Vice President Kamala Harris met with Pennsylvania lawmakers in Philadelphia on Saturday, underscoring the critical role that their state will play in deciding the fate of reproductive rights at both the state and federal levels.

After greeting Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney at the airport, Harris joined more than 40 state lawmakers and members of Congress for a roundtable discussion at the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters building on Spring Garden Street.

The roundtable conversation began after remarks from Harris, who said the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade would have dire consequences for American women and girls.

“We have heard more public recent stories about what this means to real people, real human beings. Not to mention the stories that have not been told and have yet to be told,” Harris said. A news report from earlier this month, for example, that a pregnant 10-year-old girl from Ohio sought an abortion in neighboring Indiana has drawn intense national attention.

Harris was critical of lawmakers in states around the country that have already moved quickly to restrict or ban abortion following the Supreme Court’s ruling.

“The impact of this moment and what so-called leaders are doing in states around our country is having a direct impact on so many people who should have a right to make the most intimate decision that one could make,” Harris said.

Surrounded by primarily Democratic lawmakers and abortion-rights advocates, Harris thanked them for their work in the fight to protect reproductive rights. She also emphasized the White House’s commitment to that fight.

At the national level, she said, codifying abortion rights into federal law would continue protections previously found in Roe v. Wade. Past Democratic attempts to pass federal abortion-rights legislation have been thwarted by the filibuster, which requires 60 votes in the Senate to prevent. On Friday, the House passed two bills aimed at ensuring abortion rights in a post-Roe era, which will very likely not have enough votes to pass the Senate.

“I think we all know and applaud our president saying he will not allow the filibuster to get in the way of doing what is necessary in that regard,” Harris said. “Short of that, what happens in terms of recognizing that the court has acted? Now Congress needs to act.”

Harris said Pennsylvania’s Senate race will be key in November. Adding a Democrat could move the party closer to eliminating the filibuster and passing abortion-rights legislation at the federal level. Democratic candidate John Fetterman has vowed to protect reproductive freedom, while his Republican opponent Mehmet Oz supports anti-abortion legislation.

“Of all these Senate races, we need two more,” Harris said. “Pennsylvania can help contribute to that, which will directly determine the outcome of this issue in terms of putting into law the rights of women to make decisions about their own lives. I would urge everyone to pay attention to the Senate race here in Pennsylvania.”

Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial race will be equally important for the future of reproductive rights in the state. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, the Democratic nominee for Pa. governor, has rallied in defense of abortion rights following the Roe overturn, while GOP candidate Doug Mastriano has supported a complete ban on abortions, with no exceptions.

Moreover, during Saturday’s roundtable, Congresswoman Madeleine Dean said a state House majority in a currently GOP-controlled legislature would be critical to fighting an “egregious” proposed constitutional amendment that would make it easier for Pennsylvania lawmakers to restrict abortion in the state.

The amendment would add language to the state constitution that says the document does not “grant the right to taxpayer-funded abortion or any other right relating to abortion.” While this wouldn’t restrict abortion outright, it would mean that a Republican legislature and governor could pass laws restricting abortion with no resistance from state courts.

Pa. Republicans passed the bill quickly through its first phase of legislative approval last week. The measure will need to pass again in the next legislative session, and then it would go before voters in a statewide referendum.

“We watch red states impose laws lacking compassion or reason,” Dean said. “I’m certain everyone at this table is ready to restore our human rights, our rights to protect and enhance the rights of women and girls to privacy, to abortion care, contraception, to freedom and dignity and self-determination on the state level.”

Harris warned that restrictions on abortion rights are just the beginning of attacks on other freedoms.

“What we’re finding states around the country — and Pennsylvania is an example of this point — is that where and from where you are seeing an attempt to restrict a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body, that same source is attempting to restrict voting rights,” Harris said. “So, it’s important that people see the connections here and see that the source of a lot of this is an agenda to restrict the rights of the American people.”

Following the roundtable conversation, Harris made her way to the Samuel Staten Jr. Building of the Laborers’ District Council to campaign for Shapiro.

The Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc., 2022 Grand Boulé will kick off in the city of Philadelphia on Monday morning.

More than 6,000 members are expected to attend. The city of Philadelphia is also anticipating an estimated economic impact of more than $6,566,677.

“I’m so happy that we’re coming down to Philadelphia, because it’s been a long time and almost like coming home. So we’re happy to be there,” said Valerie Hollingsworth Baker, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc., international president.

It’s been 22 years since the Zeta’s hosted the event in Philadelphia and the ladies are gearing up for an influx of sisterly affection.

“This is going to be a return to the city. Zeta Phi Beta Sorority had our Grand Boulé in 2000 in Philadelphia,” said Hollingsworth Baker. “We utilized the Marriott and the convention center and we had a marvelous time.”

Hollingsworth Baker explained that one of the reasons that it’s been 22 years since the organization has come back to the region is because the organization is divided in eight regions.

“The Atlantic Region is where Philadelphia resides for us. So it’s been 22 years since the Grand Boulé has returned back to the Atlantic Rregion.

“I wanted to come back number one because our region has not had a Grand Boulé since 2000. I just thought it would be only right that we come back to the Atlantic Region and of course, this is my home. This is where I live. I live in New York and I wanted to be able to celebrate the boulé in my region, and they would have that opportunity to do that,” said Hollingsworth Baker.

Councilmember Katherine Gilmore Richardson (At-Large) will welcome her Sorors to Philadelphia during the opening ceremony scheduled for Thursday.

Gilmore Richardson is the first member of the sorority to serve on Philadelphia City Council. She is also a proud Life Member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., where she has previously served as a local Graduate Chapter President, former elected Regional Officer and former National Appointee.

“I am so pleased and proud to welcome my Sorors, the finer women of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated, to the great City of Philadelphia, the City of Sisterly Love,” Gilmore Richardson said.

During the last session of City Council on June 23, City Council unanimously passed Resolution 220585, introduced by Gilmore Richardson recognizing, honoring and welcoming Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., on the occasion of its 2022 Grand Boulé being held July 18-24.

Just as this isn’t the first time the Zeta’s convened in Philadelphia, it also isn’t the first time that the city of Philadelphia has paid homage to the women of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. In 2019 the 1900 block of Federal Street was co-named after Zeta Founder Arizona Cleaver Stemons.

Together the Zetas and local groups will be partnering to provide community resources and aid during the convention.

“The Philadelphia health department gave us 12,000 COVID vaccine testing kits. So we are just really happy to be able to bring these things to the community and have the community members be able to really partake in the things that we can do and leave a footprint that will be remembered for when we leave Philadelphia,” said Hollingsworth Baker.

The international president shared that it is the service initiatives that she looks forward to the most.

“That’s why I joined this organization because of the belief, the service, and the scholarship and education,” said Hollingsworth Baker.

According to Hollingsworth Baker those are part of the pillars of the organization since its inception 102 years ago, and that is something that she has promoted during her time as the organization’s international president.

“We will be donating funds to Jefferson Hospital for their NICU unit. We’re going to be putting together a COVID testing and vaccine [clinic]. That is going to be something that we have been really working with the NCNW and Good Health Wins and it is all coming to fruition with the Black Doctors Consortium and the Philadelphia health department.

“I look forward to opportunities in fellowshipping with each other because it’s been four years since we have been together like this,” said Hollingsworth Baker.

The last time was in 2018 in New Orleans.

“That’s when I was elected as the president of this organization and then we were supposed to have our centennial celebration because we turned 100 in 2020. But of course COVID came and we were never able to celebrate in June. We had to close out everything and that has been very disappointing to my members. That they were never able to enjoy time together. So it’s so important that this week we come together, not as just an organization and sisterhood.

“We’re coming together because we will be as one as we hoped we would have been in 2020,” said Hollingsworth Baker.

“We’re so excited to see each other and we’re so excited to fellowship with each other. And my members in the Atlantic Region are so excited that the Grand Boulé is in their home region where they’ll be able to shine and show everyone how we do it here in the Atlantic Region. So there are many, many opportunities for not only the fellowship and being together, but the service initiatives and of course our philanthropic initiatives besides just Jefferson Hospital. In the downtown area, we do a lot for the March of Dimes, St. Jude Hospital, the American Cancer Society, Women Veterans Rock.

“And there’s many of our partners and sponsors that are coming and we have so many surprises for them that they don’t even know that it’s going to happen until they get here and see it for themselves,” said Hollingsworth Baker.

The organization is also slated to donate over $640,000 including a $125,00 scholarship to a deserving student. Mary J. Blige is scheduled to perform a private concert. Other special guests and entertainers include Hezekiah Walker, Vivica Fox and Debbie Smith.

The Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. was founded on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 16, 1920, by Arizona Cleaver Stemons, Pearl Anna Neal, Myrtle Tyler Faithful, Viola Tyler Goings and Fannie Pettie Watts.

OBITUARIES

LEAD SINGER OF DELFONICS, WILLIAM HART, DIES

U.S. Health and Human Services Department Secretary Xavier Becerra was in Philadelphia on Friday to introduce 988, a hotline that has replaced the 10-digit Suicide Prevention Lifeline and will address other needs.

“Too many of us are experiencing suicidal crisis or mental health distress without the support or care that we need,” Becerra said a news conference at 56th and Chestnut streets. “Too many of us as parents, are worried about our children’s mental health, well-being and feel they have nowhere to turn. Too many of our families have been devastated by a record-breaking overdose epidemic.”

According to Becerra, more than 1.8 million people in Pennsylvania are living with a mental health condition.

U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans, D-3rd District, said the new 988 system might have prevented the death of 27-year-old Walter Wallace Jr., who was shot and killed in West Philadelphia by police after having a mental health crisis. He was armed with a knife. The city subsequently paid his family $2.5 million, as part of a wrongful death lawsuit.

His death in the middle of the pandemic set off protests and unrest in the city, but also started discussions about mental health crises and how to best deal with them.

To emphasize the importance of the issue, the Biden administration has invested $430 million in the system, Becerra said. Of that amount, $3.2 million was allocated to Pennsylvania and Philadelphia.

In addition to Becerra, the administration sent Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) chief Miriam Delphin-Rittmon and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairperson Jessica Rosenworcel. The FCC has been working on the 988 system for a year and a half.

“We at SAMHSA are so excited about tomorrow’s transition to the 988 lifeline, the new three digit number to access crisis support,” Delphin-Rittmon said. “We know that the pandemic has had a significant effect on the well-being of individuals and families across the country. With rising rates of anxiety, depression and devastating overdose deaths, it is crucial that people know where to turn when they are in crisis. We want everyone to know that there is hope.”

McDonough said he wanted to speak directly to veterans, their families and caregivers. When calling 988, press 1 for veterans, he said.

“That will connect you not only to trained operators, but to a network of trained mental health professionals. You will get timely access to world class care that day,” McDonough said. “If you are in a crisis, don’t wait reach out. If you feel you are in a crisis, don’t wait reach out.”

Before the news conference, the Washington, D.C. delegation was joined by Mayor Jim Kenney, veterans crisis line executive director Lisa Kearney, 988 system director John Palmieri and several other officials and mental health professionals for a panel discussion at the Consortium, a nonprofit behavior services center at 55th and Chestnut streets.

Philadelphia has for several years been moving away from the much-criticized, historically racist policing tactic known as “stop and frisk.” But with violent crime rates stubbornly high, constituents concerned, and elections approaching, some City Council members seem to be opening the door to revisit the practice.

It’s a move that has some of their colleagues — and criminal justice experts — wary.

The comments from City Council leadership came after two police officers suffered minor injuries in an Independence Day shooting that left fireworks watchers scrambling to escape. It was a high-profile incident in what has already been a violent summer.

Council President Darrell Clarke said he has been hearing from “a lot of citizens” who are asking when the city will “look at stop-and-frisk in a constitutionally enacted way.” A spokesperson for Clarke said city and state laws against illegal guns “should be much better utilized.”

Majority Leader Cherelle Parker, who is expected to announce a run for mayor this year, weighed in with similar thoughts. She said the city should use all its tools to address gun violence, including “the constitutional use of stop and frisk.”

Parker had previously sponsored a mostly symbolic amendment to the city’s charter that called the PPD to end “unconstitutional stop and frisk.” Clarke supported it too, and it passed council and got approval from voters.

Parker maintains there’s a key distinction between her past and current position: constitutionality. Courts have held that under the Fourth Amendment, police cannot stop someone unless they have reasonable suspicion that the person has committed a crime, or they are currently committing one, or they are about to. Police can’t frisk the person unless they have reason to think they’re armed and dangerous.

“I was proud to [call for an end to illegal stop and frisk],” Parker told WHYY News. “I’m going to continue to advocate for it. But used constitutionally, and if there is reasonable suspicion, I want law enforcement to be able to do their job … I don’t apologize to anyone for that perspective.”

Khalil Gibran Muhammad, a professor of history, public policy and race at Harvard’s Kennedy School, said he doesn’t think it’s surprising Philly politicians are bringing up stop and frisk amid rising gun violence.

“In good times, when crime and violence are low, people are willing to think about alternatives,” he said, referencing things like diversion programs and sentencing reform. “In bad times, people do revert to a kind of need, and a bloodlust, for immediate results.”

Similar shifts have taken place in other cities. New York City last year elected Mayor Eric Adams, a former police officer and advocate for more aggressive policing. In San Francisco, voters recently ousted their progressive district attorney, Chesa Boudin.

But Muhammad also said he thinks there’s a specific, fundamental issue with politicians advocating for “constitutional” stop and frisk: any push to have police make more stops tends to result in more illegal stops.

“It’s not clear to me that there is any such thing as a legal practice of stop and frisk,” he said.

Philly never fully quit stop and frisk

This question of whether police are capable of conducting only legal stops and searches has troubled Philadelphia for the past decade.

Stop and frisk never actually went away in the city, but in recent years police had begun moving away from broad use of the practice.

The shift began in 2010, when the Pennsylvania ACLU and a private law firm sued the city in federal court on behalf of a group of Black and Latino men whom police had stopped solely because of their race or ethnicity. The parties settled the case the following year, with the city agreeing to a consent decree.

Known as “the Bailey agreement,” it stipulated that per the federal and state constitutions, Philadelphia police must have “reasonable suspicion of criminal conduct” in order to make a stop, and that frisks should be undertaken “only where there is reasonable suspicion that the person stopped is armed and dangerous.” The city also agreed civil rights lawyers would monitor the PPD’s stop and frisk data for racial disparities.

In 2009, before the lawsuit, Philadelphia had been performing more stops per capita than any other major city. Almost 90% of the people stopped were Black or Latino.

Since then, total stops have decreased, as have illegal ones — but they haven’t gone away.

A 2020 report found that around 16% of stops were still illegal, as were 32% of the pat-downs police performed. And Black Philadelphia residents — who make up about 44% of the city’s population — made up 71% of all stops in the second half of 2019 and were 50% more likely to be illegally stopped, especially for minor “quality of life” crimes, like panhandling or carrying an open container.

Last year, a judge ordered a new step: a pilot program in a Northwest Philly police district in which officers would no longer automatically stop and frisk people for those quality of life offenses. The logic is that enforcement for these offenses is especially racially disparate, and doesn’t have much impact on safety.

As of June, five more districts have been added to the pilot.

‘People are in fear’

Disagreement over stop and frisk isn’t limited to politicians.

Asa Khalif, one of Philadelphia’s most prominent Black Lives Matter organizers, has advocated against stop and frisk for years. To him, these recent comments from Parker and Clarke felt politically motivated — designed to appeal to voters worried about gun violence, while ignoring “the pain and the anguish that Black and brown people suffered under stop and frisk.”

“They’re going to get the white vote,” he said. “I’m not afraid to say it.”

Khalif said he hasn’t heard from any Black people who support stop and frisk. But Don Jackson, an anti-violence advocate who runs an intervention group called Urban Navigation, says he hears from lots of people who like the idea. Like Khalif, Jackson is also Black.

Jackson wants guns off the street, and thinks the situation is bad enough that the mayor should call a state of emergency and reinstate random stops to look for guns. Not drugs, not outstanding bench warrants, not expired vehicle registrations — just guns.

He acknowledges an approach like that probably wouldn’t hold up in court. But he’s convinced: “If they stop between 1,000 and 1,500 people…I guarantee you that there will be less firearms on the street.”

Even the elected officials who say they’re open to stop and frisk don’t want to go that far — and others have come out strongly against any revival of the procedure.

Three progressive City Council members, Kendra Brooks and Helen Gym, who serve at-large, and Jamie Gauthier of District 3, responded to their colleagues with a statement saying that “grasping at a failed policy of the past not only sows distrust, it hampers the community safety and violence interruption investments led by our Council body.”

“What I sense is happening is that people are in fear because of what’s going on in the city, because of the dramatic spike in gun violence,” Gauthier said. “When people on council are calling for revisiting stop and frisk…it sounds like people are harkening back to how Philly was in the eighties and nineties,” she said. “That’s a scary prospect.”

Plus, Brooks said, studies have shown that stop and frisk doesn’t really get guns off the street — though it does damage trust between police and the communities they patrol.

The ACLU’s 2020 report on Philadelphia stop and frisk found a very small number of stops actually turned up illegal firearms. Police seized just 30 across 3,993 stops analyzed in that report, and in 99% of the 475 frisks reviewed from that period, police also did not take guns.

In New York City, which employed aggressive stop and frisk for more than a decade, a review by the New York Civil Liberties Union found that in more than five million total stops from 2002 to 2013, police recovered 7,778 guns — that’s a gun in 0.2% of all stops.

For now, no one on council has proposed a policy change around stop and frisk — Parker said she thinks it’s not “the job of the elected legislator” to tell police how to do their jobs — and the city’s programs aimed at reducing the practice are still in effect.

But Muhammad, the Harvard academic, said he remains convinced that this period of high crime could have lasting policy implications in lots of cities. After all, it has happened before.

“All the historical work that’s been done to talk about the limits of policing seems not to stick in times like these,” Muhammad said. “Culture is hard to change and slow to change. But increasing your police budget is one roll call vote away in the next city council meeting. So that’s what people tend to do.”