St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ New York Consul General, Howie Prince.
Photo by Nelson A. King
Caribbean Life, APRIL 16-22, 2021 3
By Nelson A. King
New York Attorney General, Letitia
James on Wednesday applauded the
Biden administration’s efforts to end
the Trump administration’s discriminatory
Title X “gag rule,” after the US
Department of Health and Human
Services proposed a new rule to revise
the Title X family planning program
regulations.
In March 2019, James co-led a coalition
of 22 attorneys general in challenging
the Trump administration
regulation that threatens essential
services provided under federal Title
X funding.
The Trump-era rule restricts
health care providers who receive
certain federal funds from counseling
or making referrals for abortion.
“This new, proposed rule from the
Biden-Harris administration underscores
their commitment to protecting
reproductive rights of patients
across the nation,” James said. “Quite
simply, the Trump administration’s
Title X ‘gag rule’ was a war on reproductive
freedom and prevented more
than 1 million people across the country
from obtaining access to quality,
affordable health coverage.
“And as we continue to battle
COVID-19, access to health care has
never been more vital,” she added.
“We look forward to continuing to
work with the Biden-Harris administration
to undo all the harms of the
gag rule and expand health coverage
for all.”
James’s lawsuit eventually landed
in the US Court of Appeals for
the Ninth Circuit, which upheld the
Trump-era rule.
The New York Attorney then led
the coalition, in October 2020, in
filing a petition that asked the US
Supreme Court to hear the case.
By Nelson A. King
In the wake of continuing eruptions
of La Soufriere Volcano in St. Vincent
and the Grenadines, the Barbadosbased
United States Embassy Barbados
and the Eastern Caribbean said on
Thursday that it is coordinating with
Royal Caribbean Cruises for “a transit
opportunity” for US citizens who wish
to depart St. Vincent and the Grenadines
on Friday, April 16 to Dutch Sint
Maarten.
The embassy said, in a revised Natural
Disaster Alert, that boarding on the
Celebrity Reflection will begin at 7:00
am, and will depart Kingstown Port, St.
Vincent and Grenadines, at 1:00 pm.
The ship will arrive in Philipsburg,
Sint Maarten on the morning of Saturday,
April 17, at approximately 7:00 am,
the embassy said.
It said the Atlanta-based US Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) “recommends against travel on
cruise ships because the chance of getting
COVID-19 on cruise ships is higher
since the virus appears to spread more
easily between people in close quarters
aboard ships.”
The embassy said there is no cost or
travel fare for the ship’s voyage.
It, however, said US citizens will
be responsible for making their own
onward travel arrangements.
“Please plan accordingly, including
potential hotel stays in Sint Maarten
and booking onward commercial airline
flights from the Sint Maarten
Princess Juliana International Airport,
which offers direct flight to multiple US
cities,” the embassy urged.
It said US citizens who decide not to
depart St. Vincent and the Grenadines
to be prepared to “shelter in place for an
undetermined amount of time,” adding
that “there are currently no future
plans for other transit opportunities.”
The US Embassy urged US citizens
to register online by completing the US
Mission Bridgetown and the Eastern
Caribbean – Manifest Form, stating
that the deadline to register is Thursday,
April 15 at noon.
The embassy said there are several
travel restrictions, including no
children under the age of six months;
no pregnant women over 23 weeks
of gestation; no individuals requiring
dialysis; no individuals with terminal
conditions; no individuals who have
been identified as close contacts of a
suspected or confirmed COVID-19 case;
and no pets.
By Nelson A. King
Vincentians in the United States Diaspora
are calling for “all hands on deck” to
rush urgent relief aid to St. Vincent and
the Grenadines in the wake of the ongoing,
massive La Soufrière volcano eruptions.
“This is a day we all hoped would never
have come,” declared Vincentian Vaughan
P. A. Toney, chief executive officer and
president of the Friends of Crown Heights
Educational Centers, at a media briefing
Sunday at one of his centers, at 671
Prospect Place in Brooklyn, called by the
Brooklyn-based St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Relief, Inc.
Toney, who is also a member of SVG
Relief, Inc., noted that, beginning Friday,
a series of explosive events at La Soufrière
has triggered a national emergency —
“blanketing our nation in a layer of volcanic
ash, creating widespread disruption of
critical electricity and water supplies and
forcing thousands of our families to flee
their homes in search of safety elsewhere
on the islands and in our neighboring Caribbean
territories.
“Our National Emergency Management
Organization (NEMO) has sprung
into action to do what it can to protect the
health and safety of our people,” he said.
“But the government cannot navigate this
crisis alone. A crisis of this magnitude
requires all hands on deck.
“And, in particular, it requires the united,
organized and supportive engagement
of our entire Vincentian Diaspora,” Toney
urged. “And I am pleased to announce that
next Saturday and Sunday — April 17 and
18 — we will be accepting deliveries of
emergency relief supplies at the Friends of
Crown Heights Educational Center, located
at 671 Prospect Place, in Brooklyn.”
Toney said the committee has prepared
a list of the most needed supplies to assist
thousands of displaced Vincentian nationals
who have been forced to evacuate their
homes and are now housed in emergency
shelters.
He emphasized the urgent need for
blankets and field tents, respirator masks,
personal hygiene kits, bleach, disinfectants,
“and lots of food and drinking
water.”
“Let us not forget that this crisis is
unfolding in the midst of a public health
emergency due to COVID,” Toney cautioned.
“So, we need to be especially careful
in protecting the health and safety of
evacuees in congregate settings.”
He said the eventual economic cost
of rebuilding thousands of homes
and restoring vital infrastructure crippled
by the eruptions will, no doubt, amount to
billions of dollars.
“And the long-term cost to survivors —
especially our children — may be incalculable,
as they struggle to cope with a combination
of physical and mental traumas
arising from this catastrophe,” Toney said.
“But our immediate need is for food, water
and the essential items needed to preserve
the health and safety of our people.
New York State Attorney General
Letitia James speaks at a news
conference in New York, U.S., June
11, 2019. REUTERS / Mike Segar, fi le
All hands on deck for Vincy relief
Royal Caribbean Cruises offers ‘transit opportunity’
Title X
‘gag rule’
ends