Our new three-part series explores the government’s failed COVID-19 response, and our vulnerability to the next pandemic.

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** THE WEEKLY REVEAL
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Saturday, April 15, 2023

Hello! In this issue:
* The volunteer-led project ([link removed]) behind America’s COVID-19 public health data.

* Florida’s new law effectively bans abortion and sends millions to unregulated pregnancy centers.


** THIS WEEK’S PODCAST
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** The COVID Tracking Project Part 1
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[link removed]

The United States has 4% of the world’s population but 16% of COVID-19 deaths. Our new three-part series, The COVID Tracking Project ([link removed]) , investigates the failures by federal agencies that led to over 1 million Americans dying from COVID-19 and what that tells us about the nation’s ability to fight the next pandemic.

The first episode ([link removed]) takes us back to February 2020, when reporters Rob Meyer and Alexis Madrigal from The Atlantic were trying to find solid data about the rising pandemic. They published a story that revealed a scary truth: The U.S. didn’t know where COVID-19 was spreading because few tests were available.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also didn’t have public data to tell citizens or federal agencies how many people were infected or where the outbreaks were happening.

Meyer and Madrigal’s reporting led to a massive volunteer effort ([link removed]) by hundreds of people across the country who gathered the data themselves. The COVID Tracking Project became a de facto source of data amid the chaos of COVID-19. With case counts rising quickly, volunteers scrambled to document tests, hospitalizations and deaths in an effort to show where the virus was and who was dying.
Listen to the episode ([link removed])
🎧 Other places to listen: Apple Podcasts ([link removed]) , Spotify ([link removed]) , Google Podcasts ([link removed]) , Stitcher ([link removed]) or wherever you get your podcasts.


** RELATED
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📝 The COVID Tracking Project ([link removed]) at The Atlantic
Taking on powerful interests demands lots of time, a strong backbone and your support. Donate to keep us going ([link removed]) .


** HEADLINES
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** Florida Restricts Abortion, Funds Crisis Pregnancy Centers
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** Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signs the Heartbeat Protection Act into law, which bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. Credit: Office of Gov. Ron DeSantis
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On Thursday, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law that bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. The ban will take effect “only if the state’s current 15-week ban is upheld in an ongoing legal challenge that is before the state Supreme Court, which is controlled by conservatives,” writes the Associated Press ([link removed]) .

The bill also included $25 million in taxpayer funding for anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers. That’s more than a fivefold increase over last year’s funding of $4.45 million. The funding increase is part of a national anti-abortion campaign ([link removed]) spearheaded by Republican-dominated state legislatures. Florida is among at least 14 states that fund pregnancy centers through “alternatives to abortion” programs, funneling millions in taxpayer money to the anti-abortion movement.

While the bill would inject millions into the centers’ cause, it does nothing to increase oversight of the pregnancy center industry in Florida. A Reveal investigation ([link removed]) found that most of the 2,500 centers in the United States operate in a kind of regulatory dead zone, free of significant state and federal oversight. Most states, including Florida, don’t require pregnancy centers that provide medical services to be licensed or inspected.

The law has also effectively ended Florida’s status as one of the last remaining abortion-access states in the South. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, most abortions are now banned in 13 states, per a New York Times ([link removed]) abortion tracker.


** DIG DEEPER
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📝 Abortion’s Last Stand in the South: A Post-Roe Future Is Already Happening in Florida. Read ([link removed]) .

📝 How Anti-Abortion Pregnancy Centers Can Claim to Be Medical Clinics and Get Away With It. Read ([link removed]) .


** In Case You Missed It
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🎧 Havana Syndrome ([link removed])

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🎧 From Victim to Suspect ([link removed])

This issue of The Weekly Reveal was written by Kassie Navarro, edited by Kate Howard and copy edited by Nikki Frick. If you enjoyed this issue, forward it to a friend ([link removed]) . Have some thoughts? Drop us a line (mailto:[email protected]) with feedback or ideas!

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