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‘For Going Against God’s Will’ Catholic Hospital Denies Gay Man HIV Meds

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A Catholic hospital in New Jersey is accused of denying a gay and HIV-positive man his HIV medications, as one doctor on staff reportedly stated, “for going against God’s will.”

“Joao Simoes sued Trinitas Regional Medical Center in Union County Superior Court,” the Courthouse News Service reports. “He says that the hospital admitted him in August 2011, but that requests for his lifesaving medication were not honored, and his sister was denied visitation rights.”

Susan V. Borga, M.D., from the Department of Behavioral Health and Psychiatry, allegedly approached Simoes while he was confined to the hospital’s mental health wing. Borga is not named as a defendant.
Simoes says Borga was unfazed when another patient told her that he had just gotten out of prison, where he served time for murder. But her reaction was allegedly different when Simoes said that he did not work because he planned to go back to school and because of his HIV status.
Borga then allegedly asked Simoes how he got HIV, to which he responded, “I got it from unprotected sex.”
The complaint then says that “Dr. Borga closed the plaintiff’s file, put it down and looked at plaintiff with disgust on her face and asked, coldly, “Is that from sex with men?”
Simoes says he responded affirmatively and that, “immediately after hearing this, Dr. Borga proceeded to exit the room.”
After this consultation, no nurse or doctor came to see Simoes, even though he told them that he needed to take his HIV medication, according to the complaint.
When the hospital finally permitted Simoes to call his personal physician on the third day of his stay, he learned that the doctor had already spoken with Borga about Simoes’ medication, according to the complaint.
Borga allegedly responded: “You must be gay, too, if you’re his doctor.”
“Additionally, apparently realizing that plaintiff’s doctor had an accent, Dr. Borga exclaimed, ‘What, do you need a translator?’ to which plaintiff’s doctor had again responded that Dr. Borga needed to give plaintiff his HIV medication,” the complaint states.
“Dr. Borga responded to plaintiff’s doctor by stating, ‘This is what he gets for going against God’s will,’ and hung up the phone on plaintiff’s doctor.”

The University of California at San Francisco AIDS Research Institute notes:

Treatment failure may occur rapidly with poor adherence. Some studies suggest that drug resistance can develop after one week of missed medication or irregular use, or after missing as little as one dose in five. When resistance to a drug develops, it loses its effectiveness forever; in some cases, cross-resistance to other drugs occurs, further limiting treatment options.

Joao Simoes says in court documents he missed five doses as a result of the hospital’s actions. Presumably, the trial will reveal what damage was done to his health, daily well-being, and ability to survive was done by the hospital’s actions.

The non-partisan Hastings Center, which focuses on issues of bioethics, states:

  • Conscientious objection in health care cannot be framed solely as an issue of individual rights or beliefs because it always affects someone else’s health or access to care.
  • Health care providers with moral objections to providing specific services have an obligation to minimize disruption in delivery of care and burdens on other providers.

Trinitas Regional Medical Center is a Catholic hospital whose website states it has a “Reverence for Life,” of which it says:

“Recognize and respect the dignity and value of life in every stage and condition.”

Trinitas states its mission is “to provide excellent, compassionate healthcare to the people and communities we serve, including those among us who are poor and vulnerable.”

Hat-tip: Kitschmaven

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‘Mouths of Sauron’: Critics Blast ‘Mobster Tactic’ of Trump Surrogates ‘Violating’ Gag Order

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May 14, 2024

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In his remarks outside the courtroom Tuesday, Donald Trump demanded Judge Juan Merchan rescind the tailored gag order placed on him that was designed to ensure the sanctity of the trial and the safety of witnesses, jurors, court staff, and their families.

“The gag order has to come off,” Trump told reporters Tuesday morning, adding his frequent “never been anything like this in the history of our country” claim.

Judge Merchan just last week reportedly cited Trump’s own words from his own book when defending his decision to keep the gag order in place and not modify it.

“When you are wronged, go after those people, because it is a good feeling and because other people will see you doing it. Getting even is not always a personal thing. It’s just part of doing business,” Trump’s book passage reads.

But as The Washington Post reported Monday, Trump’s surrogates are saying “the forbidden stuff for him.” They “have helpfully stepped forward to offer a timely and convenient service: lodging those same attacks, while appearing at the trial in support of him.”

READ MORE: Trump Wails His Judge Was Appointed by ‘Democrat Politicians’ – That’s False

“Republican lawmakers have appeared at Trump’s trial — even entering and exiting the courtroom with him — and proceeded to say precisely the kinds of things he’s not allowed to.”

Because the “kinds of things he’s not allowed to” say violate the gag order.

Politico reports, “Trump’s surrogates continue launching verbal attacks that would violate gag order if Trump said them himself.”

But according to the text of Trump’s gag order, he is “directed to refrain from”:

“Making or directing others to make public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses concerning their potential participation in the investigation or in this criminal proceeding; Making or directing others to make public statements” about attorneys “in the case other than the District Attorney,” “members of the court’s staff and the District Attorney’s staff, or the family members of any counsel or staff member” or “any prospective juror or any juror in this criminal proceeding.”

The prosecution has not indicated it will, but it could ask the judge to examine the “directing others to make public statements” portion of the gag order.

On Tuesday, one of the most powerful elected Republicans in the country, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, became the most high-profile Trump surrogate on the planet.

RELATED: ‘Campaigning for Trump at His Criminal Trial’: Johnson Blasted for Going to NYC Courthouse

Critics are blasting Speaker Johnson, who is second in line to the presidency, for attending the trial Tuesday and for delivering remarks some are calling false, in support of the indicted ex-president and 2024 GOP presumptive nominee.

“When asked for his worldview when Mike Johnson became Speaker of the House and nobody knew anything about him he said, ‘you want to know my worldview? Go read the bible, that’s what I stand for,'” MSNBC’s Willie Geist said Tuesday. “And now today he’s at the courthouse defending the guy who’s on trial for allegedly paying off a porn star for the alleged affair he had while his wife was home with their infant son.”

Johnson and U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) are among those who went and said what the judge told Trump he could not.

Johnson strongly defended Trump Tuesday morning. And following the Trump playbook, he attacked the prosecutor, the judge, and the judge’s daughter, which could be deemed a violation of Judge Merchan’s gag order against Trump if he decides Johnson’s remarks came at Trump’s request.

Award-winning journalist Laura Bassett, the former editor-in-chief of Jezebel, responded to that video, writing, “The guy who admitted that he and his son monitor each other’s porn intake is out here publicly lying on behalf of a man who cheated on his wife with a porn star and paid to cover it up.”

Calling it “Craven,” and “lawless,” Bloomberg Opinion Senior Executive Editor Tim O’Brien remarked, “House Speaker Mike Johnson is outside the NY courthouse right now and essentially helping Trump sidestep the court’s gag order by acting as his proxy by attacking the integrity of the trial and judicial process. He’s even targeting Justice Merchan’s daughter.”

READ MORE: Johnson Would Contest 2024 Election Results Under the Same ‘Circumstances’

Congressman Donalds, who is on the short list to become Trump’s vice presidential running mate, also attacked the judge’s daughter on Tuesday, from outside the courthouse.

Political commentator Bob Cesca observed, “If you’re wondering why Vance, Tuberville, and Johnson are there, it’s because of the gag order. They’re Trump’s voice. The Mouths of Sauron,” he wrote, referring to the near-entirely evil creature from J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings.”

“BTW, asking surrogates to attack witnesses and the judge’s daughter is a violation of the gag order,” he added.

Former Denver Chief Deputy District Attorney Craig Silverman remarked, “Note how Trump gets Vance and Johnson to violate the gag order for him. Mobster tactic. Make your Trump champions violate the law right along with you. Once they are in for a dime, they are in for a dollar and stuck with MAGA.”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

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‘Campaigning for Trump at His Criminal Trial’: Johnson Blasted for Going to NYC Courthouse

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May 14, 2024

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Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is the latest high-profile Republican to travel to the Manhattan Criminal Courts Building in New York City to show his support for Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee facing a total of 88 criminal charges, including 34 felonies in his election subversion, falsification of business records case, better known as the “hush money” trial. Johnson holding a news conference Tuesday morning from the courthouse in support of the indicted ex-president.

Earlier Tuesday morning from the courthouse (video below) Trump was asked by a reporter, “are you directing surrogates to speak on your behalf?” Trump avoided the specific question but claimed, “I do have a lot of surrogates and they are speaking very beautifully, and they come from all over Washington and they’re highly-respected and they think this is the greatest scam they’ve ever seen.”

Johnson’s grip on his job has been challenged by the far-right extremists in his own caucus, led by U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) but his travels to Mar-a-Lago to see and be seen with Trump have fortified his hold.

As NCRM reported Monday, during the early days of the Trump New York criminal trial many noted the ex-president was alone. He was sitting, and at times, snoozing, alone in court, unsupported by family members or friends. That changed as the weeks went by, and now his son Eric Trump is a regular face in the courthouse, and GOP lawmakers, generally in twos, are showing up daily to act as campaign surrogates inside and outside the courthouse.

RELATED: ‘Grave Danger’: Trump’s ‘Raw Display’ of Power at Court Alarms Conservative

On Monday, U.S. Rep. Tommy Tuberville (R-GA) and U.S. Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) were the latest pair to attend the trial. Sen. Vance attacked the judge’s daughter, which prosecutors may decide to bring up to the judge as it may have violated Trump’s gag order if the ex-president directed him to do so. Congressman Tuberville, a white Christian nationalist, followed the Trump playbook, attacking the judicial system, and the jurors, whom he suggested were not U.S. citizens.

And now the Speaker of the House of Representatives, second in line to the presidency, is at the Criminal Courts Building in lower Manhattan, effectively stumping for the indicted leader of his party.

Critics are expressing outrage.

Former Chicago Tribune editor Mark Jacob, who comments on politics and the media on Substack, blasted Speaker Johnson.

“MAGA Mike Johnson is showing up at the Trump trial today to show his support for cheating on your wife with a porn star, paying her hush money, and then falsifying business records so the voting public doesn’t find out the truth,” Jacob wrote, adding: “This is Mike Johnson’s version of Christianity.”

Jared Ryan Sears, who writes The Pragmatic Humanist at Substack, lamented, “This is what half of American politics has become. It is embarrassing. There could be bills trying to solve price gouging, the border, poverty, homelessness, worker pay, or addressing any other real and current issue.”

“Instead members of Congress waste their time making a show of going to a trial for someone who had affairs, paid hush money, and covered it all up to mislead the public ahead of a close election,” Sears continued. “Then they will get in front of the cameras and say phrases like ‘weaponized justice’ and ‘lawfare’ when they know full well no such thing is happening. All so that their dear leader doesn’t mean tweet about them.”

READ MORE: Johnson Would Contest 2024 Election Results Under the Same ‘Circumstances’

Journalist Marcy Wheeler, who writes about civil liberties and national security, served up a damning indictment of Speaker Johnson: “It is newsworthy NOT just [because] the entire GOP is pro-crime, but ALSO that a man who would dictate reproductive choice and other life choices to others is backing a guy whose cover-up for f*cking multiple sex workers (without a condom!!) was charged as crime.”

Appearing to focus on the media, she added: “Speaker Mike should be GRILLED about whether he supports extramarital affairs during pregnancy. Don’t give him this stunt for free.”

Journalist Jonathan Ford of Ford News called it “an absolute disgrace,” while observing, “You don’t see Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries showing support for Senator Menendez.”

“Last week,” The Nation’s John Nichols notes, “most House Democrats voted with most Republicans to save Mike Johnson’s speakership. This week, Johnson is in a NYC courtroom to support Donald Trump. Democrats need to STOP providing cover for the most extreme Speaker in American history.”

Former Obama chief strategist and senior White House advisor David Axelrod commented, “As if this weren’t already a bizarre reality show, now we have celebrity guest courtroom gallery appearances of acolytes looking to punch their card with the Boss.”

Watch Trump’s remarks, with Speaker Johnson in the background, below or at this link.

READ MORE: Trump Wails His Judge Was Appointed by ‘Democrat Politicians’ – That’s False

 

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Trump Wails His Judge Was Appointed by ‘Democrat Politicians’ – That’s False

Published

19 hours ago

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May 13, 2024

By

During one of several rants outside the courtroom Monday during his New York trial for alleged criminal business records falsification, election interference, and “hush money,” Donald Trump repeatedly complained falsely that the judge overseeing the case was appointed by “Democrat politicians.”

Trump is well-acquainted with New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan.

Merchan was the judge who presided over the trial of Trump’s former Chief Financial Officer, Allan Weisselberg, who was convicted. He also presided over the fraud and money-laundering trial of former Trump 2016 campaign CEO and senior White House counselor Steve Bannon.

“We have a corrupt judge, and we have a judge who’s highly-conflicted,” Trump, nearly yelling, told reporters Monday afternoon. “And he’s keeping me from campaigning. He’s an appointed, New York judge, he’s appointed.”

READ MORE: ‘He Wasn’t Thinking About Melania’: Cohen Reveals Trump’s Fears in ‘Hush Money’ Testimony

“You know who appointed him? Democrat politicians. He’s appointed.”

Trump repeated his baseless claims Merchan is “corrupt” and “conflicted,” adding, “he ought to let us go out and campaign and get rid of this scam.”

Trump is incorrect about Judge Merchan’s background: he was not appointed by “Democrat politicians.”

In 2006, Republican New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed Merchan to his first judicial post, to the New York City Family Court. In 2009, Chief Administrative Judge Ann Pfau appointed Merchan as Acting Justice to the Supreme Court of New York. Pfau was appointed to her first judicial post by Republican New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

READ MORE: Johnson Would Contest 2024 Election Results Under the Same ‘Circumstances’

Trump also appeared to suggest appointed judges are somehow suspect – despite frequently bragging that he himself appointed three justices to the U.S. Supreme Court, not to mention 234 judges in total he appointed to the federal bench.

Some legal experts believe a system where judges are appointed rather than elected serves justice better.

“The quality of justice suffers when politics invades the judicial sphere, casting doubt on the impartiality of case outcomes and eroding public confidence in our nation’s system of justice,” an article at the American Bar Association reads.

Watch Trump below or at this link.

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