Florida

Abortion Bounties, Penalties on Women: Florida Kingmaker's Candidate Questionnaire

Published

1 month ago

May 26, 2024

Abortion Bounties, Penalties on Women: Florida Kingmaker's Candidate Questionnaire

The influential Florida Family Policy Council, a fixture in Tallahassee since its founding in 2004, likes to claim credit for such political triumphs as the state law banning gay marriage, defunding Planned Parenthood, and forcing the state board of education to teach students evolution is merely a theory, not a fact.

The group’s annual gala has become a pitstop for Republican candidates seeking the organization’s favor — then-Gov. Jeb Bush was the keynote speaker in 2006; in 2023, it’s where Gov. Ron DeSantis made his last big appearance before announcing he was running for president — and in a state where redistricting has made general election seats less and less competitive, an endorsement from the group’s advocacy and lobbying arm, Florida Family Action, can help crown the Republican candidate in the primary.

That group is gearing up to endorse a new slate of favorites for state House and Senate this year, and is asking candidates seeking its backing to fill out a 44-question questionnaire — paperwork that often functions as a litmus test to determine whether a candidate shares the endorsing group’s values.

Florida Family Action’s 2024 survey, obtained by Rolling Stone, offers a glimpse of the future the influential lobbying group would like to see in the state. (Florida Family Action did not respond to requests for comment about the candidate survey.)

In addition to collecting standard information about the educational candidate’s background, military service, and other credentials, the questionnaire asks political hopefuls about additional restrictions they might seek to implement on abortion, which is currently banned in Florida after 6 weeks. The group asks if there ought to be penalties for women who seek abortion, and whether abortion should to be banned at fertilization; floats the idea of implementing a Texas-style abortion bounty law in Florida, discusses defunding government programs that offer access to contraceptives and birth control; and questions candidates about regulating in vitro fertilization, or IVF.

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There are also questions about whether the state should ban the use of bathrooms and other facilities by trans people, whether “gender identity” and “sexual orientation” should be added to the state’s non-discrimination statute, whether the state has a role in “prohibiting or regulating certain sexual behaviors,” and whether certain drugs should be decriminalized or legalized. (Amendment 3, which would legalize the recreational use of marijuana in Florida, is slated to appear on the ballot this November.)

Question 18 of the survey asks: “Should the law ever penalize any woman who has an abortion?” Candidates may select among the options: “Yes,” “No,” and “Unsure;” there is also a space for comments.

For decades, even the more extreme anti-abortion groups opposed criminalizing or otherwise punishing women seeking an abortion, focusing their attention on penalizing abortion providers instead. But that has seemed to change since 2016, when presidential candidate Donald Trump insisted “there has to be some form of punishment” for a woman seeking an abortion. Trump later backed away from the statement, but since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, lawmakers in South Carolina and Alabama have considered imposing penalties — including the death penalty — on women seeking abortions.

Question 19 on the survey ponders the possibility of implementing an abortion bounty law in the state, much like S.B. 8, the Texas law that effectively shut down abortion access in the state nine months before Roe v. Wade was overturned. It allows individuals to sue, for monetary damages, anyone suspected of “aiding and abetting” an abortion. (The survey asks: “If state attorneys and law enforcement agencies in certain areas of Florida refuse to enforce state abortion laws against abortion providers, do you believe there should be a private enforcement mechanism, using lawsuits by private citizens and civil causes of action with monetary damages to enforce pro-life laws against abortion providers?”)

The questionnaire also asks, “Is it the proper role of government to fund contraceptives and forms of birth control?” and “Do you believe the state should regulate in vitro fertilization? Why or why not?” It also includes two questions about pornography — whether porn constitutes “protected speech under the first amendment and thus cannot be subjected to excessive governmental regulation,” and whether there ought to be fines levied or private lawsuits filed against “school districts that allow and use pornographic or sexually explicit materials in school instruction or in school libraries.”

In 2022, Florida Family Action threw its weight behind DeSantis, as well as Trump 2024 vice presidential shortlist contenders Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Byron Donalds, and 58 candidates for state House and Senate. This year, candidates likely to seek the group’s backing include Sen. Rick Scott and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna.

Read the full questionnaire:

1. What office are you running for (include district number)?

2. Please share your educational background, military service, and other credentials.

3. Who is your campaign manager and campaign consultant? Please include contact information.

4. What prompted you to run for elected office?

5. What are the top 3 priorities you would like to address if elected to office?

6. Which 3-5 current or former political leaders have influenced you the most?

7. Are you challenging an incumbent? If so, what motivated you to run against them?

8. Do you have a home church or place of worship? Please share the name and location and how long you have been attending.

9. How does your faith guide you? Does it influence you relating to legislation and public policy?

10. Do you believe the government should legislate morality? Please share why or why not.

11. What are the top three most complex problems the state government will face in the near future?

12. What is your view on the role of government in society?

13. How would you identify yourself politically? (Check all that apply. Add comment to define terms if desired.)

_ Libertarian _ Liberal _ Progressive _ Moderate _ Socialist _ Social Conservative _ Populist _ Fiscal Conservative _ Constitutionalist

14. Do you support AMENDMENT 4, enshrining abortion access as a constitutional right?

_ Yes _ No _ Undecided

15. When do you believe that human life begins?

_ Fertilization _ Heartbeat/6 weeks _ 12 weeks _ 15 weeks _ 24 weeks _ Birth

16. What is the earliest point that abortion should be limited by law?

_ Fertilization _ Heartbeat/6 weeks _ 12 weeks _ 15 weeks _ 24 weeks _ Birth _ Never

17. Based on your previous answer, what exceptions should be allowed under a general abortion ban? (Check all that apply.)

_ Rape _ Human Trafficking _ Fetal Disability _ Incest _ Mental health of the mother _ Threat to the mother’s life _ No Exceptions should be allowed

18. Should the law ever penalize any woman who has an abortion?

_ Yes _ No _ Unsure

Comments:

19. If state attorneys and law enforcement agencies in certain areas of Florida refuse to enforce state abortion laws against abortion providers, do you believe there should be a private enforcement mechanism, using lawsuits by private citizens and civil causes of action with monetary damages to enforce pro-life laws against abortion providers?

_ Yes _ No _ Unsure

Comments:

20. Is it the proper role of government to fund contraceptives and forms of birth control?

_ Yes _ No _ Unsure

Comments:

21. Do you believe the state should regulate in vitro fertilization? Why or why not?

22. Do you support the legalization of physician-assisted suicide/euthanasia in Florida?

_ Yes _ No _ Undecided

23. Do you support adding the categories ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity’ to our state’s non-discrimination statute?

24. Do you support AMENDMENT 3, enshrining recreational marijuana use and production in our state constitution?

25. Which of the following drugs do you support decriminalizing possession and legalize for recreational use in the state of Florida? (Check all that apply.)

_ Psychedelic magic mushrooms _ Marijuana _ Heroine (sic) _ Cocaine _ Methamphetamine _ None _ Other

26. Does the state have a role in prohibiting or regulating certain sexual behaviors? Please elaborate.

27. Do you support the legalization of prostitution in Florida?

_ Yes _ No _ Undecided

Comments:

28. During the previous session, the Florida state legislature increased the minimum age from 18 to 21 for working in an adult entertainment establishment. (i.e., strip clubs). Do you support this policy? (Please feel free to elaborate on how you want the government to regulate adult entertainment facilities.)

_ Yes _ No _ Undecided.

Comments:

29. What are the main causes of the expansion of human trafficking in our state? How should the legislature address this?

30. Do you believe pornography is protected speech under the first amendment and thus cannot be subjected to excessive governmental regulation?

_ Yes _ No _ Undecided

31. In the situation where any government (state or local) or government supported entity has violated the constitutional rights of a citizen, and where jailtime is not warranted as a punishment for the government official, do you believe there should be recourses against such agencies? How would you address this as an elected official?

_ Fines and penalties by the state, prosecuted by the Attorney General or state attorneys

_ Private cause of action, prosecuted by private attorneys seeking financial damages for the victims

32. Do you believe gambling should be allowed to expand in the state of Florida?

_ Yes _ No _ Undecided

Comments:

33. Would you support a law mandating that restrooms, locker rooms, changing rooms, spas, and other such facilities be sex-segregated for both privacy and public safety concerns? Why or why not?

_ Yes _ No _ Undecided

Comments:

34. Do you believe that parental rights (that is the right of the parents to direct the upbringing of their own children, including but not limited to religious instruction, education choice, and medical care) are fundamental rights that the government should not infringe upon?

_ Yes _ No _ Undecided

Comments:

35. Under what circumstances should the government have the right to limit a parent’s rights?

36. Do you believe that the case of a parent refusing to affirm and encourage the gender transition of their minor child should be counted as a case of abuse, abandonment, or neglect and potentially result in the removal of that child from the parents?

_ Yes _ No _ Undecided

Comments:

37. Should the state government have a role in regulating social media corporations? If yes, in what ways?

38. Do you support HB1, passed in 2023, that expands taxpayer-funded school choice scholarships allowing Florida parents to use the funds to send their child to the school of their choice, including charter schools, private schools, religious schools, and homeschooling? In what ways should the program be either deregulated and expanded or restricted and more heavily regulated?

39. Do you support adding additional penalties either in the form of state fines or private legal action by parents, for school districts that allow and use pornographic or sexually explicit materials in school instruction or in school libraries?

_ Yes _ No _ Undecided

40. Do you believe that Social Emotional Learning (SEL) should be encouraged and used in Florida’s public schools?

_ Yes _ No _ Undecided

Comments:

41. Regarding vaccine or mask mandates in private corporations and businesses, which of the following best represents your position?

_ Such mandates in private businesses should be regulated or prohibited by the state.

_ Such mandates in private business are completely up to the company leadership.

Comments:

42. Are there any accusations, true or false, against you which could be an election issue that you would want us to be aware of?

43. In comparison to the other candidates in your primary, what distinguishes you from the other candidates?

44. Feel free to provide any other information that you would like to share.

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Florida

Florida man sneezes his intestines out of his body at restaurant

Published

5 hours ago

June 26, 2024

Press Room

Florida man sneezes his intestines out of his body at restaurant

A Florida man eating in a diner with his wife recently sneezed so forcefully it caused parts of his intestines to exit his body through a surgical wound, according to researchers.

The case, published in a May 2024 edition of the American Journal of Medical Case Reports, describes the unnamed man as a 63-year-old with a history of prostate cancer.

During treatments for a post-cancer recurrence, he encountered various health complications, and the man underwent a cystectomy, a procedure to remove his urinary bladder, 15 days before the diner incident, leaving him with a healing surgical wound on his abdomen.

The morning of the sneeze, the man’s doctors reported that he was healing well and could remove staples binding the wound together.

He and his wife went out to breakfast at the diner to celebrate.

“During breakfast, the man sneezed forcefully, followed by coughing. He immediately noticed a ‘wet’ sensation and pain in his lower abdomen. Looking down, he observed several loops of pink bowel protruding from his recent surgical site,” the researchers write.

Stunned, the man covered the protuberance with his shirt and considered driving himself to a hospital, but feared changing positions would make the wound worse and called an ambulance instead.

Arriving paramedics covered the wound with a pad and gave the man painkillers, rushing him to a nearby hopsital.

There, measurements showed his vital signs within normal limits.

“Three Urologic surgeons carefully reduced the eviscerated bowel back into the abdominal cavity,” the cast study continues. “They inspected the full length of the small bowel and noted no evidence of injury.”

The journal notes that the case is an important one because it fills in gaps in the literature about dehisence, the bursting of wounds.

“While wound dehiscence is a well-known complication, this case is important because evisceration through the abdominal surgical site after cystectomy is poorly described in the medical literature,” the article concludes.

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Florida

Triple-core SpaceX Falcon Heavy launches GOES-U from Kennedy Space Center, Florida

Published

12 hours ago

June 25, 2024

Press Room

Triple-core SpaceX Falcon Heavy launches GOES-U from Kennedy Space Center, Florida

Double sonic booms sounded through the Space Coast Tuesday afternoon as not one, but two Falcon 9 side boosters landed. GOES-U, the latest weather satellite by the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration, was headed to geostationary orbit, 22.236 miles above Earth. Its science should help to revolutionize not only weather imaging here on Earth but look at space weather that could impact our planet.

NOAA’s GOES-U satellite rose into space atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy from Kennedy Space Center’s Pad 39A. The two-hour launch window opened at 5:16 p.m. EDT, but only an additional 10 minutes was needed to work around weather.

Launching atop a core Falcon 9 booster, supported by two shiny white Falcon 9s — the triple-core Falcon Heavy had given off a blinding five million pounds of thrust at liftoff. After boosting the satellite off the pad, the two new side boosters separated and landed at SpaceX’s Landing Zones 1 and 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The core booster, which was also new, was discarded over the ocean after doing its job.

When is the next Florida rocket launch? Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX, NASA, ULA rocket launch schedule in Florida

Even though the rocket launched on Tuesday, the rocket was a bit late to the launch pad − not arriving until late Monday. SpaceX said an environmental control system, which keeps the satellite free of humidity and protected before launch, had been malfunctioning. This delayed the roll out of the rocket, as SpaceX teams opted to keep the spacecraft in the hanger to protect it until the system was fixed.

What is the GOES-U satellite?

This new weather satellite will not only enable earlier storm detection, but it will give forecasters more time to warn the public of approaching threats. GOES-U will also provide observation of the sun − which has been very active this year − to alert those who need to know about approaching solar flares.

Looking both down at Earth and out at the sun, GOES-U is set to join two other satellites, which are already in orbit as part of the GOES-R series. It will be the last of the GOES satellites, as a new generation of weather satellites is on the horizon.

The first of this series, GOES-R, was launched back in 2016 atop an Atlas V rocket. GOES-U will be the first − and the last − of the GOES satellites to be launched atop a Falcon Heavy.

This satellite will monitor much of the Western Hemisphere, including the Americas, the Caribbean, and Atlantic Ocean.

“National Weather Service colleagues tell us this technology has changed the game for weather prediction and forecasting,” Steve Volz, assistant administrator of NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service, said during a NASA press briefing.

“It is the bridge that connects today’s geostationary satellite technology with the technology of tomorrow, that promises to be more sophisticated and more impactful than what the GOES satellite series currently provides,” he said.

Like Earth technology, satellite technology can only be relevant for so long. GeoXO will be the series of satellites which will follow beginning in the 2030s. Development is currently in process.

SpaceX launch statistics

The launch of GOES-U brought SpaceX’s ninth launch for the NASA launch services program.
With the launch vehicle first flying in 2018, this was the 10th Falcon Heavy launch to date.
As SpaceX is launching Falcon 9 rockets from both coasts, this marked the company’s 65th mission of the year.

Upcoming Falcon Heavy Flights

The next Falcon Heavy launch scheduled is NASA’s Europa Clipper mission, which will be no earlier than October.

As for the next Florida launch, a Falcon 9 rocket will carry a Starlink mission on Thursday from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 40. SpaceX has not announced a launch time, yet the Geospatial Navigational Warning and FAA Advisory states the launch window opens at 7 a.m. EDT.

Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at bedwards@floridatoday.com or on X: @brookeofstars.

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Florida

F**k Elon’ Sprayed On 34 Cybertrucks Stored In Florida

Published

20 hours ago

June 25, 2024

Press Room

F**k Elon’ Sprayed On 34 Cybertrucks Stored In Florida

If I see a message scrawled on a car, it’s usually something dumb like “clean me” or “my other car is a Porsche.” However, one budding artist in Florida has taken their vehicular vandalism up a notch by writing “Fuck Elon” on more than 30 Tesla Cybertrucks in storage.

Tesla’s Cybertruck Has Finally Arrived

A parking lot filled with 34 shiny new Cybertrucks was hit last Friday. The collection of Cybertrucks was being stored at a lot in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, when they were, hit reports Futurism.

Dozens of Tesla Cybertrucks vandalized with vulgar message for Elon Musk

The trucks were being stored at the parking lot with little security, Futurism reports, before Tesla shipped the Cybertrucks out to their new owners. Because of the open storage location, the messages were spotted by a passing local who reported the incident to police. As Futurism reports:

“Vandalism is not acceptable,” the passerby, Yasser Rabello, told the local TV news outlet, stating the obvious. “It is illegal.”
Later that day, all the Cybertrucks — which are collectively worth around $2.7 million — were wiped clean and started attracting local residents and the curious who had gotten wind of the curse-laden graffiti job on the Tesla vehicles.
“It was just one row and then it was a second row, and then a third row and a fourth row,” Adam Docktor, who works in the neighborhood, told WPLG Local 10 about when he first say the tagged vehicles.

The spray paint might have been wiped off almost as quickly as it appeared, but that hasn’t brought an end to the issue, as police are now scrambling to find out who wrote the messages. No arrests have yet been made, but police told NBC News in South Florida that an investigation into the spray painting is ongoing.

The spray painting was carried out while the trucks were safely parked up in storage, before they could get out onto America’s roads and terrorize people with their sticky pedals, ridiculously sharp bodywork and openings that are hungry for limbs.

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