Massachusetts

Vandals target crisis pregnancy center in western Massachusetts

Published

2 years ago

August 19, 2022

Vandals target crisis pregnancy center in western Massachusetts

By Carolee McGrath • Catholic Information Service • Posted August 19, 2022

EASTHAMPTON, Mass. (CNS) — Police are investigating vandalism at a western Massachusetts being pregnant middle that gives girls dealing with a disaster being pregnant with free diapers, wipes, child garments, strollers and automotive seats.

Police mentioned vandals early Aug. 18 spray-painted “Jane’s Revenge” on benches positioned outdoors of Bethlehem Home in Easthampton, close to Springfield, together with the message, “If abortion isn’t protected, neither are you.”

Jane’s Revenge is a a company that helps holding abortion authorized. It has claimed accountability for related actions at church buildings and pro-life being pregnant facilities throughout the nation since Could, when a draft opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court docket determination within the Dobbs vs. Jackson Girls’s Well being group case was leaked.

The courtroom’s June 24 determination within the Dobbs case finally overturned Roe v. Wade, which had legalized abortion nationwide. The ruling permits states to determine their very own legal guidelines concerning abortion.

“I’m nervous as a result of the purchasers are coming right here immediately. We have now to offer diapers out within the parking zone,” mentioned Pam Hibbard, Bethlehem Home director.

Bethlehem Home, which receives help from the annual Catholic Enchantment of the Diocese of Springfield, additionally presents free being pregnant assets, together with referrals for employment, well being care and academic providers. Households obtain help till the newborn is eighteen months outdated. As well as, Bethlehem Home presents post-abortion counseling.

“We’re not doing this for the cash. We do it from the guts,” Hibbard informed iObserve, the web information outlet of the Springfield Diocese.

In July, vandals additionally focused two being pregnant care facilities in Worcester, Massachusetts: Clearway Clinic and Drawback Being pregnant. Clearway’s home windows had been smashed and the phrases “Jane’s Revenge” had been spray-painted in black on the sidewalk outdoors of the constructing.

The vandalism saddened Springfield Bishop William D. Byrne.

“The messages spray-painted on the skin of the constructing seem to have one objective and that’s to intimidate the nice individuals who rely upon the help offered there, together with those that volunteer at Bethlehem Home, whose sole objective is to assist girls and their households dealing with a disaster being pregnant,” Bishop Byrne mentioned in a press release.

“Irrespective of the place you stand on the problem of abortion, I pray all folks of goodwill will be part of me in condemning this act and all acts of vandalism and violence towards any group,” he mentioned. “We’re a folks of life referred to as to steer with love. That’s what we are going to proceed to do. Please be part of me in praying for all affected by this incident.”

Father Daniel Pacholec, director of pro-life actions for the Springfield Diocese, echoed the bishop, saying “it must be enormously disturbing to all folks of goodwill that a company that assists girls and households is the goal of such violence towards girls.”

“Jane’s Revenge and any group related to it must be held criminally liable,” he mentioned.

Bethlehem Home has been within the highlight not too long ago, because the Easthampton Metropolis Council has been contemplating a proposed ordinance titled “Misleading Promoting Practices of Restricted Providers Being pregnant Facilities.”

A being pregnant middle can be in violation and topic to a $300 superb if it marketed in such a approach deemed “misleading, whether or not by assertion or omission, and {that a} restricted providers being pregnant middle is aware of or fairly ought to know to be misleading.”

Folks have spoken at current council conferences in favor of and towards the ordinance. Bethlehem Home is the one being pregnant care middle that operates in Easthampton, which prompted many within the pro-life group to be involved concerning the intent of the ordinance and if, in reality, it will finally influence the middle’s work.

Owen Zaret, councilor at-large, who co-sponsored the ordinance, has mentioned Bethlehem Home wouldn’t be affected by the ordinance and referred to as their work “laudable.”

Zaret decried the vandalism Aug. 18, saying it “has no place in our group or nation.

“That is an act of extremism and terrorism. We settle disagreements by dialog, not by violence,” Zaret mentioned.

Because the Supreme Court docket’s determination nationwide there have been calls to crack down legislatively on being pregnant care facilities that some consider deceive girls. In July, Massachusetts Legal professional Normal Maura Healey issued a press release claiming being pregnant facilities use “misleading and coercive ways.”

A warning about being pregnant care facilities is listed on Healey’s mass.gov web site. There is no such thing as a point out of the vandalism that passed off in Worcester or in Easthampton.

***

McGrath writes for iObserve, the web information outlet of the Diocese of Springfield.

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Related Topics:abortion Bethlehem House crisis pregnancy centers Diocese of Springfield end of Roe v Wade Featured iObserve Jane

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Massachusetts

Blue Hills brush fire sends smoke into surrounding Massachusetts towns

Published

6 hours ago

November 19, 2024

Press Room

Blue Hills brush fire sends smoke into surrounding Massachusetts towns

Next Weather: WBZ morning forecast for November 19, 2024

01:42

MILTON – A new brush fire has developed in the Blue Hills State Reservation, sending smoke into surrounding Massachusetts communities.

The fire near Houghton’s Pond in Milton has burned 41 acres of the popular hiking area, and was only 10% contained as of Monday evening, according to the Department of Conservation and Recreation. A smoky smell was reported in towns to the southeast, including Braintree, Brockton and Randolph.

Fire departments from several nearby towns are helping to fight the flames. Canton firefighters in a social media video showed crews performing a controlled “back burn” to keep the main fire from spreading further.

FINAL UPDATE: Units are being released from the brush fire. Tomorrow, Two Brush Fire Task Forces are being sent to Milton. One from Norfolk County, the other from Plymouth County. Here is footage of the “Back Burn” performed at the Blue Hills brush fire. This performed under controlled conditions. It burns back towards where the fire is spreading to and burns the area in between.
Posted by Canton Firefighters IAFF Local 1580 on Monday, November 18, 2024

Red flag warning for Massachusetts

A red flag warning is in effect for all of Massachusetts Tuesday, as the dry weather continues and winds could gust up to 25 mph.

“Any fire that develops will catch and spread quickly,” the National Weather Service said. “Outdoor burning is not recommended.”

Some relief is expected Thursday, as the first rain storm to hit the area in weeks could put a dent in the state’s severe drought.

Fires in Massachusetts

In addition to the Blue Hills incident, state fire officials said a new fire in the Boxford State Forest has grown significantly. That fire along Thomas Road in North Andover had spread to 220 acres and was just 10% contained. At this time, no homes are at risk.

The largest brush fire in the state is burning in the Lynn Woods Reservation. The 440-acre fire is 50% contained.

Firefighters are also continuing to patrol the Middleton Pond fire that has burned 242 acres and is 60% contained.

Neal Riley

Neal J. Riley is a digital producer for CBS Boston. He has been with WBZ-TV since 2014. His work has appeared in The Boston Globe and The San Francisco Chronicle. Neal is a graduate of Boston University.

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Massachusetts

How Mass. leaders are responding to Trump's mass deportation promises

Published

14 hours ago

November 19, 2024

Press Room

How Mass. leaders are responding to Trump's mass deportation promises

Elected officials in Massachusetts are reacting to President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to deport hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants by declaring a national emergency and using military assets.

Trump campaigned on a promise of the largest mass deportation in U.S. history, and he says he intends to deliver on it.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, who declared a state of emergency around migrant arrivals last year, says something needs to be done, but she expressed concern about communities being uprooted.

“I think it’s absolutely appropriate that there be enforcement and deportation of individuals who commit crime, including violent crime. That’s very, very important,” Healey said. “We recognize it would be devastating if there were mass raids, here and across the country, that took out people who’ve been working in this country for a long time, who have families and kids here.”

While Massachusetts is not a sanctuary state, it has eight sanctuary cities.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu called attention to the Trust Act, passed in 2014. It distinguishes the difference in roles between Boston police and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

“We know that the fear of someone who might be living, coming from an immigrant family, not then reporting crimes or not speaking out about different issues, actually then makes the entire community less safe,” Wu said.

Cambridge is also a sanctuary city — it has been since 1985.

“Cambridge affirms the basic human rights and dignity of every human being and provides education, health and other critical services to all residents of Cambridge, regardless of their immigration status,” a city spokesperson told NBC10 Boston in a statement.

Leaders in Worcester, the state’s second-largest city, say it will always remain inclusive and will never target individuals based on their immigration status.

At the former ICE detention center in Dartmouth, there are no plans for the sheriff to reimplement any future detention programs.

“This organization has been there and done that,” said Bristol County Sheriff Paul Heroux.

ICE closed the detention center in 2021 after President Joe Biden took office.

Heroux’s predecessor, former Sheriff Tom Hodgson — a strong ally of Trump who served as the president-elect’s campaign chairman in Massachusetts — blasted the Biden administration and called the center’s closing “a political hit job” orchestrated by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

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Massachusetts

Mass. says some police officers have been bypassing required training

Published

21 hours ago

November 18, 2024

Press Room

Mass. says some police officers have been bypassing required training

Massachusetts officials have notified police chiefs that some officers have been getting around parts of their online training.

In a letter last week, Municipal Police Training Committee Executive Director Jeff Fanrsworth said officials had learned that some police officers have been “bypassing their TY25 online training by using technologies that override controls meant to prevent fast-forwarding through the training.”

Farnsworth noted that the committee had found “instances where trainings that should take hours to complete are finished in a matter of minutes.”

The committee is working with Acadis, the company that operates the training system, to look into the issue and determine what needs to be done to address it.

Police chiefs whose departments have members who finished online courses in less than the minimum expected runtime are being notified, Farnsworth said. Those officers will be required to do all their training for this year in person.

“Any officer that has failed to complete any required training in its entirety will be required to attend in-person training and their names will be forwarded to [the Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission] for failure to successfully complete in-service training,” Farnsworth wrote in the letter.

The POST Commission, established by a criminal justice reform law in 2020, maintains lists of disciplinary records, suspensions and decertifications for Massachusetts police officers, handling claims of misconduct.

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