Florida

Donations to pay for abortions surge in Florida

Published

3 years ago

July 3, 2022

Donations to pay for abortions surge in Florida

TAMPA, Fla. – When the U.S. Supreme Courtroom struck down Roe v. Wade final Friday, dismantling its practically 50-year precedent defending the proper to an abortion, Marin Fehl was livid.

The 20-year-old faculty scholar from Hillsborough County had seen the leaked draft determination the month earlier than. She knew what was coming, however the finality of the court docket’s ruling and its implications for reproductive rights hit like a rocket to the intestine.

“I used to be extraordinarily enraged. I nonetheless really feel an enormous quantity of anger,” Fehl stated. “However I additionally felt a need to behave.”

That afternoon, Fehl took to Instagram and introduced a bake sale. The proceeds, she posted, would go to the Tampa Bay Abortion Fund.

Others had comparable concepts in thoughts.

From bake gross sales and profit concert events, to haircuts and charity kickball video games, folks round Tampa Bay are getting inventive of their efforts to assist organizations that assist girls pay for abortions.

Whereas some funds across the nation have paused or ceased amassing donations as they navigate authorized hurdles which have arisen on account of the Roe ruling, in Florida, abortion remains to be authorized. Organizations that assist girls entry such care are making ready to ramp up exercise.

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Livia Wallick, a board member for the Tampa Bay Abortion Fund, didn’t present a greenback quantity raised, however stated for the reason that determination got here down final Friday, the group has acquired sufficient to pay for greater than 280 abortions. She stated the price of a normal abortion paid for by the group is between $500 and $600.

The fund usually sees a rise in donations when main information drops. Wallick known as them “rage donations.”

When Florida handed a regulation earlier this yr banning most abortions after 15 weeks — or simply after the primary trimester — Wallick stated the fund noticed an uptick in assist. When a Supreme Courtroom draft opinion was leaked in Might, indicating judges have been poised to overturn Roe, donations once more surged.

What’s completely different this time, stated Wallick, is the vary of assist.

“There’s a spin class fundraiser for us. There’s a baked items and wine evening occurring at a neighborhood espresso store to boost cash,” Wallick stated. “Companies and people wish to do one thing in response to the court docket’s devastating determination.”

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Abortion prices

The inflow of assist has been felt by organizations throughout Florida, too.

Florida Entry Community government director, Stephanie Loraine Piñero, stated her group — which is run by queer girls who’ve had abortions — has acquired greater than $100,000 for the reason that Supreme Courtroom determination dropped. That cash will likely be used to assist girls entry abortions throughout the state.

Greater than 1,400 folks have been in attendance at an indoor occasion the group hosted in downtown Orlando this week, Piñero stated. Others have been lined down the block attempting to get in.

That abortion funds are receiving elevated assist proper now’s vitally necessary, Piñero stated. Abortion is pricey.

The median value of a first-trimester abortion is round $560, in accordance with analysis from the Nationwide Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, a nonprofit that analyzes the efficacy of charitable giving. With greater than half of the U.S. inhabitants residing paycheck to paycheck, a value that giant is unfeasible for a lot of.

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Restrictive laws is including to the expense. In April, a Florida choose upheld a regulation requiring a 24-hour ready interval between a primary seek the advice of and an abortion after a seven-year authorized battle within the courts.

“So in the event that they need to take off time for work, that has to occur twice,” Piñero stated. “In the event that they want a experience or assist to pay for fuel, that has to occur twice. They want childcare for each instances.”

Starting Friday, when the brand new Florida abortion regulation takes impact, the group must pay for girls whose pregnancies have progressed past 15 weeks to journey out of state for abortion, too.

“If folks need one thing tangible to do on this second, donating to an abortion fund may help,” Piñero stated.

She stated recurring donations are most well-liked as a result of they permit the group to plan forward.

Trying to elections

Whereas abortion funds concentrate on getting folks entry to care, Laura Goodhue, Deliberate Parenthood PAC director, stated turning consideration to imminent elections can also be a precedence for teams seeking to defend abortion rights.

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“We’re centered on elections proper now as a result of that’s what will defend entry to reproductive well being care in Florida,” Goodhue stated.

Following the Supreme Courtroom’s determination, Goodhue stated her group launched canvasses and held information conferences across the state. Greater than 400 folks tuned in to a web based info session the day the choice got here down.

“One in 4 girls have had an abortion,” Goodhue stated. “We’re centered on electing champions to the Florida Senate to get nearer to parity on reproductive well being care.”

She stated that decision volumes at Deliberate Parenthood clinics have surpassed traditional capability by the lots of for the reason that determination dropped.

“We’re getting calls from individuals who wish to volunteer and donate,” Goodhue stated. “However we’re additionally getting calls from sufferers on the lookout for contraception or questioning tips on how to get their appointment in earlier than they not can.”

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Florida

Macy's is closing 66 stores in 2025, including these in South Florida

Published

45 minutes ago

January 10, 2025

Press Room

Macy's is closing 66 stores in 2025, including these in South Florida

Macy’s is moving forward with its planned closures of stores in South Florida and across the country, the company announced Thursday.

Sixty-six locations were listed to close, most during the first quarter of 2025, though some had already been shut down.

In South Florida, the closures only affect the furniture stores at the following locations:

4501 North Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale
13640 Pines Boulevard in Pembroke Pines
13251 South Dixie Highway in Miami – already closed in 2024

But if you’re a faithful shopper, fear not. The company said these three furniture businesses are relocating to a nearby full-line location.

Additionally, these locations are closing or have already closed in Florida:

9339 Glades Road in Boca Raton – This furniture store already closed, and will relocate to a nearby full-line location.
801 North Congress Avenue Suite 100 in Boynton Beach at the Boynton Beach Mall
298 Westshore Plaza in Tampa at the WestShore Plaza
820 West Town Parkway in Altamonte Springs
3501 South Tamiami Trail Suite 600 in Sarasota

For that Altamonte Springs location, a going-out-of-business sale is planned for the first quarter of 2025.

In the announcement, Macy’s said the closures were part of their Bold New Chapter strategy.

“This plan is designed to return the company to sustainable, profitable sales growth which includes closing approximately 150 underproductive stores over a three-year period while investing in its 350 go-forward Macy’s locations through fiscal 2026,” their news release reads.

Go here to see the list of all 66 closing Macy’s locations.

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Florida

SpaceX readies for next Starlink launch from Florida coast. Here’s when

Published

9 hours ago

January 10, 2025

Press Room

SpaceX readies for next Starlink launch from Florida coast. Here’s when

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – SpaceX is readying for its next Starlink mission launch from Florida’s Space Coast on Friday morning.

In a release, the company announced that a Falcon 9 rocket will carry 21 more Starlink satellites into orbit from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

SpaceX officials said that liftoff is targeting 11:21 a.m., though backup opportunities will run until 2:15 p.m.

More opportunities will also be available on Saturday starting at 10 a.m. if needed.

The 45th Weather Squadron forecast shows that the chance of weather interfering with Friday’s launch attempt is less than 5%. However, that risk rises to 20% if pushed to this weekend.

Regardless, SpaceX reports that this is set to be the 25th flight for the first-stage booster used in this mission, which has previously been used to launch CRS-22, CRS-25, Crew-3, Crew-4, TelkomSat-113BT, Turksat-5B, Koreasat-6A, Eutelsat HOTBIRD-F2, Galileo L13, mPOWER-A, PSN MFS, and 13 other Starlink missions.

News 6 will stream the launch live at the top of this story when it happens.

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Florida

Lawsuit seeks to push DeSantis to call special elections for Florida Legislature seats

Published

17 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

Lawsuit seeks to push DeSantis to call special elections for Florida Legislature seats

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Accusing Gov. Ron DeSantis of violating “his mandatory statutory duty,” the American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday filed a lawsuit asking a judge to order DeSantis to set special elections for two legislative seats that opened as part of a political shakeup after President-elect Donald Trump’s win in November.

Former Rep. Joel Rudman, R-Navarre, stepped down from the state House District 3 seat last week, and state Sen. Randy Fine, R-Brevard County, will exit his Senate District 19 seat on March 31 as they run in special elections for congressional seats.

The lawsuit filed in Leon County circuit court Thursday argued that DeSantis not setting special elections for the legislative seats will leave voters in Rudman’s district without representation “for the entirety of the 2025 session” and voters in Fine’s district without representation for about half of the 60-day legislative session, which begins March 4.

Voters “have a clear legal right to have the governor fix the date of a special election for each vacancy,” and the governor “has a clear legal duty to fix the dates of the special elections,” attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Florida wrote in the lawsuit.

Plaintiffs in the case are Christina Forrest, a voter in House District 3, and Janet Laimont, a voter in Senate District 19.

“When a vacancy arises in legislative office, the people have the right to fill that vacancy in a special election,” the lawsuit said, pointing to a Florida law. “The reason is obvious: No Floridian should be deprived of representation because of the death, resignation, or removal of their representatives. But left to his own devices, the governor would deprive the residents of SD 19 and HD 3 of their constitutionally protected voice in the Capitol.”

The lawsuit said DeSantis “clear legal duty is ministerial and nondiscretionary in nature.” It seeks what is known as a “writ of mandamus” ordering DeSantis to set the special election dates.

“Each resident of the state has the right to be represented by one senator and one representative. These legislators are their voice in the halls of the Capitol,” the ACLU lawyers wrote. “The vacancies in these districts arose over 40 days ago. No other governor in living memory has waited this long to schedule a special election.”

Mark Ard, a spokesman for the Florida Department of State, said in an email that the agency “continues to work with the supervisors of elections to identify suitable dates for special elections” in the legislative districts.

“The election dates will be announced soon,” Ard wrote.

Fine and Rudman announced their plans to run for Congress in late November, as Trump began to fill out his administration.

Rudman is seeking to replace former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, who resigned in Congressional District 1 after being tapped by Trump to serve as U.S. attorney general. Gaetz later withdrew his name from consideration for attorney general amid intense scrutiny related to a congressional ethics report.

Fine is running to replace U.S. Rep. Mike Waltz, who will serve as Trump’s national security adviser. Waltz will step down in Congressional District 6 on Jan. 20, the day Trump is sworn into office.

DeSantis quickly ordered special elections to fill the vacancies created by Gaetz and Waltz, the lawsuit noted. Special primary elections for the congressional seats will be held on Jan. 28, and special general elections will take place on April 1.

Rudman’s former state House district is made up of parts of Okaloosa and Santa Rosa counties, while Fine’s Senate district consists of part of Brevard County. DeSantis’ delay in setting special election dates in the districts also has drawn attention because they are in areas dominated by Republicans.

Previous governors’ “routine practice” was to “quickly call a special election for the resigning legislator’s seat and hold it concurrently with the special election for the higher office,” the lawsuit said, referring to the congressional seats as being the higher office.

In the two decades before DeSantis took office, 15 legislative vacancies occurred because a state lawmaker resigned to run for another office, according to the lawsuit. DeSantis’ predecessors set special elections to fill the resigning legislators’ seats on the same dates as the elections in which the legislators resigned to run, or earlier.

“But lately, Governor DeSantis has more often chosen to deviate from Florida’s longstanding practice of timely special elections, in violation of his mandatory statutory duty,” the lawsuit said.

As an example, the ACLU lawyers pointed to DeSantis’ drawn-out response to the 2021 death of U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, a Broward County Democrat.

DeSantis “failed to call a special election for 30 days — longer than any Florida governor had ever taken to call a special election in at least the prior 22 years, and possibly ever in the history of the state” to fill Hastings’ seat, the lawsuit argued.

DeSantis ultimately ordered a special election to fill Hastings’ seat — more than nine months after the congressman died.

DeSantis in 2021 also waited more than 90 days to order special elections to fill three seats vacated by legislators who sought to replace Hastings.

“The governor did not call special elections until he was forced to — after residents of the districts petitioned this court for mandamus relief,” Thursday’s lawsuit said. “Following months of inaction, the governor called elections within days of this court ordering him to show cause why the writ should not issue.”

In 2023, DeSantis waited 38 days to set a special election for a legislative vacancy.

“Yet again, the governor did not call the election until he was forced to — after this court ordered the governor to show cause why mandamus should not issue in a lawsuit brought by a district resident,” the ACLU’s lawyers wrote.

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