| RIPTIDE | ▼ SOUTH FLORIDA LENDING A HAND F ROE V. WADE REVERSAL BRINGS INCREASED INTEREST IN ABORTION DOULA TRAINING. BY ALEX DELUCA ollowing the Supreme Court’s June 24 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, which reversed the high court’s landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion-access deci- sion, many Americans have been contemplat- ing how to turn their anger into action. Some have contributed to local abortion funds. Others have taken to the streets in pro- test. And a number of people in South Florida and beyond have opted to help by training to become “abortion doulas,” nonmedical pro- fessionals who provide emotional and physi- cal support to people before, during, and after their abortions. The Southern Birth Justice Network (SBJN), a Black- and queer-led organization that trains birthing and abortion doulas who independently offer their services in the com- munity, has seen an uptick in inquiries about abortion doula training and services. Execu- tive director Jamarah Amani says the group will ramp up its doula training sessions in the coming weeks and months. “Our doula training has always been full- spectrum, and there’s more of a demand for that now,” Amani, a Miami-based midwife who trains abortion doulas, tells New Times. “But it’s definitely something we’ve been do- ing: uplifting and upholding this model of care, because that’s what people need.” GET MORE NEWS & COMMENTARY AT MIAMINEWTIMES.COM/NEWS ▼ FLORIDA CHILLING EFFECT M CLIMATE JUSTICE GROUPS DECRY FPL’S $500 MILLION PROPOSAL TO PREPARE FOR “EXTREME WINTER EVENT.” BY AJHADA GABRIEL indful of the devastating effects of Winter Storm Uri, which left 4.5 million Texans without power in mid-February 2021, Florida Power and Light (FPL) submitted a $500 million proposal to the Florida Public Ser- vice Commission (PSC) in April seeking funds for a list of capital projects over the next ten years, including updated infrastructure, new electrical lines, and investments in gas power plants in the event of an “extreme winter event” in Florida. “The 2021 Texas experience prompted FPL to take a company-wide examination of how well its generation, transmission, distribution, and fuel delivery systems were positioned should an extreme Winter event occur in Florida,” the 316- page proposal states. Meanwhile, it hasn’t snowed in Miami in 45 4 4 years. Locally, community advocacy groups worry Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images Florida isn’t one of the 13 U.S. states with so-called trigger laws that immediately banned abortions when Roe v. Wade fell on June 24, but many expect the state will ban the procedure if the 2022 midterm elections solidify Republican control in the legislature and the governor’s mansion. Healthcare pro- viders are already in court fighting to block Florida’s 15-week abortion ban from going into effect on July 1, arguing that the law, which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed earlier this year, violates individual privacy rights en- shrined in the state’s constitution. For the past decade, Amani has worked with SBJN to train doulas, provide midwifery care, and advocate for better health services for women and families. The organization, which supports roughly 100 families each year, has a mutual aid program to provide free and low-cost doula services to those who can’t afford their services, and its doulas often work on a sliding fee scale. Although SBJN provides midwifery care to the community at large, its doulas focus on Black, brown, youth, immigrant, indigenous, LGBTQ+, and low-income clients and they work to mitigate racial disparities in mater- nal- and infant-mortality rates. (Experts have emphasized that people of color and other marginalized communities will bear the brunt of Roe’s demise.) The work of abortion doulas — which, notably, does not entail pro- viding abortions — can be as basic as provid- ing a hand to hold during the procedure and/ Florida Agricultural Commissioner Nikki Fried joins a Miami protest after the Supreme Court’s decision. or a ride to and from the clinic. SBJN’s next doula training cohort is set to launch in the spring of 2023. Amani says there’s already a waiting list. “I mean, we had medical students, nurses, everyday young mamas,” she says of the in- creased interest. “Just regular people, you know. “We’ll continue to offer workshops throughout the year and show up in various spaces to just try to get the word out in the community about the full-spectrum care and birth-justice model that we think is so vital to the survival of our communities,” she adds. that if the PSC approves FPL’s request, Miami customers will take yet another hit — on top of the roughly $9 rate increase in January that will continue to incrementally rise by 16.4 percent over the next four years. What with the afford- able-housing crisis, inflation, and the economic strains brought on by COVID-19, Floridians might have a hard time acknowledging the threat of a winter storm, especially amid the loud and con- stant hum of their air conditioners in the summer. “There was testimony given by experts at the Public Service Commission hearing, showing that the extreme weather event that FPL is using to try and justify this expenditure, is so far out, any chance of it occurring would be once in a million years,” says Christian Wagley, an orga- nizer for Healthy Gulf, a climate-justice nonprofit based in New Orleans. “They’ve chosen this weather event — it’s just extremely unlikely — in order to justify spending a lot of extra money on upgrading infrastructure.” FPL, a subsidiary of Juno Beach-based elec- tricity monopoly NextEra, is an investor-owned, regulated monopoly — which means its rates, ser- vices, and activities are managed by the PSC. Ear- lier this month, FPL told the commission it needs “THE PEOPLE THAT ARE IMPACTED WHEN FPL ASKS FOR ANOTHER POWER PLANT ARE OUR LOW-WEALTH NEIGHBORHOODS.” this infrastructure to adequately serve customers in the event of an extreme winter event, citing both Texas’ unpreparedness for Uri and two ex- treme cold spells in Florida dating back to 1989, when the mercury dipped to 8 degrees Fahren- heit in High Springs (northwest of Gainesville), and 2010, when the average temperature of 52.7 degrees Fahrenheit in Miami broke the record for the coldest 12-day period since 1940. “Meanwhile, people right now are struggling and we are seeing local, state, and national cov- erage on the record-breaking extreme heat,” says Natalia Brown, climate-justice program manager for Catalyst Miami, a locally based eco- nomic-justice nonprofit. “I head this year school is being canceled in some places for heat like I’ve heard of schools being canceled for snow.” In August, the commission will host a work- shop where FPL will present its ten-year, $500 million proposal. If the PSC goes on to approve the plan, the state’s utility policy allows FPL to pass along the full cost of the project to custom- ers. Though rate increases for customers are not explicitly addressed in FPL’s plan, Brown is con- cerned it will translate into higher electric bills. “Ultimately, a lot of the people that are im- pacted when FPL comes back again and asks for another power plant are our low-wealth neigh- borhoods, communities of color, folks who his- torically have been denied access to capital and marginalized in a lot of policymaking around en- ergy,” she says. For Brown, it’s not just the monetary impact but the carbon impact, as well, as FPL continues to rely predominately on fossil fuels to power its plants. The long-term solution, she insists, is en- ergy efficiency. “If FPL was truly concerned about meeting the needs of their customers — no matter extreme heat, extreme cold, a normal spring afternoon — energy efficiency, would be the way to ensure that the grid is more reliable,” Brown says, “and it is the most cost-effective solution that we have.” [email protected] MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2008 JULY 7-13, 2022 NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS |
