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Meanwhile… In Opposite Land

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Before thousands of anti-abortion protesters at the Texas Capitol in 2023, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott brazenly touted his party’s passage of draconian abortion laws as “life-saving.” “We promised we would protect the life of every child with a heartbeat, and we did. I signed a law doing exactly that,” Abbott told the crowd at the annual Texas Rally For Life event. “All of you are life savers, and thousands of newborn babies are the result of your heroic efforts.”

Abbott’s words now ring particularly hollow in light of a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics that reveals infant deaths in Texas starkly increased following SB 8, which barred care at the first sign of embryonic cardiac activity, typically around six weeks of pregnancy, and carried a private enforcement provision that deterred the vast majority of care in the state. The 2021 law stood as the most restrictive abortion ban at the time.

Researchers with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that infant deaths rose by nearly 13 percent in 2022. Comparatively, these deaths, defined in the study as occurring under 12 months old, increased less than 2 percent in the rest of the United States.

“We found that infant mortality increased pretty substantially in Texas but not in the rest of the country,” Alison Gemmill, assistant professor in the Bloomberg School’s Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health and one of the study’s lead authors, tells The Nation. “It speaks to how these restrictive laws can have horrific and devastating effects on infant health, pregnant people, and on families overall—unintended or not.”

* ProPublica…

Year after year, while Roe v. Wade was the law of the land, Texas legislators passed measures limiting access to abortion — who could have one, how and where. And with the same cadence, they added millions of dollars to a program designed to discourage people from terminating pregnancies.

Their budget infusions for the Alternatives to Abortion program grew with almost every legislative session — first gradually, then dramatically — from $5 million starting in 2005 to $140 million after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the right to an abortion.

Now that abortion is largely illegal in Texas, lawmakers say they have shifted the purpose of the program, and its millions of dollars, to supporting families affected by the state’s ban. […]

But an investigation by ProPublica and CBS News found that the system that funnels a growing pot of state money to anti-abortion nonprofits has few safeguards and is riddled with waste. […]

In some cases, taxpayers are paying these groups to distribute goods they obtained for free, allowing anti-abortion centers — which are often called “crisis pregnancy centers” and may be set up to look like clinics that perform abortions — to bill $14 to hand out a couple of donated diapers.

* NPR…

Transgender people under 18 face laws that bar them from accessing gender-affirming health care in 25 states — just a few years ago, not a single state had such a law.

The Supreme Court has agreed to consider a case from Tennessee in its next term that challenges that state’s gender-affirming care ban for young people.

“Pressure had been mounting for the Supreme Court to weigh in here,” says Lindsey Dawson, director for LGBTQ Health Policy at the health research organization KFF. […]

Most of the state bans have been challenged in court, Dawson notes, with 20 state bans currently in effect. “We’d seen split decisions in the appeals courts, which is always an indication that an issue might be ripe for the Supreme Court.”

* Florida…

On Monday, a new law allowing volunteer chaplains in Florida public schools took effect. The Satanic Temple was ready.

“The Satanic Temple’s chaplains can now serve in Florida’s public schools, thanks to Governor Ron DeSantis!” the church posted Tuesday on its social media accounts.

DeSantis said that would not be happening.

“We’re not playing those games in Florida,” DeSantis said when he signed the bill in April. “That is not a religion.” […]

Under HB 931, volunteer school chaplains may “provide support, services, and programs to students as assigned by the district school board or charter school governing board.” Parents must consent and may choose from a publicly available list of chaplains and their religious affiliations, if any. [….]

“Any opportunity that exists for ministers or chaplains in the public sector must not discriminate based on religious affiliation,” The Satanic Temple’s director of ministry, who goes by Penemue Grigori, said in an email to the USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida while the bill was being deliberated. “Our ministers look forward to participating in opportunities to do good in the community, including the opportunities created by this bill, right alongside the clergy of other religions.”

* Louisiana…

Opponents of a new Louisiana law requiring that a version of the Ten Commandments be posted in public school classrooms have asked a federal court to block implementation of the requirement while their lawsuit against it progresses and before the new school year starts.

A group of parents of Louisiana public school students, representing various faiths, filed the lawsuit last month, soon after Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed the new law. In motions filed Monday, their attorneys asked for a preliminary injunction blocking the law. And they sought an expedited briefing and hearing schedule that would require the state to respond to the request for an injunction by July 19 and for a hearing on July 29. Public schools open in August.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Baton Rouge, says the law violates First Amendment clauses protecting religious liberty and forbidding laws establishing a religion.

Backers of the law argue that it doesn’t violate the Constitution and that posting the Ten Commandments is appropriate and legal because they are part of the foundation of U.S. law.

* Oklahoma…

In Oklahoma, public schools have been ordered to incorporate the Bible into lessons for grades 5 through 12 by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters.

Walters called the Bible an “indispensable historical and cultural touchstone,” in a June 27 statement about the announcement.

Without “basic knowledge” of the Bible, Walters claimed, “Oklahoma students are unable to properly contextualize the foundation of our nation which is why Oklahoma educational standards provide for its instruction. This is not merely an educational directive but a crucial step in ensuring our students grasp the core values and historical context of our country.” […]

Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU), told ABC News that she doesn’t oppose the idea of teaching religion as a part of history. However, her organization objects to teaching the Bible as truth or “core values,” as Walters stated, “because that’s favoring one set of religious views over others and over non religion, and that’s expressly prohibited by our Constitution.”

* Texas…

After a 2021 winter storm laid bare how unprepared the state was for severe weather, Texas had been on the prowl for ways to ensure that it was producing enough electricity during times of disaster.

Their solution: new fossil fuel power plants.

But while the state says these new power plants meet the demand caused by severe weather and population growth, a new ERCOT forecast says that as the state’s power demand doubles over the next six years, most of the demand will come from water and energy-guzzling data centers for artificial intelligence supercomputers and crypto processing. […]

Despite analyses showing that clean energy sources like wind and solar are largely more reliable and cheaper to produce there than energy from fossil fuels, in the aftermath of last summer, the state decided to subsidize $10 billion worth of new gas power plants.

Across the country, low-income Black people are exposed to the most pollution from power plants and have the highest risk of death from such pollution. In Texas, more than 75% of the state’s gas power plants are in areas where the population has an above-average share of people of color, according to a Capital B analysis of EPA data.

posted by Isabel Miller
Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 11:46 am

Comments

Dispatches from Opposite Land is probably my most “favorite” recurring feature on here, in that it helps solidify career choices I turned down that would have led to me living in some of these states. There are plenty of things I’m not particularly happy about when it comes to Illinois, but none of them are worth subjecting my family to laws and policies found in these states.

Comment by Leap Day William Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 12:05 pm
So does Ron DeSantis have a lists of religions that are state approved? Does he have a cabinet officer in charge of real religions? Will the state license you after a Bible test so you can get a license to pray?

Comment by DuPage Saint Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 12:11 pm
And then there’s Project 2025.

Comment by Just sayin' Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 12:16 pm
Sure, actual babies are dying under Texas’ new laws, but just think of all the theoretical babies they have saved, so that they now have the possibility to perish in infancy.

Comment by Roadrager Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 12:19 pm
= That is not a religion. =

The IRS says it is.

Comment by JoanP Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 12:19 pm
One thing I’ve wondered, and have found very unhelpful in my searches, is which Commandments Louisiana will use. It is a State with a tradition of Catholicism and 90% of their Catholics have been for at least three generations. Thus, will they use those Ten Commandments or post ones we do not believe in?
Just another wrinkle for me as to why mixing church and state is such a dumb idea.

Comment by Lurker Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 12:21 pm
Illinois is not immune to this stuff. There are several districts in Illinois dealing with LifeWise Academy (lifewise.org). Hoping our legislature gets on this soon before rural Illinois is inundated.

Comment by JS Mill Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 12:31 pm
===“We’re not playing those games in Florida,” DeSantis said when he signed the bill in April. “That is not a religion.”===

Not your call, Ronnie-boy! Enjoy that!

Comment by Nick Name Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 12:34 pm
Florida will lose that fight, as the Feds recognize it as a religion.

Texas will make some excuse about why infant morality is so high and conservatives will just clap along

Comment by In the know Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 12:38 pm
@Lurker, it’s the Protestant version: https://apnews.com/article/ten-commandments-louisiana-public-schools-religious-views-7c4af860da21df52c304346fab76c4ae

Comment by DriXander Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 12:43 pm
=The Satanic Temple’s director of ministry, who goes by Penemue Grigori,=

I suggest he use the abbreviation ‘STP’ on his application and say he is the ‘Minister of Rock’ as a disguise and is on a mission to Plush away sinners

Comment by DEE Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 12:46 pm
=“Oklahoma students are unable to properly contextualize the foundation of our nation =

I can hear the chuckles from the Indigenous kids from here.

=This is not merely an educational directive but a crucial step in ensuring our students grasp the core values and historical context of our country.=

I remember hearing how generations of kids that grew up in Tulsa were never taught of the race massacre. So much for historical context.

Comment by Cool Papa Bell Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 1:19 pm
There is an argument to be made for encouraging a broader understanding of the Bible. Even Schofield wrote in his study bible in the early 1900s that even the most ardent of non-believers thought it foolish to remain ignorant of it. It’s one of the only books that exists that affects you and your life, and the lives of everyone around you for a variety of religious, social, and cultural reasons far beyond your control.

It’s a shame that taking it seriously and studying it as a cultural driver isn’t what these fundamentalists mean by including the bible as a part of study.

Comment by BilboSwaggins Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 1:52 pm
So I guessing DeSantis won’t be letting any Druid priests in Florida schools around Halloween to talk about Samhain.

Comment by West Side the Best Side Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 1:55 pm
I don’t know what the government exactly says a religion is. In seminary the working definition has been and always will be, ” The response to the mystery of life”? Legally I realize that goes nowhere, but I still think it is the best definition.

Comment by clec dcn Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 2:22 pm
“infant deaths rose by nearly 13 percent in 2022″

So it’s Republicans and not Democrats who are responsible for “post-birth abortions.” /s

Comment by Grandson of Man Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 2:25 pm
Thank you DriXander. I’m not sure why a Catholic governor would allow any commandments to be placed but especially those.

Comment by Lurker Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 2:26 pm
Ron DeSantis?…get thee behind me!

Comment by Dotnonymous x Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 2:37 pm
umpteen plus years ago while I was studying at UIC the study of the Bible was available as an accredited class. The good news it was often taken by English majors such as myself to add context to some of the literature being read. How the Bible is integrated into coursework is important and needs to approached from a literature standpoint. Even when I studied the Bible in classes when attending a Catholic HS we discussed it from both a literal vs figurative level. Keep the religion proselytizing out of it and I am okay with it being an adjunct to studies.

Comment by illinifan Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 2:50 pm
Illinois high schools hadand I assume still can have Bible as literature classes. Religion courses are offered at public volleges and universities as well. Understanding religion is an important part of any liberal arts education. Public institutions just shouldn’t be proselytizing to students. On top of everything else think about the bad teachers you had and think if you want them teaching your kids faith.

Comment by ArchPundit Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 3:04 pm
These are not aberrations or mistakes. Pain is the point.

Comment by Morty Tuesday, Jul 9, 24 @ 7:04 pm