With the beginning of session only days away, Florida legislators have been busy filing a slew of anti-abortion bills. Add yet another to the list: a measure outlawing race- and gender-based abortions. The bill was filed by state Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood.

House Bill 1327, or the “Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass Prenatal Nondiscrimination and Equal Opportunity for Life Act,” would make it a crime to have an abortion “that it is sought based on sex or race of child or race of parent of that child.” A similar bill was filed in the U.S. House by Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., last month and became law in Arizona last year.

According to a summary of the bill, it:

• Requires person performing termination to first sign affidavit stating that he or she is not performing termination because of child’s sex or race and has no knowledge that pregnancy being terminated is because of child’s sex or race;
• Prohibits performing or inducing termination knowing that it is sought based on sex or race of child or race of parent of that child, using force or threat of force to intentionally injure or intimidate any person for purpose of coercing sex-selection or race-selection termination, and soliciting or accepting moneys to finance sex-selection or race-selection termination;
• Provides for injunctions;
• Provides for civil actions by certain persons; authorizes civil fines against physicians & other health professionals who knowingly fail to report known violations; provides that woman on whom sex-selection or race-selection termination is performed is not subject to criminal prosecution or civil liability.

Plakon says he did not file the bill to address any “Florida-specific” problem, but rather to address a “creeping problem” with gender- and race-based abortions worldwide. He says “we shouldn’t wait” until there is a rampant problem in order to address this.

“This is wrong,” he says. “We need to make sure this doesn’t creep into Florida from other countries.”

Plakon does, however, concede that it is hard to prove that gender- or race-based abortions are happening “on a micro-level,” which would make this law somewhat hard to enforce unless a woman were to mention the reasoning behind her abortion.

“If she volunteers that information,” Plakon says, “it would put the burden on the abortionist to not provide the abortion.”

There is no denying this is happening worldwide, Plakon says. “And you could argue that this country is a safe haven for this sort of thing.”

“At least we are doing something,” he says.

Reproductive rights and justice activists have long condemned bills like Plakon’s since Frank first introduced his measure the same week President Obama was elected.

Loretta Ross, the president of SisterSong — a reproductive justice collective for women of color — says there is no evidence that supports the need for such a bill. She believes these bills are a “blatant attempt for southern Republicans to look like they are champions of racial justice,” while they actually attacking women’s rights.

“The question to ask would be: Do you champion [racial minorities and women] once they are here?” Loretta says.

This sort of legislation has been the result of a concerted effort among anti-abortion activists to link abortion to racist aims. Groups have been touting the “black genocide” conspiracy in an effort to convince African-American communities to oppose abortion. In some cases, these arguments have taken root in the African-American community.

Ross says that painting women as propagators of genocide in this way is an “attack on women’s dignity.”

“Ultimately,” Ross says, “this shows contempt for women.”

As of now, the Legislature has filed eight anti-abortion/reproductive rights bill for the session starting next week — nine if/when this bill picks up a Senate sponsor.

AIDS Drug Assistance Programs, known as ADAP, are a nationwide payer of last resort for people who cannot afford their HIV/AIDS medications. They have been in a funding crisis since 2010, which prompted many states, including Florida, to implement cost containment measures such as waiting lists.

Nationwide, according to the State and Territorial AIDS Directors (PDF), there are now more than 4,300 individuals in 12 states on AIDS Drug Assistance Program waiting lists.

The ADAP Crisis Task Force, convened by the Directors, announced Monday a “new discount/rebate and price freeze, available to all state ADAPs,” with ViiV Healthcare, a company focusing on HIV/AIDS treatment that was created by GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer in 2009.

The Task Force writes that it has “secured significant multi-year, voluntary discounts and rebates from all eight manufacturers of HIV antiretroviral (ARV) medications, with many of them providing price freezes for ADAPs through 2013.”

Florida’s Bureau of HIV/AIDS (PDF) listed 979 people on its ADAP waiting list as of Dec. 9; more than 470 of those people live in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

A Saturday demonstration outside of a Lowe’s home improvement store in a Detroit suburb brought out more than 150 local residents and religious leaders and even one state representative — all of whom were protesting the chain’s decision to pull its ads from the TLC reality show All-American Muslim after receiving numerous calls to do so by the Florida Family Association.

The group demonstrated outside of the Lowe’s in Allen Park, a Detroit suburb adjacent to the city where All-American Muslim is filmed.

The protestors chanted and held signs that read, “Boycott Bigotry” and, “Remember, All-American Muslims Shop” during the rally, which was attended by Christian, Jewish and Muslim groups.

Via the Huffington Post:

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Detroit Democrat and the first Muslim woman elected to the Michigan Legislature, said it was “disgusting” for Lowe’s to stop supporting a show that reflects America – the conservatives, liberals and even “the Kim Kardashians” in the Muslim community, she said.

“We’re asking the company to change their mind,” said protester Ray Holman, a legislative liaison for a United Auto Workers local. He said he was dismayed that the retailer “pulled sponsorship of a positive program.”

A local rabbi extended his support to clergy at the protest and local Arab Americans, saying he and other Jews would have been at the protest had it not fallen during the Jewish Sabbath.

“I hope that they would likewise stand up and demonstrate should something outrageous like this take place against another religion,” Rabbi Jason Miller said in a statement.

Lowe’s spokeswoman Karen Cobb said Saturday that the company respected the protestors’ opinion.

“We appreciate and respect everyone’s right to express their opinion peacefully,” she said.

According to a press release sent out by People for the American Way,  a handful of counter-protesters — including armed members of the Michigan Militia — came out to defend Lowe’s.

Critics have blasted Lowe’s for pulling its ads, saying that caving to a fringe group like the Family Association sets a negative precedent.

In a press release sent out last week, in which the group called on a complete boycott of Lowe’s, People for the American Way said that Lowe’s “should have ignored the canned emails and gone about its business,” but instead chose to cave “to a group of fanatics who want to make everyone live in accordance with their narrow and rigid religious beliefs.”

(Photo: Flickr Getty Images/Dave Delay)

A report released earlier this month by the NAACP found that Florida is among the states with the “most restrictive” felon disenfranchisement “laws in the country” — one of many aspects of the state’s voting practices that will limit voter participation among minorities, according to the group.

The subject of voting rights in the U.S. has received renewed attention since sweeping changes to voting laws were passed in states across the country. Voting rights advocates in Florida have largely focused on new limitations on third-party voter registration, early voting days and ballot measure signatures. Little scrutiny, however, has been given to a rollback of voting rights for ex-offenders, also referred to as returning citizens.

According to the NAACP report (PDF), Florida is one of only four states in the country that “denies the right to vote permanently to all individuals convicted of any felony offense.”

The NAACP reports:

Florida imposed a mandatory five-year waiting period and petition process for the restoration of rights for individuals who have completed their sentences. In March 2011, Florida, which already had the largest disfranchised population of any state in the country (approximately 1 million), rolled back state rules enacted four years ago that eliminated the post-sentence waiting period and provided for automatic approval of reinstatement of rights for individuals convicted of non-violent felony offenses.

The previous rule was put into effect in 2007, allowing the restoration of rights to more than 154,000 people who had completed their sentences.

Under Florida’s new rules, all individuals who have completed their sentences, even those for non-violent offenses, must wait at least five years before they may petition the Clemency Board for the restoration of their civil rights, including the right to register to vote. Some offenders even have a mandatory seven-year period before they may petition.

Even worse, the five–year waiting period for individuals convicted of a non-violent offense to apply for restoration of voting rights resets if a person is simply arrested for a criminal offense—even if charges are eventually dropped or the person is acquitted of all allegations.

By most accounts, these new clemency rules make Florida’s the most restrictive felon disfranchisement approach in the country.

Desmond Meade, president of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition and a self-described “formerly convicted individual,” says that blame for the state’s poor voting rights for returning citizens goes “beyond political reasons.”

“This is more than just politically motivated,” Meade tells The Florida Independent. “These policies have been pushed by the prison industrial complex.”

According to Meade, private prison companies are “big campaign donors” that benefit from policies that limit former inmates’ rights.

“That’s how they make their money,” Meade says. According to Meade, keeping ex-offenders from having a say in political affairs limits proper accountability for legislators and institutions such as prisons — whether they are public or private. He also says that private prison companies have long lobbied for restricted rights of former inmates. As their influence grows, Meade argues, the rights of returning citizens shrink.

The power of private prisons in Florida has become increasingly visible in the past few years. According to reporting by The American Independent’s Yana Kunichoff:

GEO Group, the second-largest private prison operator in the country, is headquartered in Florida, and is already running the state’s largest private prison, the Blackwater River Correctional Facility in Milton. When the Corrections Corporation of America builds the largest private immigration center in the country, as it agreed with the town of Southwest Ranches and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to do earlier this year, Florida will become ground zero for private prisons.

The situation in Florida isn’t unique, but advocates say the scale of Florida’s plan is remarkable.

“It’s precedent-setting,” says Ken Kopczynski, executive director of the Private Corrections Working Group, a website that collects news and resources on the growing influence of the private prison industry.

Kopczynski says the proposed budget amendment and the planned ICE-contracted center “is the largest privatization effort in the U.S., if not in the world.”

The industry, Kunichoff wrote, has relied “on the goodwill of legislators” and groups such as the GEO Group have given hundreds of thousands in campaign donations to the Republican Party of Florida.

Meade says state policy-makers have favored prison companies, while simultaneously disregarding the rights of offenders and former offenders.

“We definitely feel that they are implementing their policies just to show they are being ‘tough on crime,’” Meade says, something he says this is done at the expense of actually “reducing and preventing crime.”

“This is all contrary to public safety,” Meade says. “There is no evidence that giving voting rights to returning citizens will negatively effect a community.”

He describes the rollback as an effort to block “people’s access to the polls.”

According to Meade, the new House Bill 4129 — which was introduced by state Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Shalimar, last month — would “create yet another obstacle.” According to a summary of the bill, 4129 would repeal a “provision that prohibits clerk or inspector from asking elector to provide additional information or recite elector’s home address after presenting picture identification that matches elector’s address in supervisor of elections’ records.”

“That is crazy,” Meade says. “I guess volunteers will decide who votes now.”

(Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Smithers7)

In a ranking of one (best) to 50 (worst), Florida ranks 42nd in the nation. About 84,000 children in Florida were homeless in 2010, a report (PDF) from the group says.

The study, “America’s Youngest Outcasts 2010″ (PDF), also found that “more than 1.6 million children or one in 45 are homeless annually in America [which] represents an increase of 38 percent during the years impacted by the economic recession (2007 to 2010).”

The report is based on 2006-2010 “data and research on the extent of child homelessness, child well-being, risk for homelessness, and state policy and planning efforts.”

According to the report:

Data from the original report showed that more than one in 50 children were homeless annually in America. That dropped to one in 63 in the recovery from Hurricanes Rita and Katrina and has increased since.

“The Recession has been a man-made disaster for vulnerable children,” said Ellen L. Bassuk, MD, President and Founder of The National Center on Family Homelessness and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. “There are more homeless children today than after the natural disasters of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which caused historic levels of homelessness in 2006. The Recession’s economic devastation has left one in 45 children homeless in a year—an increase of 38% from 2007 to 2010.”

The report finds that children experiencing homelessness in America suffer from hunger and poor physical and emotional health as well as limited academic proficiency in reading and math. The constant barrage of stressful and traumatic experiences has profound effects on their development and ability to learn.”

The report also points out that “planning and policy activities to support these vulnerable children remain limited.”

“Sixteen states have done no planning related to child homelessness, and only seven states have extensive plans,” the reports says.

Florida ranked 35th in a 2010 state policy and planning ranking, according to the group’s Florida report. According to that study, the state has just over 4,000 housing units for homeless families — that list includes emergency shelters, transitional housing, HUD homes and permanent supportive housing. Florida also has a state housing trust fund and an active Interagency Council on Homelessness, but fails to have a “state 10-year plan that includes children and families.”

Earlier this year, Gov. Rick Scott vetoed  $12 million dollars from the state’s general revenue fund to the National Veterans’ Homeless Support Group for “homeless housing assistance grants.” The item was one of many public assistance programs Scott vetoed.

Florida faces another revenue shortfall this year, which puts all public assistance programs at risk for more budget reductions.

“In the face of this man-made disaster, there must be no further cuts in federal and state programs that help homeless children and families. Deeper cuts will only create more homelessness that will cost us more to fix in the long run,” Bassuk said in a statement included in the new report. “We can take specific action now in areas of housing, child care, education, domestic violence, and employment and training to stabilize vulnerable families and prevent child homelessness.”

Last month, Florida’s child homelessness epidemic received national attention. 60 Minutes shed light on the issue and took a hard look at a county in Florida that reported 1,100 homeless students in its K-12 schools.

Responding to the broadcast, state legislators announced a bipartisan effort to combat Florida’s homelessness crisis. State Rep. Betty Reed, D-Tampa, and Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Valrico, announced that they “filed legislation for the 2012 Florida legislative session that seeks to raise awareness and funding to help combat homelessness.”

2012 GOP presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (Photo: Flickr/Gage Skidmore)

Jacksonville’s Susie Wiles, the former campaign manager for Gov. Rick Scott, has joined the team of would-be GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Wiles was working closely with Romney opponent Jon Huntsman until July, when she left her position as campaign manager.

At the time, Wiles said “it was just time” to leave the Huntsman campaign, saying she had only signed up “to get [the campaign] started.”

Wiles has now been named as a co-chair of Romney’s Florida advisory council.

Wiles’ husband, veteran Republican advance man Lanny Wiles, remained with Huntsman until August, when he also left the campaign. Though he said at the time that he remained “an avid supporter of Governor Huntsman,” he, too, now appears to be backing Romney.

Via Politico:

U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla. (Photo: Facebook)

A source is telling The Florida Independent that the House Office of Congressional Ethics is continuing to investigate Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla. TFI first broke the story of the investigation in October, when a source provided us with documentation confirming the preliminary investigation.

The preliminary review of Buchanan began in late September and was yet another response to allegations that the Longboat Key Republican pressured employees into donating to his congressional campaigns and then reimbursed them with funds from a car dealership he co-owned.

The Office of Congressional Ethics has contacted at least three of Buchanan’s former employees since launching its investigation, each of whom worked for the now-defunct Hyundai of North Jacksonville. Our source, who asked to remain anonymous, was contacted by the ethics office as recently as last week, and told us that the Federal Election Commission will likely come out with a report on the investigation within the next 30 days. It is unclear whether or not the office will refer the case to the House Committee on Ethics (made up of members of Congress) for further review.

Per the Office of Congressional Ethics review process, “preliminary reviews” last 30 days and are initiated only after two board members (one appointed by the House speaker, one by the minority leader) have submitted written requests. If the investigation is terminated within those 30 days, no public disclosure is required.

Following the preliminary review, if there is “probable cause to believe [the] allegations,” three members can vote to initiate a second phase of review. Should the office find “substantial cause to believe allegations,” the case is referred to the ethics committee for further review or dismissal and only made public under certain circumstances.

If the committee receives a referral from the Office of Congressional Ethics, it has a 45-day period to review the case, and determine whether to take further action (it can also request a 45-day extension). At the end of that time, the committee will typically make public its investigation.

According to its website, the House Committee on Ethics has the jurisdiction to “recommend administrative actions to establish or enforce standards of official conduct” and must “report to appropriate federal or state authorities substantial evidence of a violation of any law applicable to the performance of official duties that may have been disclosed in a Committee investigation.”

Last December, the FEC filed suit over a pattern of questionable contributions made to Buchanan’s 2006 and 2008 campaigns. Though the congressman wasn’t named in the suit, his former business partner and a car dealership the two once co-owned were accused of offering reimbursements for money donated to his campaign and of violating excessive contribution laws.

Though the FEC eventually called the activity an “extensive and ongoing scheme” and fined his former dealership almost $68,000, Buchanan himself was never found to be at fault.

Just last month, however, a federal judge denied an FEC motion to fine Buchanan’s former business partner, Sam Kazran. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Roy Dalton wrote that the FEC “does not provide any guidance in its Motion” and “rests its case primarily on certain statements made by Kazran, which the FEC contends conclusively establish that Kazran solicited others to make campaign contributions in their own names and either advanced the money or promised to reimburse them.”

Kazran will now have a chance to demonstrate that Buchanan coerced him into making the contributions, which he has maintained all along, although it remains unclear if Buchanan himself will have to testify. The Independent obtained a lengthy sworn deposition Kazran gave to the FEC, as well as two voice mails in which Buchanan himself references the reimbursement scheme.

Buchanan is also currently under investigation by the Department of Justice over the same allegations. Our source tells us that the department is currently “gathering information to determine whether or not there is enough evidence to proceed with a grand jury trial.”

Florida state Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando (Photo: flsenate.gov/Minority Office)

A school prayer bill introduced in Florida by state Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, has caught the attention of national groups such as the Anti-Defamation League and the Freedom From Religion Foundation. The groups are calling foul and warn that the bill is “patently unconstitutional.” Siplin, however, maintains that his bill is constitutional in a new interview with The Florida Independent.

Senate Bill 98 would “authorize district school boards to adopt resolutions that allow prayers of invocation or benediction at secondary school events.”

Early last month, an education committee added an amendment that would remove a line that read: “All prayers of invocation or benediction will be nonsectarian and nonproselytizing in nature.”

The Anti-Defamation League, a group dedicated to fighting anti-Semitism, says the amended bill is more problematic than the original version. The group said in a press release that the bill “divisive and unnecessary legislation … [that] will result in state sponsored religious endorsement or coercion.”

“[The bill] blatantly authorizes sectarian and proselytizing prayers – such as prayers to Allah, Adanoi, Buddha, or Jesus at all kinds of public secondary school events,” said David Barkey, the League’s religious freedom counsel, in a statement. “We are even more concerned that the bill will be used to impose majority religious beliefs on minority faiths in Florida’s public schools.”

The group also warns that, due to the bill’s “patent unconstitutionality, it will result in costly litigation expenses to the state, local school districts and the Florida taxpayer.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation echoed those sentiments and called the bill “patently unconstitutional.” The group said in letter addressed to Siplin, and others, that the bill goes against years of legal precedent.

Much like Anti-Defamation League, the group warned of costly litigation if the measure passes. In its letter, the group wrote: “This recklessness reaches astounding heights when the immediate future is considered.”

“Should the bill pass, school districts will use its provisions to authorize prayer,” the letter said. “Lawsuits will inevitably follow and the schools will lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees.”

Siplin, however, says the uproar merely involves “certain entities that don’t want our kids to pray.”

“I thought we had a strong bill,” he says, “and I still do.”

When asked if he is rethinking the direction of the bill, Siplin says he remains unfazed. ”I don’t think so,” he says. “It’s up to the students.”

Siplin says he is not worried that the bill is unconstitutional, either. ”We think we have very good legal grounds,” he says. “It is constitutional.”

American Airlines logo (Photo: planebuzz.com)

AMR Corporation — the parent company of American Airlines, which provides a large number of South Florida jobs — filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 today.

According to The Miami Herald:

Unable to cut costs enough to fend off creditors, American and its parent company, AMR Corp., filed for Chapter 11 protection Tuesday morning while it tries to lower its debt and reorganize its business. American is one of the five largest private employers in Miami-Dade County, with about 9,000 workers.

The Herald adds that American Airlines

is responsible for about 70 percent of the traffic at Miami International Airport, which is one of American’s five hubs across the country. That status meant something of a windfall for Miami during the recession, with American adding flights out of MIA amid cutbacks by competitors across the country. American funnels most of its Latin American connections through MIA.

Sydney Jimenez, president of Transport Union Workers of America (TWU) Local 568, tells The Florida Independent that what is going to happen with the Chapter 11 filing remains unknown, but “if you go with what has happened at other airlines, it is going to be a painful transition for every employee group.”

“It is too soon to tell, but if you go by what other airlines have done,”  Jimenez says, “and you see the contract they have you would assume that pensions and certain things in our contract as far as productivity will come into play in order for the bankruptcy process to take place and put them in a competitive stance matching up against the other airlines that have gone to bankruptcy.”

George Rojas, president of TWU Local 561, tells the Independent his union represents approximately 800 American Airlines workers, responsible for aircraft maintenance, vehicle maintenance and storage personnel, 95 percent of whom work at Miami International Airport.

“We have to see what’s gone on with other companies; we expect similar changes,” Rojas says, adding, “Of course if they decide to close or minimize their operations elsewhere that could impact our members adversely.”

“We view this as very unfortunate,” Rojas says. “We’ve been working with the company to secure a contract but it is very unfortunate that things turned out this way.”

The Dallas Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that ”American’s workers gave up $1.6 billion a year in contract concessions to help the airline stave off bankruptcy in 2003,” adding that “for pilots and flight attendants most notably, there are factions within the unions that adamantly oppose any contract provisions this year that would appear concessionary. Still, union leaders know they cannot escape economic reality.”

Allied Pilots Association president David Bates said in a statement issued Tuesday:

I spoke with newly appointed AMR Chief Executive Officer Tom Horton and Vice President-Flight Captain John Hale a short time ago and received assurances that American Airlines will be operating a normal schedule. The announcement of a bankruptcy filing should not cause any interruptions to your flight schedules or problems on your layovers.

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney announced the members of his Social Conservatives Statewide Steering Committee today; the list includes prominent anti-gay rights and anti-abortion rights activists in Florida’s Christian right circles.

According to a press release from the campaign:

… Each member has been an active voice in state politics and an advocate for conservative causes and issue campaigns. The Romney campaign will utilize this coalition to perform voter outreach and coalition building for Get Out the Vote efforts.

“Mitt Romney is pro-life and is a true conservative on issues of family and faith,” said State Co-Chair Pat Neal, former State Senator and former Chair of the Board of the Christian Coalition of Florida. “The members of this committee are tired of the liberal policies of the Obama Administration and are confident that Governor Romney will stand up for the values that have made our country strong and will appoint judges that respect the Constitution and the rule of law.”

“I am honored by the support of these important Florida leaders,” said Mitt Romney. “Like them, I believe that America is great because of the faith of our founders and the strength of our families, and we must do everything that we can to preserve both.” …

Former Florida congressman Dave Weldon was named chairman of the committee. Weldon was the founder of his own Christian Coalition-like group called the Space Coast Family Forum. Weldon is known for his “ideological zeal” on issues such as abortion rights.

The state co-chairs of the committee include state Sen. Anitere Flores, Pat Neal, Nancy McGowan and state Rep. Daniel Davis.

Flores has positioned herself as one of the state Legislature’s most active anti-abortion policy-makers. Last session, she successfully introduced a ballot measure (set to appear in the 2012 ballot) that would roll back a woman’s right to privacy in the Florida constitution.

More recently, Flores introduced an “omnibus anti-choice bill” that would make it harder for women in the state to receive legal abortions, as well as make it harder for providers to operate a clinic that would provide them.

Neal is the former chairman of the Christian Coalition of Florida and the Florida Faith and Freedom Coalition — two prominent Christian right advocacy groups in the state. Neal offered a prayer before an August Sarasota rally for Romney opponent Michele Bachmann.

McGowan, a conservative activist, has been twice commissioned for Respect Life, the Catholic Church’s anti-abortion campaign. She also served as a state co-chair of the Social Conservatives for Pam Bondi for Attorney General.

The Miami Herald reports that McGowan was also “appointed by Attorney General Bill McCollum to serve on the Florida Commission on the Status of Women.” The commission recently released its “2011 Summary of Florida Laws Affecting Women and Families” without any mention of the five abortion bills that were signed into law this year in Florida. Spokespeople for the commission explained that the bills were “inadvertently left out of the published report.”

The Herald reports that Davis is a “Values Voter leader in Northeast Florida and Deacon in the Trinity Baptist Church of Jacksonville.”

Romney’s 17-member steering committee includes Christian pastors, Christian Coalition members, several advocates who successfully championed Florida’s 2008 anti-gay marriage amendment and a former vice president for Florida Right to Life, to name a few.