6 States Are Now Rejecting Federal Money Because of Trump's Abortion 'Gag Rule'

The Trump administration’s attempt to carve abortion-related services out of the only federal program dedicated to funding family planning has driven entire states to leave it.

At least six states no longer have access to the money provided by Title X program, which once funded some 4,000 U.S. clinics offering services like STI testing, cancer screenings, and birth control. Rather than comply with the administration’s decree that these providers no longer refer patients for abortions — which reproductive health advocates say amount to an unethical “gag rule” — state health departments and individual organizations across the country have decided to leave the program entirely.

Not having access to that money could cripple states’ ability to provide services to the 4-million low-income people, largely women of color, served by Title X.

“They may have to have longer waiting periods for appointments because they’ve had to cut back on clinic hours,” said Alina Salganicoff, senior vice president and director of women’s health policy for the Kaiser Family Foundation. “The clinics may cut back on education and outreach services. You may have to be referred to another site if you want an IUD or an implant because they no longer stock them or offer those services, because it’s too costly.”

In Oregon, Illinois, Vermont, and Washington state, state health departments have all announced that they will no longer operate on Title X dollars. There are zero clinics in those states now using Title X. In two other states, Utah and Maine, the only proprietors of Title X money have also chosen to pull out of the program, effectively cutting the state off from the funding, too.

State health departments in Massachusetts and Maryland are also leaving Title X, but other program recipients remain, according to a Kaiser analysis.

At least four of those states have pledged to try to use their own budgets to cover the loss.

In total, more than one in five of all Title X-funded clinics in the United States will no longer take money from the program, Kaiser found.

READ: 7 days inside an anti-abortion summer camp training the next generation of activists

The Trump administration first announced in mid-July that Title X clinics were officially barred from referring patients for abortions, and that they needed to financially separate any abortion-related services from their other offerings. As of next year, clinics will also need to physically separate out those services.

"We’re gonna see women driving hundreds of miles just to access birth control, like an IUD."

Though 21 state attorneys general had sued to stop the changes from going into effect, some of their home states have since decided to stay in the program, for now. The governor of Hawaii also announced that the state would leave Title X rather than comply with the changes. But the state is currently in limbo.

“At this time, Hawaii has not withdrawn from the program, and the administration will not draw funding from Title X, at least pending the outcome of the current lawsuit challenging the new rules and concurrent efforts to consider procurement options,” Cindy McMillan, communications director for Gov. David Ige’s office, told VICE News in an email.

To further complicate the state of play in the Title X network, not every state has an government-run agency that serves as a Title X “grantee.” Grantees are the funnel of the Title X network: They receives money directly from the federal government, then often disperse those dollars to their own clinics and, often, to other organizations. Some states also have more than one grantee.

READ: Trump’s new abortion rule could hit rural communities the hardest. Just look at Maine.

In Maine, the sole grantee is the nonprofit Maine Family Planning, which announced its departure from Title X hours after the Trump administration’s announcement. Sarah Nelson, a patient at a rural, northern Maine Family Planning clinic, told VICE News last month that she hadn’t had insurance in years. Around early July, Nelson started feeling a vicious pain in her abdomen.

Without Maine Family Planning, she would have had no choice but to make an expensive visit to the emergency room. Instead, Nelson got an appointment at her local clinic, where she found out she only had a cyst.

“So I only ended up having to pay $40, thanks to Maine Family Planning. If it wasn’t for that, like I said, I’d be in debt probably a grand or two,” Nelson said. “My income varies, because I wait tables. I never know what I’m gonna make from one day to the next.”

Similarly, the only grantee in Utah is Planned Parenthood — or rather, it was. Last week, Planned Parenthood announced that it would also leave Title X. The organization, which is also the largest Title X grantee in Alaska, Connecticut, and Minnesota, is surrendering a reported $60 million in funding.

It’s a devastating blow to the people who participate in Title X, as the reproductive health care giant serves about 40% of all Title X patients across the country.

“We are committed to doing some emergency funds to help our patients get through, but it will have an impact. It really does vary state by state,” Alexis McGill Johnson, acting president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, told reporters on a press call last week. While Planned Parenthood might do some fundraising to offset their funding losses, “It’s like holding an umbrella during a tsunami.”

“We’ve already seen the impact of women having to drive these impossible distances just to access abortions,” McGill Johnson went on. “We’re gonna see women driving hundreds of miles just to access birth control, like an IUD.”

Cover image: FILE - In this, Feb. 25, 2019, file photo, Dr. Erin Berry, Washington State Medical Director for Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and the Hawaiian Islands, holds a folder as she listens at a news conference announcing a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's Title X "gag rule" in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)

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Joe Walsh Acted Like Trump for Years. Now He’s Trying to Take Him Down.

WASHINGTON — Former Tea Party Congressman turned right-wing radio host Joe Walsh voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and credits himself with helping put him in office. Now, he’s running against the president for the GOP nomination.

“I apologize because I helped put an unfit con man in the White House,” Walsh, 57, told VICE News.

In 2010, the Illinois Republican — a failed actor and twice-failed congressional candidate — rode the Tea Party wave into the House of Representatives, upsetting a three-term incumbent Democrat and stunning the Republican political establishment.

The once-moderate Walsh (in previous iterations, he was both pro-choice and pro-gun control) recast himself as a fire-breathing, big government–hating, welfare state–destroying conservative, warning that President Barack Obama was an existential threat to the republic — and possibly a Muslim fifth columnist. Walsh's campaign was chaotic, his victory quixotic, and his tenure brief.

By 2012, he returned from D.C. with a surplus of anger at supposedly "treasonous" Democrats but also disdain for his supine Republican colleagues. Walsh joined the crowded field of conservative talk-radio hosts. “I was alienated from the party when I got elected. John Boehner and the party didn't exactly love people like me,” he said. “I mean, the Republican Party sucked before Trump.”

But Walsh flipped on Trump. The spittle-flecked partisan who accused Obama of treason now accuses Trump of the same, all while acknowledging it was his brand of rhetoric that created the poisoned political environment in which Trump flourished. Welsh says his conservatism hasn’t changed, but his radio audience’s did. (His national radio show was cancelled earlier this week).

Trump’s “not a Tea Party guy,” but Tea Party voters have dutifully fallen in line behind him.

“On my radio show, the spending bills, everything he's signed, everything he's done that my listeners would be screaming about if Obama had done? They don't say shit,” he said.

While the ideological focus of the Tea Party was limited government and ballooning deficits, the MAGA types gleefully shifted to populism and xenophobia. But Walsh thinks the collapse of Republican principles long preceded Trump.

“Really after about a year or two [after 2010], we knew we were up against the Republican Party. So the Tea Party really dissipated earlier. We all wanted to repeal Obamacare that first year then... fuck, everybody dropped it.”

But what of those Republicans who sold themselves as men of unbending ideological conviction?

“[Rep. Jim Jordan] was like a mentor to me, talking about Obamacare and debt and spending. Every time Obama did anything about spending, we all called a press conference! Jordan was leading the way. Jim doesn't say anything now. I love that guy. I guess that's why it's really disappointing. [Trump] wants to be a goddamn king, a dictator. But what was it, ‘Obama with his pen and his phone?’ We all went ballistic. Jordan and the rest of us. Now they don't say a word. It's really disappointing.”

Walsh has little chance of wresting the nomination from Trump, but he says that’s not the point. “Trump’s unfit. So somebody step up and say publicly that he's unfit.”

This segment originally aired August 29, 2019, on VICE News Tonight on HBO.

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Here Are Some Beautiful Covers of Silver Jews Songs

David Berman, the songwriter best known as the driving force behind Silver Jews, died tragically earlier this month. When any artist dies, it inspires a fair amount of introspection and grief among peers and fans, but the tenor of mourning around Berman has felt different. That's probably in part due to the type of artist he was. Many legends make work that feels untouchable, but even when Berman—as he often did—was gracefully exploring the dark parts of the human psyche, his work felt approachable. Even if there's no way you could write songs like his, it kinda felt like you could.

In the weeks since his death, a number of artists have offered tribute to him by way of playing covers of his songs. It's not an unusual way to pay homage to an artist who's passed, but it's striking how vast and varied the sorts of acts that did so are. Covers have emerged from experimental pop acts, folk bands, grave singer-songwriters, and old punks, all united by a love for the way Berman looked at the world. There's something about Berman's disposition that makes his vast cast of followers make sense. His work was down to earth, and outlined feelings that so many felt in their darkest hours. This was for everyone to share. Here are a few of the most special performances and recordings of Berman's songs released over the last few weeks.

Animal Collective, "Ballad of Reverend War Character"

On Friday morning, Animal Collective's Avey Tare and Geologist shared this slow, oozy cover of this forlorn song from The Natural Bridge alongside a note about what Berman's music has meant to them over the years. "A few weeks ago we planned on seeing Purple Mountains together," he wrote. "Instead we spent the night listening to David's records and talking about how much his music and art meant to us. He was an inspiration for decades." So they picked up their guitars and wrung out this cover, the proceeds of which will go to MusiCares and Music Health Alliance.

Bill Callahan, "Trains Across the Sea"

Berman's longtime friend and Drag City labelmate Bill Callahan shared an incredibly moving tribute to him on Twitter in the days after his death, writing that "the world is and will always be a David Berman lyric." A few weeks later, he opened one of his New York tour dates with another beautiful moment, this cover of "Trains Across the Sea" from Starlite Walker. Callahan is one of a few contemporary songwriters with as much gravity in his voice as Berman, so it's a real tearjerker.

Nothing, "We Are Real"

The dreamy Philadelphia punks play fast and loose with the melody of this beloved American Water track, but the ghostly energy they give it more than makes up for it. It's a testament to the power of the lyrics; it doesn't matter how you sing them.

First Aid Kit, "Random Rules"

The Swedish folk duo add a lightness and hope to this American Water cut. They also wrote a song called "Strange Beauty," in an attempt to process Berman's passing. "We hope the songs can be some kind of comfort," they said in a press release.

The Mountain Goats, "Pet Politics"

John Darnielle originally recorded a stripped down and pissed off cover of The Natural Bridge's "Pet Politics" for a compilation back in 2005, but on the night after Berman's death, he broke it back out in tribute. Video evidence shows it more stark and beautiful than ever.

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That Deadly Nuclear Blast in Russia Happened While Trying to Rescue a Lost Missile From the Ocean Floor

A mysterious, deadly nuclear blast in Russia’s far north earlier this month occurred during a rescue mission to retrieve a lost missile from the ocean floor, a new U.S. intelligence assessment has reportedly concluded.

An explosion on a recovery ship caused a reaction inside the missile engine’s nuclear core that led to a radiation leak, CNBC reported, citing unidentified U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the report.

President Trump has tweeted the accident involved Russia’s secretive Skyfall cruise missile program, which aims to achieve infinite range via an onboard nuclear-powered engine.

Seven people were killed in the Aug. 8 incident, which sent radiation levels spiking in the nearby city of Severodvinsk and prompted a local run on iodine used in treating radiation exposure.

READ: The New Nuclear Arms Race Is Here. And Russia's Already Paying the Price.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has insisted there’s no further danger. But Russia stopped transmitting data to international observers from local radionuclide stations, making it hard for observers to say with certainty what’s really going on.

The U.S.-backed Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty media outlet also published a report concluding that the explosion occurred during a missile-recovery operation, basing its findings on an analysis of photographs of nuclear waste containers and barges at the site.

READ: Everything We Know About Russia’s Nuclear “Skyfall” Missile and That Mysterious Explosion

Skyfall is just one of a series of experimental new nuclear weapons Putin has unveiled to great fanfare at home. The new arsenal is part of an attempt to counter U.S. missile defense systems, even though outside experts say Russia could easily overcome any such shield with the missiles it’s already got.

Russia has suffered some two-dozen casualties in accidents with exotic nuclear hardware this summer, prompting international arms experts to worry about safety practices and the potential for future deadly mishaps in the country’s nuclear programs.

Cover: This video grab from RU-RTR Russian television on Thursday, March 1, 2018, purports to show the launch of what President Vladimir Putin said is Russia's new nuclear-powered intercontinental cruise missile. President Vladimir Putin declared Thursday that Russia has developed a range of new nuclear weapons, claiming they can't be intercepted by enemy. (RU-RTR Russian Television via YouTube)

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Someone Is Now Suing Popeyes Over That Chicken Sandwich

The frenzied demand for a viral chicken sandwich has reached the judicial branch.

On Wednesday, Craig Barr in East Ridge, Tennessee filed a civil summons — or a request to appear in Hamilton County court — against Popeyes Chicken, the fast-food joint that has stoked national debate and mayhem with its new chicken sandwich, a competitor to Chick-fil-A. His lawsuit came just one day after the chain announced it was officially sold out but would work to bring the sandwiches back soon.

Still, back to Barr’s beef: “No chicken sandwich,” according to a complaint seen by WTVC, the local ABC affiliate. The chain had sold out, Barr found. He’s now asking for $5,000 from Popeyes, which could buy about 1,200 chicken sandwiches (if there were any).

His first reaction wasn’t to head to the courts. When he was told the chicken sandwich was sold out, he returned multiple times to see if his fate would change.

“Countless time waste drive to and from Popeyes,” Barr said in the complaint.

He then went on Craigslist and found an ad — it’s no longer on the website, according to WTVC — that promised to sell him a Popeyes sandwich for $24. He paid up, but the Popeyes worker allegedly behind the “black list” sandwich ring didn’t fulfill his wish for the viral sandwich.

The sandwich was introduced on Aug. 12 but went viral due to a tweet-turned-marketing blitz “feud” with Chick-fil-A last week. People then took to Twitter to defend their favorite chicken sandwich, and enthusiasts grew curious enough about Popeyes’ offerings to line up across the chain’s 2,400 locations, overwhelming employees and Popeyes’ dwindling chicken supply. It’s not yet clear how soon the sandwiches will return.

Cover: This Aug. 21, 2019, photo, shows Popeye's new chicken sandwich, the spicy version, in New Rochelle, N.Y. (AP Photo/Julia Rubin)

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How to Quit Your Shitty Job and Become a Barber

This article originally appeared on VICE Canada.

Quit Your Shitty Job is a new column that speaks to people who turned their back on their totally average and uninspiring jobs to pursue something they actually wanted.

This week, we spoke to Toronto-based Jonathan De Vela. His previous jobs include recruiting and gardening, but the 27-year-old found the Monday-to-Friday grind exhausting. These days, he’s happy to work 7 days a week, indulging his creative side as a barber and teaching assistant, learning and sharing what he knows about how to cut and style people’s hair.

---

VICE: What did you do in your previous jobs?
Jonathan De Vela: I studied urban planning at the University of Waterloo. Post graduation, I really struggled with finding a job. I couldn’t find something I was passionate about. I did all kinds of jobs: worked in retail, even worked as a gardener for a community center. What really tipped the scale for me was when I worked as a recruiter for a technical agency.

Why did it suck?
That was my shittiest job because all I did was cold-call people and force my information down their throat in 30 seconds or less and I didn’t feel like I was building any sort of relationships. I was talking to people who really hated talking to me 80 to 100 times a day. I felt emotionally drained.

But I was promised it gets better, that the ceiling is so high in business development and I could make six figures. But I didn’t want to sell my soul and make money just so I could feel like shit about myself at the end of the day.

What did you switch to instead?
I was cutting hair throughout college, and I was starting to cut hair more and more. And I found that the people who sit in my chair, do want to talk to me. [It’s] a genuine connection.

Photo via Jonathan De Vela

How did you make it happen?
I was on Instagram and I found an owner of a barber shop who was an educator. As a beginner barber, I didn’t have any formal training so I saw this guy as my ticket in—maybe this will be the guy who can help me.

I walked into his shop and asked for him by his name. I went straight to Jason and he gave me his number—we got to talking and after a few interviews and me hanging out at his shop, I wrote a resignation letter and gave it to my boss at my shitty job the next day. I just knew that I was done and I was putting all my eggs into this other basket. That was my unconventional lightbulb moment.

What do you love most about your job?
It’s different every day—different clients, compensation, haircuts. Even if I see the same client every week, they might choose something different. He might say he has a new girlfriend and he’s going to change it up. It’s just so engaging every day.

I’ve had requests from people getting married for me to be right there, at his hotel by 7 a.m. doing his haircut and hearing how excited he is, or if he has cold feet. Or people will tell me about their girlfriend breaking up with them, and it’s a whole different conversation. I never get bored of it.

Are there any downsides?
My legs get tired. Sometimes I miss lunch. But that’s about it. Just the physical toll. Sometimes I get too into my work. I currently work seven days a week, but I don’t know, I love it. I don’t see myself slowing down. I’m just addicted to the creative process of it.

Have there been any memorable moments?
I cut a client’s hair and he was getting ready for an interview and he was so nervous about it. I related to him because of what I studied and gave him some advice. Two months later, I was cutting someone else’s hair and he came up to me and said “I want to let you know that I got the job and I’ve never been happier. What you and I talked about before the interview really helped.” Stuff like that is just wow. He took time out of his day to come by and say “thanks for helping me out.” Those are things that make this job worth it. I could come home with $5 at the end of the day, but if someone tells me I gave them the best haircut ever, I’d be good.

Rate your life out of 10 before, and now:
When I was in the other job I was a five or six, just getting by. Now I feel like a nine. I don’t want to say it’s a 10 because it can always get better.

What advice would you give other people who hate their jobs?
Don’t quit that job yet. Find something you’re passionate about that you would do for free, and then find someone who’s willing to pay you for it. I’ve seen too many people say they hate their job and then quit, not knowing what their next step is and they end up taking another shitty job, and it’s an endless cycle.

You don’t have to drop everything to start something. I don’t like the term "funemployed" because that just means you’re broke. I’m not saying don’t have fun with it but I’m saying you might hate it so always have a plan, there’s always a way.

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'Welcome to a Shithole': Most U.S. Prisons Are Filled with Toxic Waste

The Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) recently made national news as the site of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s apparent suicide. Among the details describing the jail’s failings were not only accounts of staffing problems (e.g., guards falling asleep on the job), but also the horrible physical conditions—from pests to raw sewage contaminating the space.

While that latter imagery is striking, it’s not particularly unique. America’s jails are full of environmental hazards that stand to compromise the physical and mental health of the people who work and live within them. One of the most egregious problems: Filthy conditions in jail cells and common areas, particularly those involving human waste and other biological hazards, that have resulted in claims of unconstitutionality due to cruel and unusual punishment.

Built atop a landfill, Rikers, another jail in New York, is plagued by dangerous amounts of poisonous methane gas, damaged water pipes, and an unstable foundation. Recently, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer called on the city to recognize Rikers’ “insufferable environment and the culture of violence and abuse.”

Overflows of raw sewage in San Francisco’s main jail that made people sick led to a class action lawsuit against the City and County of San Francisco, the Sheriff, and other law enforcement personnel. Civil rights lawyer Yolanda Huang, who filed the action, told the San Francisco Bay View that “inmates who have come into physical contact with the sewage have developed skin rashes...intestinal problems, lung problems, breathing problems and headaches.”

In South Carolina, people who were incarcerated at the Lieber Correctional Institution in December 2018 were exposed to floods of human fecal matter after a backup. Residents were reportedly forced to eat meals in the cells that were flooding with raw sewage before jail staff instructed them to clean up the mess. In Pennsylvania, residents of the Fayetteville County Jail faced similar conditions between 2013 and 2017 as a result of “raw sewage running through cells, roaming rats, roaches, mice, and lack of running water.”

Residents were reportedly forced to eat meals in the cells that were flooding with raw sewage.

Exposure to raw sewage and related contaminants, can lead to illness due to the bacteria, funguses, parasites, and other biological hazards that can live in waste. The Center for Construction Research and Training reports that people who are exposed to biological hazards are at risk of developing diseases like e-coli, typhoid fever, salmonella, cholera, roundworm, Hepatitis A, and more.

In Oklahoma, jail staff in Nowata County made national headlines this spring when the county sheriff, Terry Sue Barnett, resigned due to poor jail conditions. Barnett told Tulsa World that there were multiple issues at the jail, including carbon monoxide leaks and issues with the sewer lines. “If you’re a prisoner, you still deserve human dignity. You still need the basics,” she told NPR, referring to the multiple health-code violations and environmental hazards at the jail she deemed dangerous.

The physical impacts are only part of the picture: .

There’s a growing body of research that explains how poor quality of housing, including limited insulation, air pollutants, and building contaminants like raw sewage, negatively impacts mental health—a reality that raises concerns for the14.5 percent of men and 31 percent of women in jails who have a serious mental illness.

Even for systems simply looking to clean up their sewage, there are financial barriers. The cost of imprisonment in the United States is an astounding $182 billion annually. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, almost half of the money spent on running the correctional system goes to paying staff. Money for repairs and maintenance of crumbling infrastructure is hard to acquire given public opinion about the prison system, according to David Tuttle, superintendent for the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office in Massachusetts.

“Corrections are kind of forgotten about at times,” he said. “When you’re a state representative or senator, would you rather stand in front of a new school, park, or hospital with a big check presentation or do you want to stand in front of a prison?”

There are federal regulations that are meant to protect the people who live and work inside correctional facilities. The Federal Bureau of Prisons are inspected by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), according to Denisha Braxton, an official with the Office of Public Affairs of the U.S. Department of Labor. “Employers are responsible for providing workers with a jobsite free of recognized hazards,” Braxton said.

OSHA inspectors, who handle cases involving health-code violations in correctional facilities, focus on the legal responsibilities building managers and related staff members have to ensure that jail and prison employees have a safe and healthful workplace for prison employees. But the various dangers and hazards that lurk behind bars affect people who are incarcerated in unsafe facilities in different ways given the fact that they live there.

While the situation is dire, there is some progress. Earlier this year, Macomb County, Michigan, Sheriff Anthony Wickersham revealed an estimated $400 million plan to replace the crumbling 1,518 bed jail. “We have been replacing and repairing numerous electrical and plumbing supplies throughout the facility for years...tiles are popping off walls in housing units and constant flooding is occurring in our basement,” Wickersham said.

In 2018, Los Angeles County supervisors approved a $2.2 billion proposal to replace the Men’s Central Jail due to years of multiple complaints. “It’s an aging, decrepit facility that’s falling apart structurally and also it’s not conducive to house inmates,” Commander Joseph E. Dempsey of the Custody Services Division told the Los Angeles Times.

“People work better when their offices aren’t falling apart. Prisons and jails work better, and the rehabilitation process works better, if we have the facilities to show these people we’re serious about helping them out,” said Tuttle in Worcester County.

Worcester County’s main jail, which opened in 1973, is currently undergoing multiple Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance-funded construction projects that include, but are not limited to, a $30 million dollar medical clinic, $300,000 in plumbing upgrades, and $70,000 in upgrades to housing units.

If the goal of the criminal justice system is to rehabilitate and provide people with the skills and tools required to prevent recidivism, Tuttle said we have to advocate for better living conditions. It’s hypocritical to claim to want to help people while failing to improve the conditions of jail facilities, Tuttle said. “How can I turn to one of our inmates and say, ‘Hey, I want you to turn your life around, I want to help you out, welcome to a shithole.’”

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