United Nations Agrees to Transition From Fossil Fuels, and Other News From the Week
We’re pleased to bring you “While You Were Out”—Verily's quick takes on the happenings of this week.
United Nations agrees to begin “transitioning” away from fossil fuels
The 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly known as COP28, concluded Wednesday with a historic agreement on fossil fuels. The final proposal called for ““transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science.”
Fossil fuels are the largest drivers of global climate change, reportedly contributing to more than 75 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. CNBC says that while conference leadership called the language “unprecedented,” feedback was mixed. The United States, represented at COP28 by envoy John Kerry, asserted that the proposal “sends very strong messages to the world.” But activists were disappointed that the agreement did not include a “phase-out” commitment requiring signatories to shift away from fossil fuels until their use is eliminated.
At times the conference erupted into contention over participants’ competing interests. COP28’s president, Sultan al-Jaber, also serves as chief of the state-run Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. In America, the Biden administration has pressured oil and gas manufacturers to actually accelerate production in the wake of global energy market shocks, including the war in Ukraine. Separately, the COP28 participants agreed a plan to establish a so-called “loss and damage fund” to assist less developed countries as they cope with disasters secondary to climate change.
The potential breakthrough comes shortly after UN scientists issued a “final warning” to leaders, indicating that the chance to stop catastrophic damage is slipping away.—Elizabeth Prendergast
Controversy erupts as Texas mother travels outside the state for abortion
A bitter discourse unfolded as Kate Cox, 31, sought the procedure to end her pregnancy with a baby diagnosed with the devastating genetic condition known as Trisomy 18.
Cox, who has two other children, is more than 20 weeks pregnant and challenged Texas’s abortion law, which only allows for terminations if the mother’s life is in danger, or she risks damage to a “major bodily function.” USA Today reports Cox’s attorneys had argued that because she would need a repeat cesarean section, her future fertility could be compromised if she continued to carry the pregnancy. They reported she had already visited the emergency room multiple times for symptoms like cramping and leaking fluid.
The Texas Supreme Court disagreed, denying her request for an exception. At the time of the ruling, Cox had already left the state to procure an abortion elsewhere. “We're taking it day by day," Cox PBS NewsHour. "It's a hard time. It's a lot of grief. We're grieving the loss of a child.”
Trisomy 18, also known as Edwards Syndrome, is an often fatal genetic disorder that typically takes the lives of fetuses early in pregnancy; almost 10 percent of babies live to celebrate their first birthdays. Former Senator Rick Santorum has a fifteen-year-old child with the condition. “Meet my [‘]incompatible w life[‘] daughter Bella,” he said on X, in a post that’s been viewed more than 170,000 times. —Margaret Brady
Well-known fertility doctor accused of impregnating patient with his own sperm
Dr. Merle Berger, a former Harvard Medical School professor who co-founded Boston IVF, has been sued for allegedly fathering a child with a patient without her awareness or consent.
Sarah Depoian and her husband visited Berger in 1980, CNN reports. She claims in her suit that the doctor proposed to solve the couple’s fertility problems by inseminating Sarah with sperm obtained from an anonymous medical resident. The procedure was successful, and she gave birth to a baby girl, named Carolyn.
That story unraveled last year when Carolyn purchased consumer DNA testing kits from 23andme and Ancestry.com. The results showed she was related to Berger’s relatives, including his granddaughter and one of his cousins. “To say I experienced shock when I figured this out would be an extreme understatement,” CNN quotes Carolyn.
For her part, Sarah says, “I am still struggling to process it. I trusted Dr. Berger fully. We thought he would act responsibly and ethically. I will never fully recover from his violation of me.”
This isn’t the first such case to roil the unregulated, Wild West world of donor conception. A Netflix documentary, Our Father, tells the story of fertility specialist Dr. Donald Cline, who fathered more than 90 children with unsuspecting patients in the 1970s and 1980s. Dr. Berger has denied the allegations in the lawsuit, and his attorney pledged in a statement that he will be vindicated in court. —Margaret Brady
Record $700 million contract signed by Dodgers
Baseball is currently in the midst of the off-season, and baseball diamonds across the United States are silent and still. The front office, business end of baseball, however, was very busy this week. On Saturday, the Los Angeles Dodgers made history by signing American League MVP Shohei Ohtani to a record setting, 10-year, $700 million dollar contract. The previous record was set in 2019 by outfielder Mike Trout, who signed with the Los Angeles Angels for $426.5 million over 12 years. Ohtani’s contract may in fact represent the largest payday ever in all of sport history, exceeding previous records set by soccer stars Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé.
As an athlete, Ohtani represents something of a unicorn in Major League Baseball: a so-called “two-way player” who can compete professionally as both a pitcher and a batter. At the conclusion of the 2022 season, Mr. Ohtani was batting a .274 average with 171 homers, and held a winning pitching record of 39-19 with an ERA of 3.01. Critics note that despite his individual achievements, the 29-year-old has never played on a winning baseball team. Last season, his team, the L.A. Angels, won 73 games and lost 89. —Elizabeth Prendergast
Good News of the Week
Baby placed in Safe Haven Baby Box in Indiana is going to be okay
An infant was found in one of Indiana’s many Safe Haven Baby Boxes last week and is reportedly “healthy and doing well,” according to local officials in Beech Grove.
The Safe Haven Baby Box at Beech Grove EMS Station was installed in September of this year, making it the 104th Baby Box to be installed in the state. Live Action News reported that this child is the seventh baby surrendered to a Safe Haven Baby Box in Indiana this year. In total, there have been 17 babies surrendered to these safety devices in the United States in 2023—including a baby who was placed in a box in Florida earlier this year and adopted by the firefighter who found her.
These “safe havens” are typically installed at hospitals and fire stations. They are climate-controlled and well-ventilated, and the exterior door automatically locks once the baby has been surrendered safely inside. Once this happens, an alarm goes off to alert authorities of the child’s arrival.
In accordance with Indiana state law, babies found in Safe Haven Baby Boxes are placed with an adoption agency rather than foster families so that they are given a permanent home. It is expected that this child most recently found in an Indiana baby box will be adopted within 30-45 days.—Hannah Ward
Watch of the Week
Santa Claus supports body safety! In this viral video, a little girl politely refused to sit on Santa Claus’s lap. Santa praised her on camera for sticking to her physical boundaries and making them known. “Way to stand up for yourself!” he said. We love to see it.
