#Medical Billing in North Carolina

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

For the second year in a row, North Carolina's state Senate is poised to pass legislation that would legalize medical marijuana.

• Backed by one of the most senior and powerful members of the chamber, the bill is expected to clear that first major hurdle with relative ease within the next week.

Driving The News: Once that happens, all eyes — and pressure — will be on the House, where the legislation stalled in last year's short session.

• The bill, dubbed the Compassionate Care Act, may have better odds this year.

• A growing number of House Republicans are throwing their weight behind the legislation, some political observers say, in part because of the bill's key sponsor's willingness to share his own experience with debilitating illnesses.

Why It Matters: If the legislation makes it across the finish line, the state would be the 38th to legalize medicinal cannabis, making it accessible to North Carolinians suffering from a narrow list of ailments, including cancer, epilepsy and PTSD.

Details: The proposal includes restrictions on medical marijuana that would be among the tightest in the country, bill sponsors say.

• "In addition to providing support to those who are suffering from debilitating conditions, we also want to protect the general public and that's why you see the processes in place," said one bill sponsor, Republican state Sen. Michael Lee.

Between the Lines: Among the factors driving House Republicans' shift is the bill sponsor himself: Senate Rules chairman Sen. Bill Rabon of Brunswick County, who's been crafting the legislation for the better part of the last decade.

• Rabon first introduced the legislation last year and has since championed it by sharing that cannabis could have helped him through a nearly deadly battle with cancer decades ago.

"Bill Rabon is the heavyweight — there are a number of lobbyists — but honestly my respect for Rabon probably carries the most weight with me," one top House Republican, Rep. Jason Saine, told Axios.

Another factor in the growing support in the House for the legislation, Saine said, is time.

[cannabisbusinessexecutive]

NC Senate passes medical marijuana; legislation faces uncertain future as it heads to the House

On a 36-10 vote, the North Carolina Senate passed sweeping legislation Monday evening that would allow for the use of medical marijuana while strictly regulating hemp-derived consumables. Senator Tom McInnis (R- Cumberland, Moore ) said he had no doubt that the bill sponsor was well-intended in bringing forward House Bill 563, but he could not support a bill that his local sheriff adamantly…

[hazelbutterflies]

the North Carolina government is trying to ban people from wearing mask even if you have a medical reason. if you live in NC please message your local legislators the bill is going back to the house because there were amendments by the senate. You can follow this prompt and there’s other resources at the link. and yes Covid is still killing and disabling people.

please if you live in NC message your reps!

[batboyblog]

House Election 2024

In the House Republican have a majority of just 4 seats, flip 4 seats and Democrats get a majority and can pass things like national abortion rights, voting rights, bills on student loan debt and medical debt and much more. So here's a list of the key races for control of the House, so look up your district and find a way to get involved.

Find your House District

Alabama

Shomari Figures (AL-02) Flip

Alaska

Mary Peltola (AK-AL) Hold

Arizona

Amish Shah (AZ-01) Flip

Kirsten Engel (AZ-06) Flip

California

Jessica Morse (CA-03) Flip

Josh Harder (CA-09) Hold

Adam Gray (CA-13) Flip

Rudy Salas (CA-22) Flip

George Whitesides (CA-27) Flip

Joe Kerr (CA-40) Flip

Will Rollins (CA-41) Flip

Derek Tran (CA-45) Flip

Dave Min (CA-47) Hold

Mike Levin (CA-49) Hold

Colorado

Adam Frisch (CO-03) Flip

Yadira Caraveo (CO-08) Hold

Connecticut

Jahana Hayes (CT-05) Hold

Florida

Darren Soto (FL-09) Hold

Whitney Fox (FL-13) Flip

Jared Moskowitz (FL-23) Hold

Illinois

Nikki Budzinski (IL-13) Hold

Eric Sorensen (IL-17) Hold

Indiana

Frank Mrvan (IN-01) Hold

Iowa

Christina Bohannan (IA-01) Flip

Lanon Baccam (IA-03) Flip

Kansas

Sharice Davids (KS-03) Hold

Maine

Jared Golden (ME-02) Hold

Maryland

April McClain-Delaney (MD-06) Hold

Michigan

Hillary Scholten (MI-03) Hold

Curtis Hertel (MI-07) Hold

Kristen McDonald Rivet (MI-08) Hold

Carl Marlinga (MI-10) Flip

Minnesota

Angie Craig (MN-02) Hold

Montana

Monica Tranel (MT-01) Flip

Nebraska

Tony Vargas (NE-02) Flip

Nevada

Dina Titus (NV-01) Hold

Susie Lee (NV-03) Hold

Steven Horsford (NV-04) Hold

New Hampshire

Chris Pappas (NH-01) Hold

New Jersey

Sue Altman (NJ-07) Flip

New Mexico

Gabe Vasquez (NM-02) Hold

New York

John Avlon (NY-01) Flip

Tom Suozzi (NY-03) Hold

Laura Gillen (NY-04) Flip

Mondaire Jones (NY-17) Flip

Pat Ryan (NY-18) Hold

Josh Riley (NY-19) Flip

John Mannion (NY-22) Flip

North Carolina

Don Davis (NC-01) Hold

Ohio

Greg Landsman (OH-01) Hold

Marcy Kaptur (OH-09) Hold

Emilia Sykes (OH-13) Hold

Oregon

Val Hoyle (OR-04) Hold

Janelle Bynum (OR-05) Flip

Andrea Salinas (OR-06) Hold

Pennsylvania

Ashley Ehasz (PA-01) Flip

Susan Wild (PA-07) Hold

Matt Cartwright (PA-08) Hold

Janelle Stelson (PA-10) Flip

Chris Deluzio (PA-17) Hold

Texas

Michelle Vallejo (TX-15) Flip

Henry Cuellar (TX-28) Hold

Vicente Gonzalez (TX-34) Hold

Virginia

Missy Cotter Smasal (VA-02) Flip

Eugene Vindman (VA-07) Hold

Washington

Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03) Hold

Kim Schrier (WA-08) Hold

Wisconsin

Peter Barca (WI-01) Flip

Rebecca Cooke (WI-03) Flip

If you live in any of these congressional districts (or close to them) you absolutely must sign up to volunteer and help! you! yes you! get to decide what America looks like in 2025, is it gonna be Project 2025 and Trump? or Kamala Harris, Tim Walz and the Democrats protecting your right to control your own body, taking action on the climate and making life more affordable? its up to each of us to do all we can to get to the country we want.

[dandelionsresilience]

Dandelion News - September 15-21

Like these weekly compilations? Tip me at $kaybarr1735 or check out my new(ly repurposed) Patreon!

1. A beam of hope for North America’s most endangered sparrow

“Dozens of conservationists, gathered some distance away to avoid spooking the skittish sparrows, celebrated the [release of the 1000th captive-raised sparrow] in an unprecedented recovery program that in only a few years has doubled the bird’s wild population, from a mere 80 five years ago to some 200 today. […] “What we have achieved is the best case scenario.””

2. U.S. overdose deaths plummet, saving thousands of lives

“"In the states that have the most rapid data collection systems, we’re seeing declines of twenty percent, thirty percent," said Dr. Nabarun Dasgupta, an expert on street drugs at the University of North Carolina. […] According to Donaldson, many people using fentanyl now carry naloxone, a medication that reverses most opioid overdoses. He said his friends also use street drugs with others nearby, ready to offer aid and support when overdoses occur.”

3. Propagated corals reveal increased resistance to bleaching across the Caribbean during the fatal heat wave of 2023

“”[… Y]oung corals bred for restoration are a lot more resistant to bleaching under extreme levels of heat stress than the prevailing corals on the reef." [… Unlike with the previous propagation strategy, fragmentation, e]very time a population reproduces, new offspring receive newly mixed sets of genes through recombination, making them different from their parent colonies and thus enabling adaptation.”

4. Habitat Management Helps At-Risk Butterflies

“For a number of at-risk butterflies in the United States, habitat management can play an important role in keeping them from going extinct. [… “In] places where people are actively engaged with ways to manage the habitat, the butterflies are doing the best,” said Cheryl Schultz, a professor of conservation biology at Washington State University[….]”

5. Study: Protecting the ocean helps fight malnutrition

“[The study] found that fish catches in coral reefs could increase by up to 20 percent by expanding sustainable-use marine protected areas — that is, areas where some fishing is allowed with restrictions[, … and] that sustainable-use marine protected areas have on average 15 percent more fish biomass than non-protected areas. […] “Allowing regulated fishing in marine protected areas can support healthy fish populations, while also having a positive impact on the quality of life of surrounding communities.””

6. [FWS] Advances Effort to Create Urban Conservation Footprint in Tucson

““We want to continue to work together to create an urban footprint to improve access to nature, conserve habitats, and improve air and water quality.” […] The area provides habitat for several federally listed species, including southwestern willow flycatcher, western yellow-billed cuckoo, and Mexican garter snake. If protected, the area will also help connect critical habitat for jaguar and Chiracahua leopard frog.”

7. ‘Exciting’ solar breakthrough means energy can be kept in sustainable batteries that don’t overheat

“The technology is based on a specially designed molecule of carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen that changes shape when it comes into contact with sunlight. These are common elements - providing an alternative to other technologies relying on scarce materials like lithium. […] A unique feature of the system is that the molecules also provide cooling in the photovoltaic cell[, which can store solar energy “for up to 18 years.”]”

8. Sea turtles make big comeback on sandy beaches at 2 British military bases in Cyprus

“[… The] number of nests surpass[ed] last year’s record count by nearly 25%, environmentalists said Tuesday. […] “The steep increase in turtle nests has been the result of a consistent, systematic ‘hands-off’ approach, together with enforcement efforts to minimize illegal, damaging activities on nesting beaches[….” D]aily patrols by volunteers ensure that aluminum cages set atop the nests remain in place to protect the turtles from predators like foxes and dogs.”

9. First ever photograph of rare bird species New Britain Goshawk

“The last documented scientific record of the bird is from 1969[….] Working closely with [“the Indigenous Mengen and Mamusi peoples”], WWF hopes to support local stewardship to safeguard the future of these incredible biodiversity hotspots through community-led conservation.”

10. Hospitals begin offering breakthrough radiation therapy for metastatic cancer tumors

“[First,] a patient is injected with a radioactive glucose (or sugar) tracer. The machine picks up the tracer in real time and in bright colors, [… then] reads a signal from the cancer cells breaking down the tracer. [… “The] machine is automatically and autonomously reacting and responding to those signals by shooting radiation back to their source[….]””

September 8-14 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)

[covid-safer-hotties]

Key points you should know:

=Mainstream media coverage of mask bans has given space for politicians’ false claims that masks are associated with wrong-doing, like crime and antisemitism, while overlooking that bans are, in many ways, an effort to suppress the reality of COVID-19. =There are 21 states and numerous municipalities with laws against masks or disguises on the books. People who wear masks would benefit from knowing exactly how they are worded and any legal precedents, as police are often under-informed. =Both Republicans and Democrats are pushing more severe mask bans than ever before in history. Democrats are more likely to give lip service to health needs without offering meaningful protections. Masks can and will be criminalized by police regardless of the language of the law, as arrest trends follow social trends. Police are also permitted by the Supreme Court to make mistakes in enforcing laws.

On August 5, Nyss Fayrchyld traveled from New York City to Nassau County in Long Island with other organizers to testify against a local bill to ban masks. The next few hours were “traumatic” and “volatile,” they recalled, with supporters of the bill “yelling obscenities” at immunocompromised people who testified in masks, calling them ”pro-Hamas thugs and terrorists.”

Police also directed enforcement at people in masks. One masked attendee was arrested on several charges, including second-degree assault, a felony, facing up to nine years in prison. Fayrchyld insists that the person was de-escalating conflict, which seems corroborated by video evidence. Supporters of the ban were also given more time to speak.

Nassau County’s bill passed with a vote of twelve Republicans in favor and seven Democrats abstaining. The law includes a vague medical exemption but also gives police expansive powers to stop, unmask, and arrest people.

Fayrchyld witnessed the type of state-sanctioned hostility that has become increasingly common for people who wish to stay safe during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Nassau County is just the latest jurisdiction to pass a mask ban, after North Carolina and Washington, D.C. early this year.

New anti-mask bills were also recently introduced in Chicago, the New York State legislature, and the federal House of Representatives, which proposes a sentence of up to 15 years. Leaders in New York City and Los Angeles have discussed possible future bans, and other states are enforcing pre-existing anti-mask laws on the books. The University of Virginia has banned masks on campus, unless the person can show documentation of medical need.

While mainstream media stories about mask bans often mention that immunocompromised people might be harmed, these stories also give unskeptical space to politicians’ claims that increased mask-wearing has contributed to all kinds of wrong-doing, from crime to antisemitism. In reality, mask-wearing is increasingly rare compared to early in the pandemic. There are countries with far less violence than the U.S. where wearing a mask is normalized. One analysis found no correlation between mask bans and crime rates. Many pro-Palestine protestors are masking explicitly to prevent spreading COVID-19.

Most media coverage fails to connect the new wave of mask bans to the ongoing political efforts to minimize COVID-19. Overblown concerns about facial recognition and protestors are only possible with a concurrent effort to downplay the threat of COVID-19 and erase signs of it from public life — now a priority for most mainstream politicians.

While the conversation around mask bans has focused on new laws and bills, 21 states and many municipalities have laws banning masks and/or disguises in different settings, which is more than other organizations have reported. Even where these bans have apparent limitations or exemptions, the finer language of the laws leaves all COVID-conscious people vulnerable. And the historic practices of police endanger people even in states with no legal bans.

“We have come so far downhill when it comes to protecting one another that [supporting mask-wearing] is a controversial opinion to have these days,” said disability activist and author Imani Barbarin. The political climate, she said, “creates this perfect storm where it’s going to further criminalize Black and Brown people who need masks to survive.”

The politics and propaganda of mask bans Historically, mask bans tend to come in waves. This current wave has been led by Republicans, with Democrats following closely behind. While Democrats tend to pay slightly more lip service to health needs, their actions undermine their promises.

The Republican effort to ban masks started before the COVID-19 pandemic, with a series of bills aimed at antifascist protestors. In 2011, Occupy Wall Street protestors were arrested for wearing masks. Republican leaders reignited their efforts in early 2023, introducing bills that sought to end the COVID-19 era of masking altogether.

Republicans insist mask bans have been around for a long time. But their recent efforts go further in criminalizing masking than ever before. North Carolina’s new law requires members of the public to “remove the mask upon request by a law enforcement officer,” for any reason, for as long as police want. Previously, the state’s law limited this demand to traffic stops and when police believed someone was committing a crime.

The new provision “smacks of blatant authoritarianism,” said Corye Dunn, Director of Public Policy for Disability Rights North Carolina. North Carolina’s mask ban also adds a new provision requiring a person wearing a mask to “temporarily” remove it at the request of an “owner or occupant” of a “public or private property.”

“Occupant doesn’t mean anything” in state law, Dunn said. She’s concerned that this “dangerous” provision will “embolden bullies and set up people with disabilities to face hostility” from fellow citizens demanding mask removal.

Elaine Nell, who co-founded the group Advocates for Medically Fragile Kids NC, is “angry, sad, and scared” about how the law might be enforced when it takes effect in October, especially in public spaces: “You get jury duty [and you] may not be able to wear a mask.” Nell is also concerned about her medically vulnerable children, who already lead restricted lives. “This may just take away even more,” she said.

Meanwhile, the conservative Manhattan Institute for Policy Research recently proposed a mask ban template focused on protests that don’t include any health exemption. While the Institute doesn’t pretend that COVID-19 is over, the template outlines a grim scenario: “Someone who wears a mask for health reasons probably should not be congregating in large groups of people.”

This statement suggests that immunocompromised people shouldn’t have the right to protest, work, or exist in crowded spaces, harkening back to the “ugly laws” that once forbade disabled people from being in public.

Democrats in the New York legislature proposed a mask ban bill similar to the Manhattan Institute’s template, with a medical exemption that only applies during a “declared public health emergency.” On paper, the federal government ended the COVID-19 emergency in 2023.

Across the country, Democrats are proposing mask bans based on flimsy and inconsistent logic, often citing incidents in which the main aggressors weren’t even masked. New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a former police officer, might be the one Democratic leader willing to make the subtext clear. He has expressed the desire to “go back to the way it was pre-COVID” by banning masks on subways, in stores, and in “other areas where it is not health-related” — as if there are any locations where health is not an issue.

Adams articulated out loud the Biden administration’s consistent priority: to erase the signs of COVID-19, or, as the podcast Death Panel calls it, the “sociological production of the end of the pandemic.” This started in the spring of 2021 when the CDC proposed that vaccinated people no longer need masks. The administration has also steadily chipped away at COVID-19 data collection efforts.

Mask bans are the latest step towards that goal, further disincentivizing the public from wearing them for protection. Biden administration leaders have explicitly associated mask-wearing with unnecessary, humiliating, and “fringe” behavior. And Biden recently insisted that he “ended the pandemic,” just before he reportedly caught COVID-19. His administration has been able to erase almost all signs of COVID-19 besides the viral illness itself.

How police criminalize masking On August 22, Disability Rights New York filed a lawsuit challenging the Nassau County mask ban by invoking the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). But mask ban enforcement won’t rely on the determination of the courts alone. Political propaganda against masking is likely to influence how police criminalize masking, as arrest trends follow social trends more than laws.

Before COVID-19, mask bans were among the obscure laws rarely enforced by themselves, though police have long used face coverings, particularly ski masks, as a pretext to stop and search people. Elijah McClain was stopped by police in 2019 in large part for wearing a ski mask, or “looking suspicious,” and was killed while in custody. Yet Colorado has never had any kind of mask ban, giving police no justification for the stop.

Supreme Court decision Helen v. North Carolina (2014) allows police to be “reasonably mistaken” in their understanding of the laws they are hired to enforce. Police commonly arrest people for legal knives and other weapons due to poor training and bias. People may lose days, weeks, or months of income while in jail — and exposure to a deadly and disabling virus — before prosecutors or judges catch up to police mistakes.

It doesn’t help that anti-mask laws have always been ambiguously written, contributing to “reasonable” misunderstandings and decades of legal testing in the courts. New York’s proposed law would ban masking during “lawful or unlawful assembly or riot.” But “New York, unhelpfully, does not define a local assembly in law,” said Allie Bohm, Senior Policy Counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union of New York.

Bohm is concerned that D.C.’s new law — which outlaws masking while committing a crime or “threats to do bodily harm” — is “just giving police freedom to stop anyone in a mask,” even without justification. Similar laws exist in Arizona, California, Michigan, and many other states.

Bohm’s fears were confirmed by the D.C. law’s sponsor, Councilmember Brooke Pinto, who said the law was intended to give officers “a basis for a stop, for articulable suspicion.” D.C. police officers were sent a memo summarizing the new law without additional formal training, according to emails from the Metropolitan Police Department.

Bohm identified a fundamental legal problem with most mask bans: “We will always be in the position of law enforcement deciding whether the person in front of them is masking for a ‘legitimate’ reason.” Most anti-mask laws assume that police can properly judge “intent” and behavior despite studies showing that such judgment is colored by racial and other biases.

Dunn recalled one North Carolina legislator saying in a hearing, “Nobody is looking to go after ‘meemaw’ at the Walmart,” referring to an older woman. The statement explicitly identified the kinds of “selective enforcement” likely to happen around masking, Dunn said. She has coached the family of one North Carolina Black teenager, whose immune system is suppressed from leukemia treatments, on how to balance his health needs with staying safe during a police interaction — what she calls a “horrifying choice.”

What should people who wear masks do now? (Nadica suggests reading up on illegalism. sorry for interrupting.) Unfortunately, marginalized people might not be able to rely on all of the organizations that have historically fought for their rights. Both the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in New York and the National Urban League support New York’s proposed anti-mask law.

People who wear masks should consider learning the finer details of the laws and precedents in their states and cities, given that police may not be well informed. Does your state require “intent to disguise” your identity for masking to be illegal, as in D.C.? Then you can cite the law and try to assure police that your intention is health-related.

Bohm advises people who wear masks in New York, if confronted by police, to state that they are worried about COVID-19 and ask if they can leave, as there is no current mask ban in effect. Dunn recommends North Carolinians invoke their desire to “prevent the spread of contagious disease,” citing the language of the new law’s very narrow medical exemption. Disclosing a medical condition might seem like a good strategy, but it’s worth keeping in mind police bias: half of people killed by police are disabled.

More broadly, activists need to build solidarity among all of the groups affected by mask bans, including disabled people, pro-Palestine protesters, religious minorities, people of color, and LGBTQ+ people. Some of the laws that ban disguises have been used against trans people.

Barbarin even thinks it would be smart to “hop on personal liberty” as a way to associate masking with American freedom, which she acknowledges is not “in vogue” on the left. The Klan has long been a plaintiff in lawsuits to end mask bans, and Proud Boys, a right-wing extremist group, often cover their faces.

In order to further broaden support against mask bans, the public needs to understand that COVID-19 is still a serious risk. Beyond that, the media needs to communicate that stopping legal bans — or adding medical exemptions — won’t be enough to protect people from police. It will take changing the political discourse around masking altogether.

[spoonienation]

The Far-Right – And Some Democrats – Are Criminalizing Masks.

We Must Act Now to Keep Each Other Safe.

Politicians across the US are pushing for mask bans. We all have a responsibility to fight this attack on our rights, our bodily autonomy, our privacy and our health. If you stopped masking, now is a good time to reengage with this practice in public spaces, and particularly in political gatherings. If you are organizing an event, please require and distribute high quality masks as visible expression of solidarity.

Please Forward this message widely to your community groups.

What’s Happening: Politicians are pushing mask bans

New York Governor Kathy Horchul just announced in a CNN interview that she is considering a ban on masking in New York State, following New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s suggestion that protesters should no longer be allowed to protect themselves and others by masking. Hochul’s remark alluded to masked pro-Palestine protesters – marking a new direct connection between anti-public health repression and repression of Palestine solidarity work. This comes just as North Carolina is nearly finished supercharging its law against masking, setting a precedent that is likely to have far-reaching implications for people trying to take care of their health across the United States.

The state of North Carolina has had a law on the books for years that criminalizes mask wearing. In 2020, they correctly amended their rule to include an exemption for “any person wearing a mask for the purpose of ensuring the physical health or safety of others.” However, this exemption is currently being undone. In mid-May, North Carolina’s Senate tried to pass a bill to remove this exemption. In the face of significant public opposition, North Carolina’s House of Representatives rejected the Senate’s version. On June 12, a “compromise” bill that included language ”to ensure that individuals who have legitimate health concerns can wear a surgical or medical-grade mask in public” was passed by both legislatures.

This “compromise” is a bad bill.The changes it introduces do not go far enough to protect individuals’ interest in masking for their health. Other changes actually make this version worse than the previous Senate version of the bill.

The earlier bill entirely removed exemption #6, which protected “any person wearing a mask for the purpose of ensuring the physical health or safety of the wearer or others.” As a “compromise,” the current bill includes exemption #6 but has removed the phrase “for the purpose of ensuring the physical health or safety of the wearer or others.” In its place, the exemption will be for “preventing the spread of contagious disease.” As noted by North Carolina’s legislative counsel, the earlier bill meant that “individuals would no longer be able to wear masks in public for health or safety reasons.” Yet, the new bill, by also removing the “physical health and safety” language, is effectively the same as the earlier bill: individuals will have a more limited ability to wear masks in public.

This is a negation of an important individual right. People have a right to self defense, including a right to protect their health. Such a right is significantly broader than an interest in “preventing the spread of contagious disease.” For example, breathing wildfire smoke is damaging to your health but has nothing to do with contagious disease.

Moreover, the new bill proposes to give every person in North Carolina the legal right to ask those around them to unmask—something we haven’t seen anywhere in the US to-date. Under the 2020 version of North Carolina’s anti-mask law, law enforcement officers could request that people remove their masks in certain situations, even if they were relying on the health and safety exemption. The new bill extends that power, allowing “the owner or occupant of public or private property where the wearer is present” to request that the wearer “temporarily remove” their mask. This rule threatens to amplify the practice of “mask shaming” by giving employers, colleagues, and “occupants of public property” a legal basis for demanding that people wearing medical masks show them their faces. In fact, before the law was even signed, a stage 4 cancer patient at a gas station was intentionally coughed on by another customer, who told her that wearing a mask in public was illegal.

Not only does this rule provide a dangerous ground for harassment, it makes public spaces unsafe for people trying to avoid COVID and other viruses, particularly medically vulnerable people. There is no safe amount of time to unmask, particularly as ventilation conditions and viral load can vary. People may be asked to unmask multiple times, further increasing risk.

As the North Carolina bill is one signature away from becoming law, mask restrictions are now being pushed elsewhere and across party lines, like New York state. Last month, the Ohio Attorney General advised public universities that student protestors who wear masks could be charged with felonies under an archaic anti-mask law. And of course, just this week, the Governor of New York told CNN she was looking into whether the state could reinstate its own 200-year-old anti-masking law, which it had repealed in 2020. Across the country, police have been harassing people wearing masks on campus using a variety of legal justifications.

These legislations and legislative attempts aim to set a new precedent for the right-wing agenda, as evidenced by their attention to ban mask mandates in healthcare in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 document co-signed/supported by hundreds of far-right and Trump-allied organizations. These same repressive forces have made inroads in dismantling reproductive and gender-affirming healthcare options. Their attention is now also focusing on those practicing community care and bodily autonomy by wearing masks.

How did we get here?

Although these fascistic mask ban policies have been kick-started by the far-right, many police officials and some elected Democrats, too, are joining team “Far Right” to sacrifice public health at the altar of increased surveillance. Democratic New York City mayor Eric Adams has been urging business owners to require customers to lower their protective medical masks upon entry as a crime-prevention technique, claiming that refusal to unmask “should cause … alarm” and now suggests he favors outright bans on masking in some situations as well. And Democratic Alderman Raymond Lopez of Chicago’s 15th Ward has now submitted a proposal with similar language to the North Caroline bill, to increase penalties on any protesters arrested while wearing a mask. His staff told us that there is no plan to exempt medical masks. Many other Democrats – through silence on this issue and through broader inaction on public health – have helped to institutionalize an anti-public health agenda, reinforce structural ableism, and further isolate anyone who wants to avoid a preventable, still deadly, and often disabling virus.

Not only a terrifying threat to all our health and safety as well as our rights to privacy, mask bans violate our Constitutional rights and the Americans with Disabilities Act. They are an egregious overstep on behalf of right wing forces to erase and to criminalize our efforts to care for ourselves and others. It’s no coincidence that these bans began in the US South, specifically targeting, intimidating, and harming Black, Brown, and Indigenous peoples.

Mask bans also serve short-term corporate interests, which center profits over the lives of workers and consumers. In-N-Out burger publicly banned its employees from wearing masks, seemingly because an inability to "service with a smile" due to mask-wearing meant revenue loss. Hospital chains dangerously removed mask mandates in part due to slowdown in elective procedures caused by COVID testing requirements and mask-wearing policies.

But there is a lot we can do

We all have a responsibility to fight this right-wing agenda, to protect everyone’s right to participate in public life without making ourselves and our community sick. If you have stopped masking, now is a good time to reengage with this practice in public spaces, and particularly in political gatherings. If you are organizing an event, please require and distribute high quality masks for all as visible expression of solidarity.

We must protect our right to health, bodily autonomy, privacy, and political expression.

Take Action:

Wear a mask. To prevent COVID and Long COVID, EVERYONE should be masking in public with good-filtering, close-fitting respirator masks. We are all at risk ourselves, and we all pose risks to other people. So, wear an N95 mask in public spaces. If you are organizing an event – particularly a political event – require and distribute high quality masks for all. If you have stopped masking in public, this is a great time to re-engage the practice. Our opposition to this fascism must be made visible. There is safety in numbers. We keep us safe.

If you live in North Carolina, call your state representatives and state senators and use NC Megaphone’s tool to email all the State House and Senate representatives at once. Tell them mask bans are dangerous and unconstitutional.

If you live outside North Carolina, call the Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill Chambers of Commerce. Tell them you will not be traveling to North Carolina so long as they continue to consider mask bans. You can use the NC Megaphone tool above to do the same.

If you live in Chicago, call and email Alderman Lopez who proposed the mask ban there, and your own alderman and tell them that you oppose it in its entirety.

If you live in or frequent New York State, call 518-474-8390 (press 1 to leave a message, 2 to speak with a person) and email Governor Hochul to express your opposition to mask bans. If you live in or visit New York City, call and email Mayor Adams to say the same and express why his comments on masking are harmful. Follow @covidadvocacyny for more details

In every state, call your own elected officials. Ask if they have heard of any plans to introduce mask bans in your state, and register your dissent. Tell them: “mask bans are a dangerous violation of our rights. We need mask requirements in healthcare, not mask bans which will make public space even more unsafe and inaccessible.”

Connect with your local mask blocs or other local groups supporting COVID prevention.

Forward this message to your community groups and discuss mask bans with your family, friends, and community. Email us at info@peoplescdc.org if you would like more materials.

[tieflingkisser]

Biden, CDC silent as North Carolina lawmakers vote to ban masks

Biden's White House has made everyday survival hell for disabled people. Now the last tool in the toolbox is being targeted with zero pushback.

This week, North Carolina Republicans are voting to ban wearing masks in public. The bill passed in the State House easily, was amended and passed in the State Senate, and will next return to the House for a vote on the amended bill. The Republicans also hold a supermajority that could overturn a veto, and killed a Democratic amendment to allow masking for health reasons. Hot on the heels of student encampments demanding that universities divest from weapons’ manufacturers responsible for mass murder in Gaza, Republicans jumped at the chance to criminalize two of their favorite punching bags, leftists and medically vulnerable people. Disabled people and allies have met the news with chagrin, as Republicans carry out the long-predicted next step in their war on medically vulnerable people appearing in public and remaining alive. Unfortunately, as Joe Biden jokes about refusing to put his mask on after a known COVID exposure, and left/labor pundits ignore the topic altogether, “allies” are few and far between. This combination of aggressive targeting and utter lack of solidarity is leaving those who rely on one-way masking to survive more at-risk than ever before.

[...]

Since it became clear (2021-22) that vaccines would not halt COVID transmission, that the virus would quickly mutate around vaccine protection, and that herd immunity would never be achieved, our government and media have worked assiduously to normalize constant reinfections and stigmatize those who object. People who suggest that it is the governments’ role to mitigate disease are painted as annoying and weak, a narrative that came directly from libertarian think tanks. Those who attempt to protect themselves in the face of harsh abandonment are painted as paranoid and mentally ill. What happened in North Carolina today is the unsurprising result of that years-long propaganda campaign. Masks are a critical tool to protect disabled people from COVID, but many people either bought into anti-mask propaganda, or do not think COVID is dangerous. For a leftist- someone who expresses belief in community care and solidarity- being unmasked doesn’t only convey the sentiment “I don’t think I can be disabled by COVID,” it also broadcasts the accusation, “I don’t believe you can be disabled by COVID.” Being unmasked while COVID spreads unmitigated is an insistence on ones’ inalienable right to expose others to COVID without their consent. Meanwhile, the latest CDC Household Pulse Survey found 17 million Americans currently living with Long COVID, and approximately 3 in 10 reporting having had Long COVID symptoms at one point. Viral persistence is currently a leading hypothesis for the development of post-COVID disease, and “persistence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA or particles in multiple tissues for prolonged periods in patients following SARS-CoV-2 infection, particularly in patients with long COVID, is now well documented.” Mounting research shows that every COVID infection significantly damages cognitive function. Research led by Dr. Akiko Iwasaki at Yale School of Medicine continues to find immune dysregulation following COVID, and studies point to a 40% increased risk of developing autoimmune conditions after COVID. And it’s long been established that COVID substantially increases your risk of heart attacks, strokes, and other cardiovascular complications.

[...]

But Democrats continue to stand behind their failed “vaccine-only” strategy (now, without vaccines!) because of the political impossibility of attempting to pivot. Plus, when you’ve had such blinding success mainstreaming far-right beliefs about illness building the immune system and public health being a personal choice, why change horses now?

[spnscripthunt-inactive]

In Their Own Words: What is the most difficult sacrifice you’ve made to pay down your medical debt?“

“Had to move into rental place from home and not able to buy a house. Cut in some household or good food for kids.” -35 year old woman with $5,000-$10,000 in medical debt, Texas

“Quality of life. We’ve never been able to ‘get ahead’ because we have a 35 year old disabled daughter. We’ve had medical debt for 35 years varying from 30k down to $500.” -60 year old woman with $2,500-$5,000 in medical debt, Tennessee

“Not paying bills on time, creating larger bills due to late fees. Depleted savings.” -38 year old man with $2,500-$5,000 in medical debt, North Carolina

“Cutting out any expenses/services I can. No job, fixed income and chemo. Even with insurance, no one can afford cancer.” -67 year old woman with more than $25,000 in medical debt, Nebraska

“Limiting birthday/Christmas gifts for children and grandchildren.” -83 year old woman with $1,000-$2,500 in medical debt, New Jersey

“Getting a second job. I’m exhausted and I don’t see a way out.” -44 year old woman with $1,000-$2,500 in medical debt, Ohio

“I can’t do anything; I literally stay at home. Never taken my kids on vacation. I’m a single mother and all my money supports the household. So, there are not a lot of extras in my house.” -55 year old woman, with $2,500-$5,000 in medical debt, Missouri

“Strain on relationship with [my] father due to asking for help to pay medical expenses; negative impact on mental health issues (e.g., significant increase in anxiety symptoms).” -35 year old woman with $10,000-$25,000 in medical debt, New York

“This was medical debt for my (now deceased) husband — my credit cards are maxed-out, savings is gone, I will need to relocate to afford rent and pay down bills.” -67 year old woman with $10,000-$25,000 in medical debt, Illinois

Source: Lopes L, Kearney A, Montero A, Hamel L, Brodie M. Health care debt in the U.S.: the broad consequences of medical and dental bills [Internet]. San Francisco (CA): Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation; 2022 Jun 16 [cited 2023 Oct 11]. Available from: https://www.kff.org/report-section/kff-health-care-debt-survey-main-findings/

—

So far we've raised $3,196.20 [2:11 PM Eastern; Sun Oct 15] for RIP Medical Debt toward our $5,000 goal.

With what we've raised so far RIP can wipe out over $300,000 in medical debt (nationwide).

Our goal is to wipe out $500,000 in medical debt (nationwide) and, as an incentive for donating $10+ we're doing an (optional) raffle of the last of our server (group) purchased scripts.

Key raffle scripts:

$1000 - signed Walker & Gotham Knights pilots

$2000 - Wayward Sisters (by Kim, Briana, Kathryn)

$3000 - The Winchesters (signed by so many)

$4000 - Stranger in a Strange Land (Jensen & Danneel)

$5000 - Lebanon (JDM, Sam Smith, J2, Misha)

Our fundraising page:

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Jessica Valenti at Abortion, Every Day:

Last night, Donald Trump attacked Vice President Kamala Harris on abortion rights for the first time since she became the presumptive presidential nominee, declaring her “a radical crazy person.” The good news is that Trump used language that’s not just predictable—but beatable. The only question is whether Harris’ campaign is willing to break with Democrats’ standard messaging to make that happen.  Trump’s regular refrain on abortion is to claim that Democrats support “late” and “post-birth” abortion, and his attack on Harris at a North Carolina rally was no different:

[“She is so radical, she wants abortions in the eighth and ninth month of pregnancy. That's fine with her. Right up until birth, and even after birth. The execution of a baby, because that's not abortion, that's the execution of a baby.”]

As dangerous as the lie is—after all, we know what this kind of rhetoric leads to—Harris has an opportunity to hit back at Trump in a new way. For too long, Democrats have relied on saying that Republican claims about abortion later in pregnancy are myths, if they’re not ignoring the attacks altogether. That timidity is a huge mistake.

If the vice president is willing to leave behind Biden-era defensiveness, she can destroy conservatives’ most powerful abortion talking point once and for all. After all, Americans support abortion rights because they oppose government interference in pregnancy, but also because they’re horrified by the cruelty of abortion bans. Harris should remind voters that when Trump talks about ‘executions,’ he is talking about real people who have been through real traumas. She needs to make him eat his words.  Most people don’t know, for example, that conservative claims about ‘post-birth’ abortions didn’t come out of nowhere. They originated from an interview with former Virginia governor Ralph Northam, who answered a question about a (highly insulting) hypothetical scenario in which a woman in labor wants an abortion. Northam replied that third trimester abortions are largely done in cases of severe fetal abnormalities or when a fetus is nonviable.

[...] Northam was referring to the very real decision some parents have to make about whether or not to decline extreme life-saving measures for fatally-ill newborns. When babies have lethal conditions or are born too early to survive, many parents would understandably prefer to spend those last precious moments with their children peacefully—without doctors performing medically invasive, painful, and ultimately futile procedures.  It’s not uncommon for NICU nurses to help parents set up in a private room, maybe with a chair and blanket, so they can say goodbye to their baby without wires, breathing tubes or beeping machines. In these final minutes, families want to give their children peace and dignity. That’s what Trump means by ‘post-birth’ abortions. Those are the parents he is calling executioners. Americans should know that. Parents who’ve had to make this impossible decision have already been speaking out against Republican ‘Born Alive’ bills, which would prevent families from having those last quiet moments with their babies. Their stories are out there, and deserve to be heard.

[...] If Democrats want abortion to help them win this November, they must go on offense. Those still worried about seeming ‘extreme’ should consider that Americans largely understand that pregnancy is too complicated to legislate, that Trump will call them radicals regardless of their messaging, and—most of all—remember that it wasn’t so long ago that abortion itself was seen as a third rail issue. Besides, nearly all of Republicans’ messages on abortion, from their focus on ‘exceptions’ to lying about the word ‘ban,’ are barely-disguised defensive crouches. Accusations of extremism and ‘executions’ are Republicans’ last proactive abortion message. With Harris as the nominee—someone who knows about abortion rights and understands the issue deeply—we have a chance to shut it down for good.

Jessica Valenti explains how Kamala Harris and the Democrats need to diffuse the lies from Donald Trump about post-fetal viability abortions in which he rails against “late-term” and “post-birth” abortions.

With Harris as the nominee, the Democratic Party has a perfect messenger on abortion more in line with the post-Roe reality.

[liminalweirdo]

the petition to halt the passage of North Carolina's Bill 237 which wants to Ban masks in public (siiiigh) is trying to reach 25,000 signatures.

You can sign even if you aren't in NC or the US.

More action items:

Here is a google doc with a script for opposing Lopez’s Proposed Ordinance Introduced to Chicago’s City Council on May 22, 2024, and includes information on how to find your alderman

If you are frequently in Chicago for medical appointments, visiting family or friends, etc., find out what ward you spend the most time in here and make note of the Alderman’s email and phone number. Otherwise, you can focus on Alderman Lopez at ward15@cityofchicago.org / 773-823-1539.

Here is a script:

“I visit Chicago frequently for _________________ and I am writing to express my strong opposition to Ald. Lopez’s proposed amendment to Title 8 of the Municipal Code of Chicago, “Enhanced penalties for concealing or attempting to conceal identity.”

If passed, this ordinance would prevent me from safely traveling to Chicago while wearing a mask, which is an essential safety device for me and all immunocompromised people. Furthermore, it would increase the number of people being sent to Illinois prisons, disproportionately affecting Black and brown Chicagoans; and it would undermine both public health and our constitutional right to protest.

Please oppose this ordinance so that I, and others like me, can continue traveling to Chicago. Thank you.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Mike Peters

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

September 23, 2024

Heather Cox Richardson

Sep 23, 2024

“There’s nothing sadder than an aging salesman trying to close one last deal,” MSNBC’s Ryan Teague Beckwith wrote on September 21. Beckwith went on to list seven of Trump’s most recent campaign promises, most delivered off the cuff at rallies, that are transparent attempts to close the deal with different groups of voters.

Trump is also threatening voters. On September 19, he told two Jewish audiences that he had not been “treated properly by voters who happen to be Jewish,” and that if he doesn't win the 2024 election, “the Jewish people would have a lot to do with a loss,” adding in that case, “Israel, in my opinion, will cease to exist within two years.” Opponents were quick to point out that these threats echo old antisemitic tropes scapegoating Jews. When Jake Tapper asked Arkansas senator Tom Cotton to comment on Trump’s statement on Sunday, Cotton’s answer brought small comfort: “Well, Jake, Donald Trump has been saying things like this for at least 11 months.”

Trump’s social media posts about women sounded both desperate and delusional. Trump has boasted of overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that recognized the constitutional right to abortion, but that loss is enormously unpopular. So he is caught between the reality that his white extremist evangelical base continues to support banning abortion while voters in a general election are just as adamant that they want abortion rights protected.

Trump insists that there was a driving popular demand for returning decisions about abortion to the states, but this is a lie; there was no such popular demand. And now a two-year lag in the commissions that study maternal death means that stories of women who died because the new laws deprived them of medical care are beginning to hit the news.

On Friday, news broke that maternal deaths in Texas skyrocketed after the state’s 2021 abortion ban, rising by 56% compared to an 11% increase across the rest of the nation. Just before midnight, Trump posted a rant that included his usual lie about after-birth executions:

“WOMEN ARE POORER THAN THEY WERE FOUR YEARS AGO, ARE LESS HEALTHY THAN THEY WERE FOUR YEARS AGO, ARE LESS SAFE ON THE STREETS THAN THEY WERE FOUR YEARS AGO, ARE MORE DEPRESSED AND UNHAPPY THAN THEY WERE FOUR YEARS AGO, AND ARE LESS OPTIMISTIC AND CONFIDENT IN THE FUTURE THAN THEY WERE FOUR YEARS AGO! I WILL FIX ALL OF THAT, AND FAST, AND AT LONG LAST THIS NATIONAL NIGHTMARE WILL BE OVER. WOMEN WILL BE HAPPY, HEALTHY, CONFIDENT AND FREE! YOU WILL NO LONGER BE THINKING ABOUT ABORTION, BECAUSE IT IS NOW WHERE IT ALWAYS HAD TO BE, WITH THE STATES, AND A VOTE OF THE PEOPLE - AND WITH POWERFUL EXCEPTIONS, LIKE THOSE THAT RONALD REAGAN INSISTED ON, FOR RAPE, INCEST, AND THE LIFE OF THE MOTHER - BUT NOT ALLOWING FOR DEMOCRAT DEMANDED LATE TERM ABORTION IN THE 7TH, 8TH, OR 9TH MONTH, OR EVEN EXECUTION OF A BABY AFTER BIRTH. I WILL PROTECT WOMEN AT A LEVEL NEVER SEEN BEFORE. THEY WILL FINALLY BE HEALTHY, HOPEFUL, SAFE, AND SECURE. THEIR LIVES WILL BE HAPPY, BEAUTIFUL, AND GREAT AGAIN!”

In North Carolina the core members of Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson’s campaign staff resigned yesterday along with all but three members of the campaign staff—two spokespeople and a bodyguard—after the CNN report about Robinson’s offensive writings on a pornography website, including his declaration that he considers himself a “black NAZI,” and that he would like to own slaves. And yet the North Carolina Republican Party is openly defending Robinson. Today the Republican Governors Association announced it was not going to buy any more ad time in North Carolina, a potential disaster for Trump as well as Robinson. 

Trump’s ability to command the Republicans appears to be waning. House Republican leadership has apparently accepted a deal to fund the government through December 20 without the addition of the voter suppression bill Trump wanted, and today Nebraska Republican state senator Mike McDonnell said he would not vote to change the way Nebraska allots its electoral votes so close to the election despite great pressure from Trump loyalists to do so.

Meanwhile, MyPillow executive Mike Lindell, a Trump loyalist, is using a neo-Nazi code to advertise his pillows for $14.88, a reference to the fourteen words “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children,” and, since “H” is the eighth letter of the alphabet, a reference to “Heil Hitler.” 

When the Trump campaign released a photo of the candidate with his grandchildren near him on a plane, Ron Filipkowski of MeidasTouch noted: “When he lets the grandkids near him on the plane for a photo op, that’s when you know he’s really panicking.” Today, Trump had an event stop at a grocery store in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, where he chatted with supporters. He handed a $100 bill to a customer and promised that “we’ll do that for you from the White House, all right?”

The election is not the only reason Trump might be worried. Shares of Trump media continue to fall, and his new crypto platform does not appear to be taking off. On Sunday he announced “the launch of our Official Trump Coins! The ONLY OFFICIAL coin designed by me—and proudly minted here in the U.S.A.,” but his other meme coins have lately aroused little interest in what seems to be an oversaturated market. Technology reporter Brian Krassenstein noted that the new coins cost $100, while the 1 ounce of silver in one costs $30. Veterans’ advocate Travis Akers pointed out on social media that less than 24 hours after Trump’s advertisement, the Jacksonville FBI office warned against collectible coin scams.

Trump’s wife, Melania Trump, is also looking for cash. On Wednesday, September 18, she released a video to advertise her forthcoming book. In the video, she said she stands “proudly behind my nude modeling work.” Since her nude photos were 100% not in the public conversation, her statement seemed designed to pump sales by suggesting there are nude photos of her in the book. 

Today, Pamela Brown, Jeremy Herb, and Shoshana Dubnow of CNN reported that Trump’s most recent financial form reveals that Melania was paid $237,000 to appear at a campaign event in April, although it is not clear who cut the check for that appearance. The reporters say that such six-figure payments for her campaign appearances are not unusual, although payment for a spouse’s campaign appearances at all is highly unusual.

On Saturday, Trump said he would not debate Vice President Harris again, saying it was “too late” for another debate, although he then suggested he would be interested in doing one if the Fox News Channel broadcast it. 

The Trump campaign is openly vowing to use federal forces against political opponents, but it is not clear the news is coming from Trump himself, so much as from those surrounding him. Vice presidential candidate Ohio senator J.D. Vance has doubled down on his insistence that a Trump administration will deport legal as well as undocumented immigrants. 

His stand has earned him a rebuke from the editorial board of the Dayton [Ohio] Daily News, which expressed alarm at Vance’s lies about immigration and his evident belief that the ends justify the means. “History, of course, offers no shortage of atrocities committed when the truth is viewed as an inconvenient obstacle in your way,” the board wrote. It called Vance “an embarrassment not only to himself, but to Ohio.” 

On Sunday, the “Trump Team” posted on social media that “As soon as I take office, we will immediately surge law enforcement to every city that is failing to turn over criminal aliens” and “bring down the full weight of the federal government on any jurisdiction that refuses to cooperate with ICE and Border Patrol.” 

This threat is in keeping with Michael Schmidt’s report in the New York Times yesterday outlining how Trump used the criminal justice system to retaliate against those he saw as his enemies. 

Bipartisan endorsements for Democratic candidates Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota governor Tim Walz continue to pile up. Today, three former chairs of the Maine Republican Party “enthusiastically” endorsed Harris.

After Teamsters president Sean O’Brien said the 1.3-million-member organization would not endorse either candidate in 2024, making the Teamsters the only one of the nation’s ten major unions not to endorse Harris, joint councils of the Teamsters have endorsed Harris and Walz on their own. These endorsements matter not only for votes, but also for get-out-the-vote efforts in crucial Midwestern states. Also crucial to Pennsylvania is today’s endorsement of Harris by members of the state’s Polish American community, who expressed concern that Trump would enable Russian president Vladimir Putin to invade Poland. There are 800,000 people of Polish descent in Pennsylvania.

On Sunday, a bipartisan group of 741 national security leaders—some of the biggest names in the field—endorsed Harris. “To the American People,” they wrote. “We are former public servants who swore an oath to the Constitution. Many of us risked our lives for it. We are retired generals, admirals, senior noncommissioned officers, ambassadors, and senior civilian national security leaders. We are Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. We are loyal to the ideals of our nation—like freedom, democracy, and the rule of law—not to any one individual or party.

“We do not agree on everything, but we all adhere to two fundamental principles. First, we believe America’s national security requires a serious and capable Commander-in-Chief. Second, we believe American democracy is invaluable. Each generation has a responsibility to defend it. That is why we, the undersigned, proudly endorse Kamala Harris to be the next President of the United States.

“This election is a choice between serious leadership and vengeful impulsiveness. It is a choice between democracy and authoritarianism. Vice President Harris defends America’s democratic ideals, while former President Donald Trump endangers them.

“We do not make such an assessment lightly. We are trained to make sober, rational decisions. That is how we know Vice President Harris would make an excellent Commander-in-Chief, while Mr. Trump has proven he is not up to the job.” 

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[follow-up-news]

Less than a week after NBC News detailed how the hospital system Atrium Health of North Carolina aggressively pursued former patients’ medical debts, placing liens on their homes to collect on hospital bills, the nonprofit company announced it would cancel those obligations and forgive the unpaid debts associated with them. Some 11,500 liens on people's homes in North Carolina and five other states will be released, Atrium’s parent company, Advocate Health, said with some dating back 20 years or more. Advocate Health said it is changing its policy now as “the next logical step” following a 2022 decision to stop filing lawsuits and property liens to collect on patients’ medical debts. The company declined NBC News’ request for an interview about the shift.

[hazelbutterflies]

House Bill 237 Rapid Response Info Sheet (5/24/2024) (link to this on Google docs)

(id: Simone Hetherington, a speaker during public comment, urges lawmakers not to pass the masking bill during the state Senate Rules Committee in the Legislative Building in Raleigh, N.C on May 15, 2024. She is wearing a gray sweater and standing in front of a brown podium and microphone, she has long brown hair and is wearing glasses and a white face mask with head straps.)

Update + Call to Action!

The House of Representatives did not concur with HB 237! Next, the bill will be going through the Conference Committee to be amended again. We still need to fight and let the members of the Conference Committee understand the implications of this bill. Please focus your calling and emailing to members of the Conference Committee, found in this document and the link here! We have scripts you can utilize to communicate with them!

Our goal is to contact legislators to 1) oppose HB 237 altogether and reject the criminalization of masking, 2) advocate for, at minimum, the inclusion of a health exemption!

So far, there are no Senate Conferees for this bill. We will update this sheet if they are added! We do not know when the Conference Committee plans on meeting but it is important to continue contacting them!

CALL + EMAIL THE FOLLOWING REPRESENTATIVE CONFEREES FOR HB 237 TO TELL THEM NO ON HB 237!

Scripts, talking points, and contacts can all be found below!

Step 1: Email NC Representative Conferees

Copy/Paste the email below and the contact list of the NC Representative Conferees. You can also use ncmegaphone.com to send these emails automatically!

Example Email/Letter

Hello Senator/Representative [Last name],

I am emailing today to express my opposition to the amendment to HB 237, also called the Unmasking Mobs and Criminals Bill, that was proposed on Tuesday, May 7th, 2024. I am a constituent of District [Number], living in [Town Name], North Carolina.

The proposed removal of the health and safety exemption ignores the ongoing pandemic, impinges on federal rights, and would have larger material consequences on the economy and our communities’ collective well-being.

As we speak, new COVID variants have emerged and are predicted to cause a wave of infections, disabilities, and death this summer. Thousands of people continue to be hospitalized, disabled, or killed by COVID-19 every day in this country and around the world. Health and safety professionals identify masking or the use of high-quality respirators as the best protection against airborne viruses and diseases. To remove the medical exemption in the midst of an ongoing risk to public health is irresponsible and endangering your constituents.

Earlier this year, Congress held its first hearing on Long COVID and the need for research and resources on this complex and often confusing illness. From the advocacy and testimony of doctors, frontline workers, and Long COVID patients themselves, there has been an international push to recognize Long COVID as a disability. Disabled Americans are protected under the American Disabilities Act to have access to accommodations necessary for thriving and survival. High-quality masks and respirators are medically necessary for those disabled by or at risk of being disabled by COVID-19 and other airborne viruses. To remove the health and safety exemption would be a violation of the federal rights of disabled and immunocompromised citizens.

The larger material consequences of this amendment to the bill on the state of North Carolina cannot be understated. Hospitals, schools, social services, and even restaurants and recreation spots are massively understaffed, underfunded, and overworked. This amendment to remove the health and safety exemption, essentially increasing the potential spread of sickness and disease, would put these already overextended aspects of our society and our economy into further disarray and strain.

I strongly urge you to consider these material consequences, but more importantly, your disabled and immunocompromised constituents by voting against any amendments to House Bill 237 that would further restrict masking as a necessary precaution.

NOTE: ADDITIONAL TALKING POINTS ARE LISTED AT THE END OF THIS DOCUMENT.

NC House Representative Conferee Emails

Erin.Pare@ncleg.gov

Sarah.Stevens@ncleg.gov

John.Torbett@ncleg.gov

Brian.Biggs@ncleg.gov

Step 2: Call the NC House Representative Conferees!

Rep. John Torbet (R), 704-263-9282

Rep. Brian Biggs (R), 919-733-5865

Rep. Sarah Stevens (R), 919-715-1883

Rep. Erin Paré (R), 919-733-2962

Phone Zap Script

Hello Senator/Representative [Last name],

I am a constituent of District [Number], living in [Town Name], North Carolina, and I am calling today to ask you to vote against the proposed amendment to House Bill 237 (the Unmasking Mobs and Criminals Bill). Removing the health and safety exemption for masking in public would harm my life and the lives of many other constituents. Thousands of people continue to be hospitalized, disabled, or killed by COVID-19 every day in this country and around the world. Removing masking as a protection would contribute to economic decline through overcrowding and understaffing of schools, hospitals, and businesses.

High-quality masks and respirators are medically necessary for those of us who are disabled and/or immunocompromised. This amendment would be a direct violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act which was created to protect and accommodate disabled citizens. People have the right to protect themselves from airborne contaminants. I strongly urge you to consider these material consequences, but more importantly, your disabled and immunocompromised constituents by voting against any amendments to House Bill 237 that would further restrict masking as a necessary precaution.

Additional Talking Points

Masking as ADA accommodations

Masking as a tool for survival; medically necessary like a wheelchair or other mobility and accessibility aids, glasses, hearing aid

When we criminalize masking we make it impossible for immunocompromised people to work, support the economy, be part of society

Collective Wellbeing & (What they Care About) The Economy

Collective impact on hospitals, school and work sick days. Will cause more people to miss work and school; cause delays in receiving crucial healthcare; deplete the labor force and damage the economy

Disconnecting from COVID, and focussing on masks as necessary for general health & wellness for many elderly and disabled people. (COVID is triggering potentially)

Ban as Impinging on Personal Freedom / Protections of 14th Amendment / Encouraging Profiling

It is not a functional or rational measure, it is like saying that because people wear shirts in one context then no one can wear shirts in any other setting; it impinges on our freedom

Mask wearing has been presented as a matter of personal choice and now we suddenly don’t have that choice, the choice is being made for us

People have different reasons for needing to cover their bodies (religious, physical, psychological) and they should have a right to do so. You cannot determine the reason that someone is covering their body just by looking at them; this ban could impinge on 14th amendment rights

This will disproportionately impact people who are already discrimination and biased treatment from law enforcement.

Lawful or unlawful behavior can’t be predicted by mask-wearing, nor can intent. Mask wearing is not inherently bad or harmful. It should remain a neutral choice

There is no legitimate link between medical mask wearing and the original intent of this law against racist hate groups; this is an outdated and a misguided use of previous legislation.

Ongoing Pandemic/Risks to Public Health and Safety

As we speak, new COVID variants have emerged and are predicted to cause a wave of infections, disabilities, and death this summer. To remove the medical exemption in the midst of an ongoing risk to public health is irresponsible and endangering your constituents.

Personal Connection

Having been disabled by COVID-19, I worry for others who could be disabled and also for what would happen if I were to get sick again; I could lose the ability to work and support myself or to participate in social life, be dependent on systems that can’t support me

Quick Facts

What is HB 237? What’s happening now?

HB 237, also known as the “Unmasking Mobs and Criminals Bill”, is a law that makes face coverings in public illegal. There are several exemptions, including an exemption for “health & safety reasons” that was passed in March 2023 to account for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, NC lawmakers are attempting to remove the health & safety exemption to retaliate against students holding Palestinian solidarity protests. The removal of this necessary exemption would further isolate disabled/immunocompromised people and create even more consequences for protesters who are arrested.

What is a phone or email zap?

Phone and email "zaps" are an easy and direct way of letting public officials and others know what you want them to do or to stop doing. It may involve voting on a particular bill, or actually implementing plans they have proposed but haven't acted upon. People in positions of power take such actions seriously. Politicians usually keep track of their pro and con calls on controversial issues. Phone and email zaps are particularly useful when you need to respond to something quickly. (ACT UP)

If you’d like to hear more about why this bill is bad please listen to this episode of death panel. Something the podcast highlights is that this is revenge on behalf of Republicans because Republicans hated that we cared about others and had mask mandates during 2020-2021. They also hate that we care about solidarity and we’re masking during protest against the genocide of Palestinians. It’s all connected.

[covid-safer-hotties]

They're Coming for Your Mask: A Survey on Discrimination

Published in late June, but ringing especially true given yesterday's successful mask ban in Nassau County, NY.

It's already happening.

When the state of North Carolina first proposed a mask ban this year, advocates from across the country warned lawmakers that it would embolden anti-maskers and lead to a surge in harassment and assault. Days after it passed, a woman with stage 4 cancer was assaulted by a man for wearing a mask. He told her wearing a mask was illegal. When she tried to explain her medical condition, he cussed her out and then started coughing on her.

He told her he hoped she died.

More recently, Nassau County in New York passed an even more draconian mask ban, threatening anyone with a $1,000 fine and up to one year in jail. Like the NC ban, this bill makes a blanket declaration, giving law enforcement broad discretion and putting the burden of proof on individuals. Under these types of bills, it's entirely possible for police officers or even ordinary citizens to abuse the laws, forcing people to unmask even if they're just trying to avoid infection.

At a Chicago airport, an infectious disease expert was denied service at a restaurant for trying to enter with a mask. When she asked why, the staff simply repeated, "It's the policy."

She was told to leave.

There's one point continually missed by mainstream coverage of these mask bans. Politicians keep saying nothing has changed, but they're lying. Under the new law in NC, for example, anyone who considers themselves an "occupant of public property" can demand someone remove their mask for identification. In the bill's exact words, anyone wearing a mask for health reasons "shall remove the mask upon request by a law enforcement officer or temporarily remove the mask upon request by the owner or occupant of public or private property where the wearer is present to allow for identification of the wearer."

This intentionally vague language allows virtually anyone to take it upon themselves to "request" someone "temporarily" remove their mask for identification. If they don't, they're breaking the law and they can be arrested, even charged with a felony. Maybe that sounds like a compromise to someone who doesn't understand viral transmission.

It's not a compromise at all.

Read the rest at the link!

[beabaseball]

North Carolina is considering a ban on masks in public, including for medical reasons.

Petition to yell at them: