But many on Twitter weren’t buying her greeting for Purim, which commemorates a biblical Book of Esther story in which Queen Esther thwarted a plan for the Jews’ annihilation in ancient Persia. The holiday began on Monday evening and runs through to Tuesday evening.
One of her responders said Greene was Haman, the villain in the story.
Since 1973, Roe v. Wade has protected the right of all Americans to access safe and legal abortions. But a leaked document published by Politico on Monday shows that the federal protections conferred by Roe may be struck down by the US Supreme Court this summer.
If Roe falls, the legality of abortion will be determined by each state. And though a handful of states are passing legislation that will protect the right to get an abortion, many others — 26 to be exact — are expected to quickly ban or restrict abortions.
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If this happens, millions of people in the US will no longer be able to access safe abortion care within their communities. They’ll have to wait longer and travel farther to access help. The impact on people’s mental and physical health – along with their finances, families and livelihoods – will be astronomical.
Despite the misinformation that swirls around the internet (and beyond), abortions are extremely safe procedures. They’re also incredible common – about one in four women will have an abortion by the time they are 45 – and, in many cases, they are life-saving.
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“It is a common procedure, it is very safe, and I can’t emphasise that enough. This draft ruling is egregious, it is a basically a war against women,” Dr. Melissa Simon, a Northwestern Medicine OB/GYN, tells HuffPost.
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One of the most common misconceptions about abortions is that the procedure is dangerous or detrimental to one’s health.
A report from 2018 examined the safety of various methods of abortion – medication, aspiration, dilation and evacuation, and induction – and concluded that abortions are safe and effective and that complications from all types of abortions are rare.
It’s the barriers and restrictions that legislators sign to prevent patients from easily and swiftly accessing abortion that jeopardise their health. It’s well known that delaying abortion care increases the risk of complications.
Some US states require doctors to tell their patients that there’s a link between breast cancer and abortion – despite the fact that many high-quality studies have put this question to rest, according to Dr. Jennifer Kerns, an associate professor in the department of obstetrics, gynaecology and reproductive sciences at the University of California, San Francisco.
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Others fear that abortions cause infertility, but research hasn’t found a link between abortions and the ability to conceive in the future. There’s also no evidence that abortions increase the risk of complications (ie. preterm birth or low birth weight delivery) in the event of a future pregnancy.
Another long-running mistruth is that abortions increase the risk of developing mental health issues. “There is a huge body of work demonstrating that abortion in and of itself does not cause mental health problems,” Kerns says, noting that people often feel relief after getting an abortion.
What we do know is that unwanted pregnancies can cause significant maternal depression and parenting stress. And those mental health issues don’t clear up with time; they are often long-lasting, afflicting the women who carried the unwanted pregnancies to term well into their 30s, 40s and 50s.
“Even in the setting of using contraception and safe-sex practices, having the option of an abortion is critical to the life and both physical and mental health of the woman.”
– Melissa Simon
Many people falsely believe pregnancy is easy to avoid, but it’s not that straightforward. Kerns sees many people, from all walks of life and phases of reproductive health, seeking an abortion. Contraception – though invaluable – is not foolproof. Birth control is not 100% effective; it can fail and lead to a pregnancy.
“Even in the setting of using contraception and safe-sex practices, having the option of an abortion is critical to the life and both physical and mental health of the woman,” Simon says.
Many anti-abortion bills have been labelled “heartbeat bills” because they ban abortions at the first sign of foetal cardiac activity. This nomenclature is wildly misleading – while primordial electrical activity can be detected around six weeks of pregnancy, this does not mean a foetus has a functioning heart. The heart, valves and vessels do not form until 16-18 weeks of pregnancy.
“Just having cardiac activity does not mean the foetus, if born at that moment, would be able to survive,” Simon says.
Evidence shows that being denied an abortion has a devastating impact on one’s physical health, mental health and overall well-being.
The Turnaway Study, conducted by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco, found that women who carry an unwanted pregnancy to term have a four times greater chance of being below the US federal poverty level.
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They’re also more likely to experience serious health complications, such as eclampsia and death, and to develop mental health issues, including anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation. They’re more likely to stick with an abusive partner; their life goals tend to take a back seat, and their families’ livelihoods suffer. Many go on to experience chronic pain.
“The health and welfare of the citizens of this country suffer – we see increased illness, we see increased poverty and we see increased death,” Kerns says.
“The health and welfare of the citizens of this country suffer — we see increased illness, we see increased poverty and we see increased death.”
– Jennifer Kerns
Restricting the right to an abortion does not mean the need for an abortion disappears. A recent study predicted that banning abortion will lead to a 21% increase in pregnancy-related deaths; that jumps to 33% among Black women.
Maternal mortality rates are at an all-time high. The US already has the highest maternal death rate among developed nations — and that crisis would only get worse without access to safe abortion.
“There are some women who get pregnant who could die if they continue with the pregnancy, and, therefore, an abortion is a life-saving procedure in those circumstances,” says Simon, adding that those circumstances are not rare. Abortions, in many cases, can save the life of the mother.
Kerns said the leaked document demonstrates that the court is no longer a neutral group. “It really lays bare how out of touch their rulings are with people’s lives,” Kerns said.
Much of the language used in abortion restrictions and bans – like “abortionists” – really deeply divides people and shames those who get an abortion or provide an abortion.
Simon says the potential fall of Roe reflects a crisis in women’s health care, specifically when it comes to maternal health. The end of Roe would mark a war against women and people who can get pregnant, who, for the record, comprise over 50% of the US population, she adds.
Simon is exceedingly concerned about what will happen to the growing maternal death rate if Roe falls and safe abortion care becomes harder and harder to access.
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“That is what I am very worried about in this country – that we are going to go even more in the wrong direction than we already are with respect to caring for over half of our population: women,” Simon says.
Boris Johnson “fears for the security of Europe” as tensions mount over a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine and British people were urged to leave the country.
The UK prime minister voiced his concern during a call with Western leaders – including US president Joe Biden – as the Foreign Office updated its advice on Friday evening to urge UK nationals to “leave now while commercial means are still available”.
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At the same time, Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said there is the “credible prospect” of an invasion of some sort taking place before the end of the Winter Olympics on February 20.
He said the Russians are in a position to “mount a major military operation in Ukraine any day now”, which could include a “rapid assault on the city of Kyiv” or on other parts of the country.
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The warning was echoed by UK defence secretary Ben Wallace, who said warned an invasion could come “at any time”.
Tensions have heightened in the last 24 hours as Russian president Vladimir Putin has now amassed an estimated 130,000 troops on the border with Ukraine.
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Anna Moneymaker via Getty Images
The Foreign Office followed the US in advising against all travel to Ukraine, with a spokesman saying: “The safety and security of British nationals is our top priority, which is why we have updated our travel advice.
“We urge British nationals in Ukraine to leave now via commercial means while they remain available.”
After Johnson and world leaders held the virtual call, a No 10 spokesperson said: “The prime minister told the group that he feared for the security of Europe in the current circumstances.
“He impressed the need for Nato allies to make it absolutely clear that there will be a heavy package of economic sanctions ready to go, should Russia make the devastating and destructive decision to invade Ukraine.
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“The prime minister added that president Putin had to understand that there would be severe penalties that would be extremely damaging to Russia’s economy, and that Allies needed to continue with efforts to reinforce and support the Eastern frontiers of Nato.
“He urged the leaders to work together to deliver economic and defensive support to Ukraine.
“The leaders agreed that if president Putin deescalated, there was another way forward, and they pledged to redouble diplomatic efforts in the coming days.”
Speaking from the White House, Sullivan said Russia could choose “in very short order to commence a major military action against Ukraine” but stressed the US does not know whether Putin has made a final decision.
Moscow denies it is planning an invasion and called the Western military actions provocations meant to bait Russia into war.
But diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis have yet to yield results.
The two countries share a border, and between 1919 and 1991 Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union. Ukraine declared independence from the Soviet Union in the early-1990s but maintained close economic and cultural links with Russia.
Russia has been trying to reunite with its neighbour even since, with Putin calling the break-up of the Soviet bloc the “greatest geopolitical tragedy of the 20th century”.
It’s not entirely clear why Putin is acting now. There’s speculation he may be moving because the US looks weak following the messy evacuation from Afghanistan.
A Minnesota judge sentenced former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on Friday to 22.5 years in prison for the May 2020 murder of George Floyd.
He is also banned from possessing firearms, ammunition or explosives for the remainder of his life.
“Part of the mission of the Minneapolis Police Department is to give citizens ‘voice and respect,’” wrote Judge Peter Cahill in a 22-page brief laying out his rationale for the sentence. “Here, Mr Chauvin, rather than pursuing the MPD mission, treated Mr Floyd without respect and denied him the dignity owed to all human beings and which he certainly would have extended to a friend or neighbour.”
Cahill included an analysis of sentences in similar circumstances over the past decade to show that Chauvin’s sentence was not disproportionately long.
Chauvin was convicted in April of second- and third-degree murder as well as second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death. He has since been held at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Oak Park Heights, the state’s only maximum-security prison, about 25 miles east of Minneapolis.
Shortly before his sentence was handed down, the former officer stood up to address the court for the first time.
“I want to give my condolences to the Floyd family,” Chauvin said, adding that he was not able to “give a full, formal statement” because of “some additional legal matters at hand.” He ended on a cryptic note.
“There’s going to be some other information in the future that would be of interest, and I hope things will give you some peace of mind,” Chauvin told the Floyd family.
Chauvin, who is white, was one of three officers to pin Floyd, a Black man, facedown on a street during an arrest attempt. Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds as Floyd repeatedly stated that he couldn’t breathe and eventually ceased breathing.
Four members of Floyd’s family spoke in court before the sentencing, including his young daughter, Gianna, who recalled how her father would help her brush her teeth every night before bed.
“I miss you and I love you,” Gianna said, addressing her father, in a video shown to the court.
Two of Floyd’s brothers, Terrence and Philonise Floyd, along with a nephew, Brandon Williams, asked Judge Peter Cahill to impose the maximum sentence on Chauvin.
Terrence Floyd said his family was now part of a group of Black people whose loved ones were killed by police in America, adding, “It’s not one of those fraternities that you enjoy.” He then told the judge how desperately he wanted answers from Chauvin: “What were you thinking? What was going through your head when you had your knee on my brother’s neck?”
Following Chauvin’s sentencing, the Floyd family and its legal team called the punishment “historic,” saying in a statement that it “brings the Floyd family and our nation one step closer to healing by delivering closure and accountability. For once, a police officer who wrongly took the life of a Black man was held to account. While this shouldn’t be exceptional, tragically it is.”
On Friday, the court heard for the first time from Chauvin’s mother, Carolyn Pawlenty, who read a statement that touched on her son’s childhood dream of becoming a police officer as well as how he has been portrayed in the media.
“The public will never know the loving and caring man he is, but his family does,” Pawlenty said. “Even though I have never spoken publicly, I have always supported him 100% and I always will.”
Floyd’s death sparked massive, monthslong protests across the country and an international reckoning with police brutality and racial injustice.
Hours before Friday’s sentencing, Judge Peter Cahill denied a defence motion for a new trial. He also ruled that Chauvin’s team failed to demonstrate prosecutorial or juror misconduct.
Prosecutors filed a memorandum earlier this month asking Cahill to sentence Chauvin to a minimum of 30 years behind bars. Chauvin’s legal team requested he receive probation or a shorter prison term. He will receive credit for time already served: 199 days.
Cahill, who oversaw Chauvin’s high-profile trial, ruled last month that the former officer could receive an aggravated prison sentence ― one that would be tougher than Minnesota’s sentencing guidelines. The judge said Chauvin abused his position of authority and treated Floyd with particular cruelty.
He reiterated this view in his brief, where Cahill said Chauvin’s actions “killed Mr. Floyd ‘slowly,’ and that the prolonged nature of the asphyxiation was by itself particularly cruel,” completely dismissing the defense’s argument that Chauvin had been forced to make decisions in a short time span.
“Determining the appropriate length of any felony sentence is not a mathematical calculation. Nor should it be a reflexive doubling of the presumptive sentence once aggravating factors are proven and found by the Court to be substantial and compelling. Each sentence should be an application of the law to the facts of the individual case without regard to sympathy, bias, passion, or public opinion,” Cahill wrote.
Chauvin’s legal troubles are far from over. In early June, he was ordered into federal custody pending federal charges over Floyd’s death.
As a massive winter storm brought freezing temperatures and widespread power outages to Texas, people in jails there were left with no running water, no extra blankets and little food.
“We’re in here freezing to death and starving,” Finis Prendergast, a 42-year-old National Guard veteran who has been held in a Harris County jail for 29 months, told HuffPost on Wednesday.
Mass power outages have plunged millions across the state into darkness with no heat, while temperatures have dropped below freezing in recent days. Officials still do not know when power will be broadly restored.
Prendergast said that after power went out at the jail around 2am local time on Monday, generators kicked in, but power was restored in a limited fashion. Only one of five rows of lights in the dorm lit up, and plug sockets didn’t work. He said “cool air” has been blowing through the vents, and they weren’t given any dinner on Monday night.
Nigel Patrick, a 37-year-old imprisoned in the same facility, confirmed Prendergast’s account that they hadn’t received dinner on Monday. He said that people had not received any extra blankets and were wrapped up “like a burrito” in the single thin blanket they already had.
On Tuesday night, officers distributed water bottles, which people incarcerated at the facility now must use for drinking, brushing their teeth, and washing their hands. Meanwhile, the nine toilets in the facility – which are used by dozens of people – have been filled up to the brim with urine and faeces.
“It’s unbearable,” Patrick said on the phone from the jail, speaking to HuffPost and Texas Jail Project advocates. “I’ve been holding my bowels, needing to defecate for two days.”
In response to questions, the Harris County sheriff’s office directed HuffPost to its statements on Twitter, which confirmed that its three jail facilities lost water pressure, but said they still had power. The office claimed the heat was “working fine” and that people in its jails got three meals a day and extra blankets.
The majority of people in jails across the United States are being held before their trial, many simply because they cannot afford bail. People in US prisons are also disproportionately Black.
We’re hearing from folks in 2 out of the 3 buildings that make up HCJ.
*NO hot food since y’day. Some pods did not receive even a brown bag dinner.
*NO extra blankets. Some were told that they cannot walk around wearing their blankets.
*NO power to use their hotpots. @HCSOTexashttps://t.co/JicqOEpVO1— Texas Jail Project (Jail Project of Texas) (@TxJailProject) February 16, 2021
Due to widespread power outages, there was a risk that many vials of the Covid-19 vaccine – which must be kept in sub-zero freezers – would go bad, so Prendergast, Patrick and others in Harris County jails received the vaccine yesterday.
Harris County is far from the only jail or prison system to fail its incarcerated population amid the storm. The Texas Jail Project has relayed reports from people in jails in several other counties who have said they have no access to running water.
People in state prisons are also reporting that inadequate food and overworked prison staff amid the snowstorm, according to The Marshall Project.
Hundreds of women incarcerated at a federal medical prison in Fort Worth were also left “freezing” without heat amid the storm, the Forth Worth Star-Telegram reported.
Prendergast noted that they haven’t had a hot meal in days and instead of the usual bread with peanut butter and jelly in the mornings, today they got a small muffin – “incredibly tiny, like bite-size” – with three little packets of jelly and peanut butter. “What am I supposed to do with that?” he asked.
“This storm has really brought out some of the issues they have in the prison system,” said Tracy Williams, policy director at Texas Inmate Families Association, which represents families with loved ones in Texas prisons. He said his organisation has been getting emails about people imprisoned losing power and spending days without heat. “It speaks to some much needed change.”
Meanwhile, freezing temperatures are set to continue in Texas in the coming days.
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