Pennsylvania Department of Health data from 2020 shows a high safety profile for abortions, with only 239 complications reported out of 32,123 procedures performed. (Longfin Media/Adobe Stock)
Danielle Smith – Keystone State News Service

In Pennsylvania, a unique mobile van brings reproductive resources to communities across Western Pennsylvania. A new podcast, called “(In)Accessible,” explores the challenges people have in finding reproductive healthcare, including abortion, in the state.

Podcast host Rebecca Susman, communications and development director for the Keystone Progress Education Fund, said it features guests doing innovative work to address these barriers, with topics like fertility treatments and menopause care. Susman describes one of the conversations.

“I spoke with Alecia Ott from The Auto(nomous) Body Shop or the ‘auto body shop,’ which is an amazing mutual aid van, where she brings it all over the place, to universities, to events. And she gives out information about birth control and emergency contraception – as well as harm reduction, such as Narcan,” she said.

In Pennsylvania, abortion remains legal until 24 weeks of pregnancy, and it’s one of the closest locations to receive care for people living in many nearby states with abortion bans.

In the podcast, Alecia Ott explains that when she parks the van, she puts out a chalkboard inviting people to stop by for free information and contraception. The eye-catching orange van often sparks curiosity.

“You’d be surprised at how quickly somebody is telling me a story about how they accessed care, or they had to help somebody else find a place to have an abortion or emergency contraception or, you know, fertility help. People are sharing really intimate stories very quickly,” Ott said.

Ott points to a few resources, like the Steel City Access Network in Pittsburgh, that provide transportation for abortion seekers, while the Western PA Fund for Choice offers financial assistance. She also envisions a collaborative network of mobile units to strengthen her advocacy.

Susman said the podcast also has covered the impact of the Dobbs decision, and the confusion people may have about their options, with ever-changing legal challenges in nearby states. She sees Pennsylvania’s current abortion access as the result of strong political leadership, but acknowledges it could be under threat.

“Every single seat in the House, the Pennsylvania House, is up for grabs this fall. And we have another state Supreme Court election as well. This could all change. And these decisions happen because of who we elect into office and who they appoint, so it’s very, very important that we all show up this November,” Susman explained.

AMBRIDGE, July 18 – Beaver County residents will benefit from expanded adult literacy resources thanks to new grant funding of $659,046 to Literacy Pittsburgh, state Rep. Rob Matzie announced today.

 

“The ability to get a good-paying job, benefit from career training, tap into community resources and even successfully navigate life in the community – all depend on basic literacy skills,” Matzie said. “But for some residents – particularly those who speak English as a second language – the lack of those skills is still a major barrier.

 

“This new funding will allow Literacy Pittsburgh to train and support additional instructors and tutors so they can bring these essential tools to more folks in our region.”

Pittsburgh, PA – PennDOT District 11 is announcing lane closures at the Route 65 (Ohio River Boulevard) and Brighton Heights Boulevard intersection in the City of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County will occur Monday night, July 22 weather permitting.

Single-lane closures and temporary stoppages of 15 minutes or less will occur at the intersection of Route 65 (Ohio River Boulevard) and Brighton Heights Boulevard from 11 p.m. Monday night until 6 a.m. Tuesday morning. Crews will conduct roadway marking removal and installation operations.

The $38.6 million McKees Rocks Bridge preservation project extends between Route 51 (Island Avenue) and Route 65 (Ohio River Boulevard) and includes sidewalk replacement, sidewalk support steel repairs, sidewalk railing painting, full-depth concrete pavement reconstruction of the road and two ramps at Helen Street, ADA curb ramp installation, approach pavement work at intersections of Routes 65 and 51, barrier replacement and upgrade, deck overhang and spall repair, railroad fencing installation, and other miscellaneous construction. As work occurs, traffic will be reduced to a single lane in each direction. The overall project is anticipated to conclude in the fall of 2025.

The Brayman Construction Corporation and Advantage Steel and Construction, LLC are the prime contractor.

Beaver County Radio News Staff. Photos by Gary Miller. Published July 18, 2024 12:09 P.M.

(Rochester, Pa) The Beaver County Chamber of Commerce hosted a legislative Cruise on the Gateway Clipper Wednesday evening. Among those in attendance included Senator Elder Vogel JR, State Representatives Rob Matzie and Jim Marshall, Commissioner Jack Manning, Republican State Representative candidate Roman Kozak, and Rico Elmore of RCBC spoke about his experience at the Trump rally in Butler. Representatives of Chris Deluzio, Josh Kail, and Candidate Kenya Johns also attended.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump on stage during his walk-through on the third day of the Republican National Convention on Wednesday, July 17, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Donald Trump takes the stage Thursday at the Republican National Convention to accept his party’s nomination again and give his first speech since he was cut off mid-sentence by a flurry of gunfire in an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania.

Trump’s address will conclude the four-day convention in Milwaukee. He appeared each of the first three days with a white bandage on his ear, covering a wound he sustained in the Saturday shooting.

His moment of survival has shaped the week, even as convention organizers insisted they would continue with their program as planned less than 48 hours after the shooting. Speakers and delegates have repeatedly chanted “Fight, fight, fight!” in homage to Trump’s words as he got to his feet and pumped his fist after Secret Service agents killed the gunman. And some of his supporters have started sporting their own makeshift bandages on the convention floor.

Trump has said the shooting also led him to change his RNC speech, from what was going to be “a humdinger” made up largely of attacks on President Joe Biden to one more focused on bringing the country together.

“Honestly, it’s going to be a whole different speech now,” Trump told the Washington Examiner.

His son Donald Trump Jr. said earlier this week that he spent a few hours with him trying to “de-escalate” some of the rhetoric in the former president’s speech following the attack. Trump has not released information about the extent of his injuries or the treatment he received.

RNC speakers this week have attributed Trump’s survival to divine intervention and paid tribute to victim Corey Comperatore, who died after shielding his wife and daughter from gunfire at the rally.

“Instead of a day of celebration, this could have been a day of heartache and mourning,” Trump’s vice presidential pick, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, said in his speech to the convention on Wednesday.

In his first prime-time speech since becoming the nominee for vice president, Vance spoke of growing up poor in Kentucky and Ohio, his mother addicted to drugs and his father absent, and of how he later joined the military and went on to the highest levels of U.S. politics.

The convention has showcased a Republican Party reshaped by Trump since he shocked the GOP establishment and won the hearts of the party’s grassroots on his way to the party’s 2016 nomination. Rivals Trump has vanquished — including Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — put aside their past criticisms and gave him their unqualified support.

Even Vance, Trump’s pick to carry his movement into the next generation, was once a fierce critic who suggested in a private message since made public that Trump could be “America’s Hitler.”

While Republicans were set to emerge from their convention more united than in recent memory, Democrats are bitterly divided about whether Biden should continue to lead the ticket. Biden, following his disastrous debate performance against Trump last month, has resisted increasing pressure to drop out, with Democrats’ own party convention scheduled for next month in Chicago.

Nearly two-thirds of Democrats nationally say Biden should step aside and let his party nominate a different candidate, according to an AP/NORC poll released Wednesday.

Some national polls do show a close race, though others suggest Trump with a lead. And some state polls have contained warning signs for Biden, too, including a recent New York Times/Siena poll that suggested a competitive race in Virginia, a state Biden won in their 2020 matchup.

The RNC has tried to give voice to the fear and frustration of conservatives while also trying to promote the former president as a symbol of hope for all voters.

Trump Jr. spoke movingly Wednesday about his father’s bravery, saying he showed “for all the world” that “the next American president has the heart of a lion.” But he toggled back and forth between talking about his father as a symbol of national unity and slamming his enemies.

“When he stood up with blood on his face and the flag at his back the world saw a spirit that could never be broken,” Trump Jr. said.

Trump has not spoken in public since the shooting, though he’s given interviews off camera. But he referenced it during a private fundraiser on Wednesday, according to a clip of his remarks recorded on a cellphone and obtained by PBS News.

“I got lucky,” he said. “God was with me.”