southeast, an abortion fund in Georgia that serves six states across the Southeast region. “There’s so many things like access to food, access to a living wage, access to insurance, your race, your gender, your ability to make money for your family.”

She says that not just the right to have an abortion, but also the right to access an abortion has long been threatened and that many people are struggling with the multifaceted injustices in poverty, health care and stability.

The demographics of abortion patients

In the most recent data from the CDC in 2019, Black women had the highest rate of abortions with 23.8 abortions per 1,000 women.

Hispanic women had 11.7 abortions per 1,000 women, according to the CDC. White women had the lowest rate: 6.6 abortions per 1,000 women. The majority of these women — 56.9% — were in their 20s, according to the data.

The country’s most marginalized will be affected by looming abortion bans: people already impacted by poverty, lack of healthcare access and racism in the healthcare system, advocates say.

“This fight for abortion access that we’re in right now is a fight against white supremacy in this country,” said Monica Raye Simpson, the executive director of the Southern-based reproductive justice group SisterSong.

“When we live in a world in a country where access to health care is already extremely limited to people of color … that is a problem,” said Simpson.

She continued, “To think about what it would mean to take care of themselves, accepting themselves as a family, like all of these are parts of a decision that one has to think about when thinking about creating a family.”

Health care challenges for people of color

Research has shown that racial and ethnic minorities often receive lower-quality health care than white people.

Even when factors like income, age, condition, and insurance are comparable, research has shown that Black and brown people are still failed by the health care system.

These poor health systems contribute to worse health conditions: Black people are at higher risk for heart diseases, stroke, cancer, asthma, diabetes, according to the Department for Health and Human Services.

Experts say America’s poor systems of health make abortions a vital part of health care for people of color.

Black and Hispanic women are more likely than white women to experience health complications during pregnancy and childbirth, according to Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.

A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also found that Black women died of maternal causes at nearly three times the rate of white women in 2020.

The rate for Black women was 55.3 deaths per 100,000 in 2020 and the rate for white women was 19.1 deaths per 100,000, according to the CDC. For Black women, the rate increased nearly 26% from the year prior.

Being pregnant presents some kind of risk. And unintended pregnancies increase the risk for poor maternal and infant outcomes, the CDC reports.

“The real issue is the historic and ongoing disparities and access to quality health care, and sexual and reproductive health information in Black and brown communities,” Njoku told ABC News. “This is denying the next generation a better future. Improving access to health care, education, family planning; I feel like those are better ways to reduce unintended pregnancies than trying to restrict abortion.”

For others, terminating unintended pregnancies can be a financial decision.

The financial implications of pregnancy

Activists say an abortion ban will only push pregnant people into poverty or into debt. Pregnancy and childbirth alone can cost thousands of dollars.

Black and Hispanic people are 1.8 and 1.5 times as likely to be in poverty than white people, according to 2019 census data.

The Economic Policy Institute also found that Latinas earn 57 cents and Black women earn 65 cents for every dollar earned by white, non-Hispanic men.

“When there are barriers placed on someone’s ability to access abortion care, it pushes them farther into pregnancy, and has pretty devastating financial implications for folks who have to pay out of pocket if their insurance doesn’t cover abortion care,” said Morgan Hopkins, the executive director of campaigns and strategies for abortion rights group All* Above All.

“It only gets more expensive the further into pregnancy you go,” Hopkins said.

However, many reproductive rights activists say that even while Roe is the law of the land, abortion is still hard to access for many across the country.

“Codifying Roe is not going to make abortion more accessible,” said Njoku. “It’s not going to change the fact that we live in places where there are abortion deserts … it’s not going to change the fact that people are crossing state lines to get abortions.”

According to reproductive care researchers at the Guttmacher Institute, abortion access has long been limited for those in states with stronger abortion restrictions, that already push people to travel out of state.

In states with anti-abortion rights legislation, the organization found a high correlation between the “proportion of women whose nearest provider was in another state and the proportion who obtained out-of-state care not found in a state with supportive abortion policies.”

For some, it can be an expensive but necessary task.

“If this leaked draft becomes final, it will be earth-shattering and felt hardest for those same communities that are already being disproportionately impacted,” Hopkins said.

“If someone is forced to carry a pregnancy to term, it impacts their economic security and their ability to live the life that they want and raise the family that they maybe already have,” Hopkins said. “The impact will be devastating.”

‘We’re not going back’: Hillary Clinton speaks out on abortion rights

May 5, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Reproductive rights were top of mind for Hillary Clinton and others at the grand opening of the new Global Embassy for Women in Washington, D.C., on Thursday — just days after an unprecedented Supreme Court leak revealed a draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade.

“I know this is quite an ironic week for us to be opening the headquarters, but in a way, it’s probably appropriate because no advance is ever permanent,” said Clinton, former first lady and secretary of state, before hosting a panel on the state of women’s rights. “There are always forces at work to turn the clock back, particularly on women and we know there still is a double standard about what is or is not expected and appropriate for how women make the choices in our own lives.”

The headquarters was established by Vital Voices, an international nonprofit that invests in women’s leadership and empowerment. It was founded in 1997 by the late former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Clinton and Melanne Verveer, former U.S. ambassador for global women’s issues.

Clinton described the recent Supreme Court revelation and state-level abortion restrictions as hurdles to progress while touting the embassy as a call to action and a place for women leaders to gather, plan and mobilize.

“We’re not going back and we are not giving in,” Clinton said. “We’re going to do everything we can to organize and agitate and motivate everyone we can reach [to ensure] the forward movement of progress that has been the hallmark of this great country of ours.”

The Center for Reproductive Rights estimates that up to 25 states could outlaw abortion entirely if the draft opinion holds.

In an exclusive interview with CBS News on Thursday, Clinton called the prospect “incredibly dangerous,” and said Americans should take action at the ballot box in November’s midterm elections.

“It is not just about a woman’s right to choose, it is about much more than that. And I hope people now are fully aware of what we’re up against, because the only answer is at the ballot box, to elect people who will stand up for every American’s rights,” she said. “

“And any American who says, ‘Look, I’m not a woman, this doesn’t affect me. I’m not Black, that doesn’t affect me. I’m not gay, that doesn’t affect me.’ Once you allow this kind of extreme power to take hold, you have no idea who they will come for next,” she added.

Teacher looks back at former teen student’s wrongful conviction

May 5, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Anthony Harris, who was convicted of killing his 5-year-old neighbor in 1999 at the age of 13 but had that conviction overturned in appeal, was a kind, hardworking student who could never be involved in a murder, Harris’ sixth-grade teacher told ABC News.

Jennie Arbogast, who taught Harris a year before Devan’s murder, spoke exclusively to ABC News’ “20/20” for the first time since Harris’ ordeal. She said she has feelings of regret over her community’s response to her former student’s arrest and wrongful conviction.

Devan’s body was found in a wooded area behind her home in New Philadelphia, Ohio, in 1998, and the police arrested and charged Harris with her murder. In 2000, an appeals court ruled that Harris’ taped confession, which was the key piece of evidence used to prosecute him, was coerced, and he was released from custody.

“I was picturing my student sitting in that conference or standing at my desk doing his best to answer the questions the way he would think I wanted him to answer them,” she told ABC News.

Arbogast, who was not asked to testify during Harris’ trial and only followed the proceedings, said there should have been more of a show of support for Harris.

“I felt like our mostly white community had let him down. I felt like Anthony should’ve had a parade of people behind him saying ‘absolutely not,'” she said.

Arbogast said she was disturbed by the reports that Harris was interrogated by an officer alone and confessed to the killing. Harris told ABC News that he felt immense pressure to confess so that he could go home.

Arbogast said Harris would “answer questions in a way that he would think the adult would want him to answer them.”

“I felt like they asked him leading questions and he was answering them in a way that he was being helpful,” she said. “I just felt like they didn’t even bother to find out what happened to that little girl.”

Arbogast said Harris’ case was still on her mind long after he was released from prison.

She wrote a letter to the editor of American Lawyer magazine in 2009 after it published a follow-up piece on the case where she expressed remorse for not doing more during Harris’ two years of legal battles.

“I never told Anthony that I thought him a good student and I believed in him. And I never for a moment believed him guilty, not for a second. As a teacher, I felt I failed him by not somehow reaching out to him and saying that I believed in him. Maybe if one person had, others would have, too,” she wrote.

Arbogast said she hoped those who wrongfully pegged Harris as a killer remember the trauma inflicted on him and express some remorse.

“But I hope that one day, he will not be seen by the naysayers at all,” she said. “I hope that history does his side of the story right.”

Years after Anthony Harris’ conviction was overturned, murder of little girl remains unsolved

May 5, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Anthony Harris was 12 years old when he was charged and later convicted of murdering his 5-year-old neighbor, Devan Duniver.

Harris’ conviction was eventually overturned and, more than 20 years later, he said he is still haunted by the grisly crime.

“She was so young and she had passed away,” Harris, told ABC News’ “20/20” as he held back tears during an exclusive interview two years ago.

Harris, who has served as a Marine, said he is frustrated that Devan’s killer has never been identified or captured.

“The girl’s dead, my life has been destroyed, and this guy, this individual’s still free right now,” he said during an interview with “20/20” airing Friday, May 6, at 9 p.m. ET.

Harris’ sentiment has been shared by residents, who spent hours searching for Devan after she went missing on June 27, 1998, from her New Philadelphia, Ohio, neighborhood. Harris alleged that there were leads in the case that were not pursued.

Devan disappeared after she went outside to play. When her mother, Lori, discovered Devan was gone, she spent the afternoon looking for her and called the police in the evening. Harris and his family lived in the same apartment complex as the Dunivers and aided in the search.

Hundreds came out to help in the search.

The next day, Devan was found in the woods behind her home dead with multiple stab wounds to her neck.

Investigators claimed Harris provided inconsistent details about where he was and what he was doing during the time the girl was missing when he was initially questioned.

Two weeks after Devan’s body was found, the police called Harris and his mother Cyndi to the stationhouse, where the then-12-year-old Harris was placed in an interrogation room with Thomas Vaughn, the police chief of nearby town Millersburg.

Harris’ mother could watch through a two-way mirror but was unable to hear what was being said.

Vaughn repeatedly questioned Harris about whether he killed Devan, according to the audio of the interrogation. At first, Harris denied he was involved but he said Vaughn’s pressure got the best of him.

“The investigator, he had basically told me that, ‘If you confess to this murder you can go home.’ It’s like, ‘Okay. Well, I’m over here scared, so I want to go home,'” Harris recalled.

Harris ultimately confessed and was charged with murder. His case was a juvenile proceeding and, therefore, absent a jury; Harris’ fate was determined by Juvenile and Probate Court Judge Linda Kate.

Harris’ attorney Tarin Hale tried to suppress the taped confession from evidence but the motion was rejected by Judge Kate.

“My statement was very clear, there is no evidence in this case. That’s all you need to know from me. There’s no evidence here,” Hale told “20/20.”

Three members of the search party who combed the area in 1998 to find Devan told “20/20” they believe that there are elements surrounding Devan’s death that are troubling.

Donna Wenger, Nancy Niarchos and Jim Milliken all said they searched by the area where Devan’s body was found and didn’t see her. They said they believe her body was dropped at the spot later.

Wenger, Niarchos and Milliken each testified as witnesses during the trial and they recall seeing a man in the area who was wearing a long-sleeve plaid flannel shirt, which they said was odd given that it felt like a 90-degree summer day.

“I thought, ‘My God, is that guy ever creepy,'” Niarchos told “20/20.” “He was so suspicious looking and he was right there. I thought, ‘What is he doing here?'”

Kate ultimately found Harris guilty in 1999 and sentenced him to the maximum, incarceration until he turned 21.

Harris, however, would get a second chance on appeal.

On June 7, 2000, the Ohio 5th District Court of Appeals overturned the conviction and determined that Harris’ confession was coerced.

Harris was released the next day.

“There’s no sense to be bitter,” Harris told “20/20.” “Even though it hurt a lot, it didn’t destroy my core as a person, the things I believe in, the things I grew up to become. That’s why I don’t hold resentment in my voice when I speak.”

Devan Duniver’s murder remains unsolved.

The last time the investigation picked up was in 2005 when Richard Dobbins was appointed as special prosecutor. He conducted a two-year probe and ultimately concluded that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute anyone.

Wenger, Niarchos and Milliken told “20/20” they were never contacted by the special prosecutor to discuss the case.

Ryan Styer, the district attorney for Tuscarawas County, Ohio, which currently has the files related to the special prosecutor’s investigation, told “20/20” in a statement that, after reviewing the findings, he believes investigators “invested a lot of time conducting many interviews of witnesses and known persons of interest.”

He said he also feels there’s insufficient evidence for prosecution but has asked authorities to speak to the witnesses from the trial “20/20” interviewed.

Harris said he hasn’t given up his drive to help find the person responsible for killing Devan.

“We’re going to figure this out [and] give her some kind of closure,” he said.

Abortion patients share struggles finding care: ‘It’s our bodies’

May 5, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — As states across the country have passed bans against abortion, more women have had to spend time and money heading across state lines to get the legal procedure.

And with the Supreme Court poised to roll back Roe v. Wade, abortion rights activists told ABC News they fear that it will become near impossible for women in the South and Midwest to get a legal and safe procedure.

Two women who recently had to travel hundreds of miles to get an abortion allowed “Nightline,” to accompany them through the process in hopes that people, including policymakers, can see just how devastating those laws will be to other women in the same situation.

“I feel like people need to know and need to know our side of the story,” said “Marie,” a 31-year-old Texas woman who got an abortion in Tulsa, Oklahoma last month and asked ABC News not to reveal her real name. “We’re not evil. We’re not baby killers.”

After Texas passed its ban on abortions following six weeks in the fall, Marie had to look for health care centers in nearby Oklahoma. The state’s Planned Parenthood centers saw a 2,500% jump in patients from Texas following the ban, according to the non-profit.

Marie told ABC News she had to wait more than a month for an open appointment, had to take a week vacation from her job and had to drive 14 hours straight to the Planned Parenthood center in Tulsa.

“In the car by myself for 14 hours, you definitely have a lot of time to think,” she said. “It’s been really, really hard.”

Marie said she felt more nervous because of news reports of copycat abortion bans that made its way through the Oklahoma State Legislature. Marie was able to get her procedure done before Gov. Kevin Sitt signed a copycat bill into law on May. 3.

“How dare you try and force people to do things the way you want them to do them. It’s our bodies. I feel like women will be desperate, harm themselves,” Marie said.

Nicole, a 39-year-old mother of two who recently traveled to Kansas to get an abortion, also shared that sentiment with “Nightline.” Nicole said that even though she has a full time job and loves being a mom. But she and her partner could not afford to have another child.

Her situation is common among abortion patients, according to health data. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said about 60% of patients who have had an abortion have at least one child.

“I wanted to give a voice to the older women- [who] already have kids, and I want to give an opportunity for the government to see how it affects us,” Nicole told “Nightline” about why she wanted to tell her story.

Nicole was early enough in her pregnancy that she could have a medication abortion, but due to a backlog in Oklahoma she had to drive to Kansas to get the pills. She told “Nightline” that she had to pay for travel, find childcare for her two boys and drive back and forth to the clinic.

Nicole said the experience backed up her concerns about raising another child.

“If I struggle to pay $800, $900 to take care of something like this, how would I be able to take the money, the time, and everything, and take care of a child?” she said.

Kansas could become another state to ban abortions. The right to an abortion is currently protected by the state constitution but the public could vote to restrict it through a ballot initiative scheduled for Aug. 2.

Nicole and Marie told “Nightline” that they are upset that lawmakers aren’t considering the circumstances that women are in when they make decisions regarding abortion rights.

Marie added that her experience has made her want to speak out more.

“I feel like it’s going to affect my life now forever because I’m going to fight more for women in this situation that don’t have any other choices,” she said.

DHS plays defense over Disinformation Governance Board

May 5, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has spent much of this week defending the department’s newly established Disinformation Governance Board in response to Republican lawmakers’ concerns about partisan influence in federal law enforcement.

The board, according to DHS, was actually created to address privacy concerns that arise with disinformation campaigns when information is shared between departments as well as to ensure it’s done appropriately. But the Orwellian name and an admittedly clumsy rollout immediately raised eyebrows as well as ignited a pre-existing debate about free speech and partisanship — especially given the person tasked with leading the board’s activities.

“Given the complete lack of information about this new initiative and the potential serious consequences of a government entity identifying and responding to ‘disinformation,’ we have serious concerns about the activities of this new Board, particularly under Ms. Jankowicz’s leadership,” Mike Turner and John Katko, Republican leaders of the House Committee on Homeland Security, wrote in a letter to Mayorkas last week.

In a fact sheet released Monday, the department admits that “there has been confusion about the working group, its role, and its activities” and vows to work on building greater public trust.

That confusion over the board’s work stemmed from a comment Mayorkas made to Congress last week that it would be used to “more effectively combat” the threat of false information. DHS has now said the body will not be involved in managing department operations and Mayorkas said the group would “bring together the experts throughout our department to ensure that our ongoing work in combating disinformation is done in a way that does not infringe on free speech, a fundamental constitutional right embedded in the First Amendment, nor on the right of privacy or other civil rights and civil liberties.”

The White House on Friday pledged the board will operate in a “nonpartisan and apolitical manner.”

But Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, was not sold.

“I think you’ve got no idea what disinformation is, and I don’t think the government is capable of it,” he said during a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing.

The secretary pushed back on the assertion from Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., that the board will be the “truth police.”

“The Department of Homeland Security is not going to be the truth police,” Mayorkas said. “That is the farthest thing from the truth. We protect the security of the homeland.”

The GOP criticisms also center on Nina Jankowicz, the former Wilson Center fellow tapped to lead the board. Jankowicz, who is routinely outspoken on Twitter, has publicly criticized Republicans and sowed doubt about the accuracy of press reports critical of President Joe Biden’s son Hunter.

Jankowicz was quoted by the Associated Press in 2020 refuting a story about the discovery of new emails that reportedly linked Hunter Biden and a Ukrainian energy executive with the president.

“We should view it as a Trump campaign product,” Jankowicz told the AP that October.

She later suggested on Twitter that the emails were “part of an influence campaign.”

“Voters deserve that context, not a fairy tale about a laptop repair shop,” Jankowicz wrote.

The New York Times and Washington Post confirmed the authenticity of the emails related to Hunter Biden with the help of security experts in March. ABC News has not independently confirmed the veracity of the emails, which were first reported by the New York Post in an article that was flagged as disinformation on Twitter. The social media company demanded the tabloid delete the posts but eventually backed down when it refused.

The debate over the new board takes place against the backdrop of a long-standing divide over regulating speech, especially online. Fueled by libertarian beliefs in an unregulated public sphere, leaders on the right have championed figures like Elon Musk, whose recent acquisition of Twitter was met with skepticism and concern from those who believe social media companies have a duty to remove vitriolic harassment, disinformation and misinformation on their platforms.

“Your priority is setting up a board and hiring someone who has gone to TikTok to talk about stopping speech she doesn’t like, who has mocked voters of the last president, that has been your priority, and to say your priorities are misplaced is a dramatic understatement, and the time I think has come, Mr. Secretary, for you to resign,” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., told Mayorkas.

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said Jankowicz has made “political statements” in the past that would disqualify her from holding the position on the board.

“I think it’s a terrible idea,” Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said.

Mayorkas, for his part, pushed back, saying he didn’t know about the TikTok posts and, as secretary, he is ultimately responsible for what occurs at DHS. He also declined to say who hired Jankowicz but stressed she must do her job in a nonpartisan way.

John Cohen, the former acting intelligence chief at DHS who helped stand up the disinformation board and left the department last month, said the board simply addresses a communication issue within the department.

“It didn’t coordinate operational activities, it wasn’t governing intelligence operations, it had no input on how organizations collect intelligence or information,” Cohen, now an ABC News contributor, said. “It was simply intended to be a working group that would gather on an ad hoc basis to address matters of policy.”

US officials push back on report its intel helping Ukraine target Russian generals

May 5, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — U.S. officials on Thursday pushed back on a New York Times report that said the U.S. provided Ukraine intelligence that helped it target and kill Russian generals and other senior officers.

National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson took exception to the story’s headline: “U.S. Intelligence Is Helping Ukraine Kill Russian Generals, Officials Say.”

“The headline of this story is misleading and the way it is framed is irresponsible. The United States provides battlefield intelligence to help the Ukrainians defend their country. We do not provide intelligence with the intent to kill Russian generals,” Watson said, drawing a semantic distinction, appearing to want to distance the U.S. from any direct involvement in an attack on Russian commanders.

A second U.S. official with knowledge of U.S. intelligence-sharing with Ukraine confirmed that the U.S. provides intelligence on movements of Russian units and command posts, but not on individual Russian military leaders.

“The U.S. is not providing intelligence on Russian generals,” the official told ABC News Wednesday evening.

A third official told ABC News the same: “That is not how we operate.”

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby offered clarifying remarks during a press briefing Thursday.

“The United States provides battlefield intelligence to help Ukrainians defend their country,” Kirby said. “We do not provide intelligence on the location of senior military leaders on the battlefield or participate in the targeting decisions of the Ukrainian military.”

The New York Times story originally cited American officials claiming U.S. intelligence “has helped Ukrainians target and kill many of the Russian generals who have died in action in the Ukraine war.”

Officials say it is correct, as reported by the Times, that the Ukrainians are able to combine what they learn from the U.S. with their own intelligence to then target Russian leaders. But they emphasized that the U.S. does not play a direct role in targeting individuals on the battlefield.

Other nations are also sharing intelligence with Ukraine, which has its own “robust” capabilities, according to Kirby.

“Ukraine combines information that we and other partners provide with the intelligence that they themselves are gathering on the battlefield, and then they make their own decisions, and they take their own actions,” Kirby said.

The Kremlin also responded to the article, saying its troops are aware of intelligence-assistance for Ukraine coming from the West.

“Our servicemen are well aware that the United States, the United Kingdom and NATO in general are providing intelligence and information about other parameters to the Ukrainian Armed Forces on a permanent basis. This is well known and, of course, together with the arms supply to Ukraine by the same countries and the alliance, all of those actions are not helping rapidly finalize the operation, although they cannot hinder the achievement of objectives set for the special military operation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a press briefing Thursday.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense has claimed 12 Russian generals have been killed since the invasion, though U.S. officials have not confirmed this when asked.

One reason senior officers might be particularly vulnerable is due to the structure of Russia’s military.

“They do not delegate authority,” said Mick Mulroy, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East and ABC News contributor. “So, they are out giving orders directly to their forces.”

Unlike the U.S. military, Russia does not empower its non-commissioned and junior officers with the authority to make decisions on their own, according to Mulroy.

“It’s the only way to effectively fight in modern combined arms maneuver warfare,” he said. “The lack of delegation is another reason the Russian military is performing so poorly.”

Top American military leaders have publicly stated the U.S. is sharing intelligence to help Ukrainians in their fight against Russia’s invading forces.

“We have opened up the pipes,” Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told senators Tuesday. “There is a significant amount of intelligence flowing to the Ukraine from the United States.”

The officials ABC News spoke to could not say whether the U.S. has any hard rules in place against giving Ukraine intelligence on high-level leaders, including top Russian general Valery Gerasimov, who spent multiple days in the contested Donbas region last week. But according to Mulroy, there is nothing wrong in principle with helping Ukraine kill Russian generals.

“Targeting generals is fully lawful, targeting non-combatant civilians is not,” Mulroy said. “If Russian generals don’t want to be targeted, they should withdraw their forces and return to Russia.”

ABC News’ Molly Nagle contributed to this report.

FDA limits J&J COVID-19 vaccine due to rare blood clot risk

May 5, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The Food and Drug Administration has put limits on the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine due to the rare risk of blood clots.

“Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has limited the authorized use of the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine to individuals 18 years of age and older for whom other authorized or approved COVID-19 vaccines are not accessible or clinically appropriate, and to individuals 18 years of age and older who elect to receive the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine because they would otherwise not receive a COVID-19 vaccine,” the FDA said in a statement Thursday.

The announcement follows a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention late last year to opt for either Pfizer or Moderna, over the single-shot J&J vaccine after a review of new CDC data on rare blood clots linked to J&J.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Abortion in US with no Roe v. Wade would get very complicated, attorney Kathryn Kolbert says

May 5, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Attorney Kathryn Kolbert has spent a majority of her career thinking about the after-effects on reproductive rights if the Supreme Court was to overturn Roe v. Wade. She believes prohibiting abortions will force some women to turn to unsafe practices to terminate pregnancies that will put their lives in danger.

“Women are crafty,” said Kolbert. “I’m not advocating that they break the law, but the reality is, as in the days before Roe, the underground market will operate.”

Kolbert is best known as one of the lawyers who argued and helped win the landmark 1992 abortion case Planned Parenthood vs. Casey. Now, a leaked draft opinion for the Supreme Court appears to indicate that the court is poised to fully overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

Kolbert told ABC News’ podcast Start Here that if the ruling is overturned, so-called “trigger laws” will immediately go into effect to ban or prohibit abortions across half the country.

“The reality is that women in those 25 or 26 states will not be able to obtain the reproductive health care that they need,” said Kolbert. “The bottom line: Women will have to travel hundreds of miles, sometimes thousands of miles, to obtain reproductive health care. That’s what they did in the 1970s.”

If women cannot afford to travel to obtain proper reproductive care, Kolbert said that some women will take dangerous measures, either through unsafe surgical abortions or medical abortions, that could result in serious consequences.

“They’ll figure it out and there’s all kinds of ways they can do that. Internet access from doctors around the world, getting drugs from their friends… traveling across the border, and picking up the drugs, all kinds of ways,” said Kolbert.

Kolbert said that, although medical abortions, which is the use of different medications to terminate a pregnancy, are safe under medical supervision, there are still always risks that women can bleed more than expected. For those who obtain the drugs illegally, they’ll often be deterred from seeking follow up medical care when they need it.

“[A woman in Texas] was prosecuted for self-managing her abortion. They dropped those charges eventually, but [she] was dragged into court,” said Kolbert. “[Authorities] found out because she went to a hospital, because she was bleeding and wanted appropriate health care.”

Kolbert said another risk is women receiving “bad drugs.”

“For the most part, [medication is] safe when you get the right drug, but there’s unscrupulous people out in the world and that’s a risk,” said Kolbert. “But the reality is, even with the risks of medication… [For some women] being forced by the government to carry your pregnancy to term is unthinkable and they will do, as they did in the days before Roe, just about anything to terminate a pregnancy.”

The World Health Organization estimates that nearly 13% of annual maternal deaths can be attributed to unsafe abortions. The same study states that in developed regions, it is estimated that 30 women die for every 100,000 unsafe abortions.

For now, abortions are legal while the final Supreme Court decision remains pending. Kolbert said that there are three things people can do to help: donate money to abortion rights causes, get political and build “a badass social justice movement” because “change has never happened until there has been a cry for change.”

“The young people in our country really need to demand that their rights, their liberties that they’ve enjoyed their entire lifetimes, be respected,” said Kolbert. “It is not appropriate to tell women that they can’t make decisions about their lives. It is not appropriate to tell women that their bodies do not belong to themselves. We need to stand up and say, ‘No way.’”

+ More