Honoring Alex Pretti’s Moral Courage and the Cost of Caring; The Hastings Center for Bioethics, February 17, 2026

Connie M. Ulrich, Mary D. Naylor and Martha A. Q. Curley , The Hastings Center for Bioethics; Honoring Alex Pretti’s Moral Courage and the Cost of Caring

"The death of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse who was killed last month in an anti-immigration protest in Minneapolis, is, first and foremost, a devastating loss for his loved ones. But it has also shaken the nursing profession to the core. 

People often encounter nurses at the bedside when they  are ill or someone close to them is ill. But nurses also have a long history of advocating for social justice in their communities, speaking out against unjust policies, challenging unsafe practices, and advancing public health reforms.

The 2025 Code of Ethics for Nurses reflects this activism. It calls on all nurses to be civically engaged and to work toward policies and systems that have positive ends for the communities in which we live and work. Alex met this call. 

Alex used his ICU training to help someone in need; it was second nature to him and reflected his primary obligation as a registered nurse to protect the rights and well-being of patients, families, and communities. He lost his life because he helped a woman during a protest against federal immigration action in Minneapolis. Pretti stepped in front of the woman, who was on the ground, to protect her from being pepper sprayed by U.S. Border Patrol agents. Agents then pinned Pretti to the ground and shot him.

Nurses are no strangers to conflict and moral turmoil. They take a professional and ethical oath to care for anyone — victim or perpetrator — regardless of their identity or ideological belief. But Alex’s death exposes a stark and troubling reality for every nurse and healthcare provider: Immigration enforcement agents are now occupying spaces that should be protected in hospitals, waiting rooms, lobbies, and clinics. These are places where patients must feel safe and trust that they will receive care without discrimination and be protected from intimidation. 

The presence of immigration enforcement agents in these places is creating profound moral distress and a climate of deep fear for all those who deliver care and for the people who need it most within these buildings. Nurses and other healthcare providers are caught in the age-old dilemma between what is ethical and what is legal: They question what they ought to do when faced with immigration enforcement agents standing outside hospital rooms and observing the care they are ethically and professionally obligated to protect.

When nurses and other healthcare providers cannot meet their ethical duties to protect the rights and welfare of their patients, this distress can intensify into a deeper wound with lingering residue of regret and a searing violation of their sense of integrity. 

For their part, patients may withhold critical health information, become afraid to ask questions, and mistrust health professionals when immigration enforcement agents are present. Patients who are immigrants are most vulnerable to these harms, but other patients may also experience them. The harms – to healthcare providers and patients – can ultimately compromise ethical decision-making, patient-and family-centered care, and the overall quality of care that all patients deserve, and healthcare providers are trained to deliver.

The patients and families cared for by Alex will always remember him. Nurses will remember Alex’s sacrifice – that his caring extended beyond the walls of his hospital to the stranger he protected in his community. 

Nurses can honor Alex’s moral courage through our individual and professional resolve. We must say no more to the infiltration of immigration enforcement into healthcare spaces that were previously off limits to them. We must speak out on re-establishing “safe zones,” hospital-wide policies that limit enforcement access, and confidential reporting mechanisms that reflect the humanity of the nursing profession towards those we took an oath to serve. 

May a better and more humane world prevail, reminding each of us that moral courage carries risk, but it also helps us rise to the occasion when change and moral repair are needed most. We are at that moment.

Connie M. Ulrich, PhD, RN, is a registered nurse and professor of nursing and of medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing and a Hastings Center Fellow. LinkedIn: connieulrich1, X: @cm_ulrich

Mary D. Naylor, PhD, RN, is a registered nurse and professor of gerontology and nursing at Penn’s School of Nursing. LinkedIn: Mary_Naylor,  X: @MaryDNaylor

Martha A.Q. Curley, PhD, RN, is a registered nurse and professor of pediatric nursing at Penn’s School of Nursing.LinkedIn: Martha-a-q-curley, X: maqcurley, Bluesky: @maqc.bsky.social"

Born Deaf and Blind, She’s Caught in Trump’s Anti-Diversity Crusade; The New York Times, December 15, 2025

Sonia A. Rao

Visuals by Jamie Kelter Davis

, The New York Times ; Born Deaf and Blind, She’s Caught in Trump’s Anti-Diversity Crusade

[Kip Currier: Another heartbreaking example showcasing the seemingly endless cruelty and indifference of this administration to vulnerable human beings.

What reasonable, compassionate person would cut programs like the Wisconsin Deafblind Project?

What person of faith can justify believing that federal and state governments shouldn't step up to help the "least among us" and families who are in need?

Yet millions can be allocated for building a ballroom addition to the White House and green-lighting tax breaks for billionaires to buy more mansions, super-yachts, and islands?]

[Excerpt]

"Casey and Leah Garner wanted a big family. The Wisconsin couple had dreamed of having at least six children by the time they were in their 30s. But after years of struggling with infertility, they decided to adopt.

At the hospital three years ago, meeting the newborn who would become their daughter, Mr. Garner was the first to notice the tiny flaps of skin where her ears should be. Annie, the child they were adopting, was deaf.

Over the next few months, as they got to know their daughter, the Garners would discover more challenges, including poor vision, a developmental disability and weak muscles...

He discovered the Wisconsin Deafblind Project, a state program for the families of children with combined vision and hearing loss. It made a tremendous difference as they learned to parent Annie, the Garners said.

They met other families experiencing the same thing. A mentor taught them sign language. Annie got sensory toys and Braille books. And she even made a best friend with a similar condition.

Then in September, the Trump administration canceled the five-year, $918,000 grant for the program, which supports about 170 children in Wisconsin like Annie. It also ended a $10.5 million grant used to recruit and retain special education teachers in the state."

Marine jumps down onto New York City subway tracks to save man; Task & Purpose, December 12, 2025

JEFF SCHOGOL, Task & Purpose; Marine jumps down onto New York City subway tracks to save man

"Marine Sgt. Derrick McMillian was waiting for the subway in Manhattan when he heard a commotion. He saw that a man had fallen onto the tracks and was struggling to stand up.

A recruiter based in New York City, McMillian, realized that a train was about 2 minutes away. Without hesitating, he jumped onto the tracks and went over to the man, whom he was afraid would stumble onto the electrified third rail.

“I saw people were more just kind of like watching, wondering, who’s going to help this guy,” McMillian told Task & Purpose. “I’m seeing him trying to get up and he can’t get up. It just felt normal and natural to go down and help him out."...

When asked why he sprang into action, McMillian cited a lesson he learned from one of his staff sergeants: People expect that Marines will always help them out, no matter who they are or what they look like.

“I just didn’t want to be a bystander,” McMillian said. “I didn’t want to see this man die. So that was what was motivating me.”

Down to $1.18: How Families Are Coping With SNAP Cuts; The New York Times, November 7, 2025

Eric Adelson, Mary Beth Gahan, Sean Keenan, Lourdes Medrano, Christina MoralesSonia A. Rao, Dan Simmons and Kevin Williams, The New York Times; Down to $1.18: How Families Are Coping With SNAP Cuts

"In New Jersey, a single mother struggled to figure out how to feed her two young sons with $50.

In Oklahoma, a 61-year-old woman questioned whether driving to a food pantry was worth the gas money.

And in Colorado, a woman grabbed food from a Walmart dumpster.

For the 42 million people who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, the country’s largest anti-hunger program, it has been a chaotic, nerve-racking week.

Because of the government shutdown, the Trump administration initially sought to stop supplying benefits. Lawsuits and court rulings and a Trump appeals created further confusion. By Friday, the Supreme Court paused an order from a federal judge that would have required the White House to fully fund the program.

For many recipients, the legal battle meant one thing: a search for sustenance.

The New York Times asked dozens of SNAP recipients over the past week how they were coping. In interviews, they talked about the confusion and anxiety, as well as the hard choices. Here are some of their stories."

The Tull Family Foundation donated a large sum of money and over 1,300 pounds of meat and produce to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank; The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 7, 2025

LINDSAY SHACHNOW , The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; The Tull Family Foundation donated a large sum of money and over 1,300 pounds of meat and produce to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank

"A delivery of more than 1,300 pounds of meat and produce to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank on Thursday came as the Tull Family Foundation stepped up to help out amid an ongoing government shutdown that has left millions across Pennsylvania without access to food assistance.

The food bank, which works in more than 10 counties in southwestern Pennsylvania, estimates a hefty food and monetary donation from the foundation founded by Thomas and Alba Tull will provide more than 150,000 meals to people in need.

The contribution from the foundation tied to the billionaire minority owner of the Steelers reflects a surge in efforts across the community and the country to keep food supplies flowing to those in need. 

On Nov. 1, SNAP cards used by 2 million Pennsylvanians to supplement their grocery budgets were emptied as a result of the shutdown of the federal government. Local food banks — which are designed to provide added support to people receiving SNAP benefits — have been overwhelmed."

Trump is threatening the basic needs of poor Americans. How low he has sunk; The Guardian, November 7, 2025

Robert Reich , The Guardian; Trump is threatening the basic needs of poor Americans. How low he has sunk

[Kip Currier: This is a very persuasive opinion piece by Robert Reich on moral authority and moral sustainability. I encourage everyone to reflect on these observations (excerpted below) about the contrast between FDR's actions in the 1930's and Trump's actions now and share them with others. Each of us has a choice we can make as to which approach we support and advance: adding more and more wealth to the ultra-rich or showing compassion and generosity to persons in need.

For those who follow a religious tradition, too, ask yourself which approach your higher power would support? Giving more money to a billionaire -- even potential trillionaire Elon Musk -- or providing compassionate assistance to a school with hungry children, a military family experiencing food scarcity, or a disabled individual with ongoing healthcare needs who is unable to work?

Realistically, we can't imbue a moral conscience or basic sense of decency upon those who even now emulate the Gilded Age Robber Barons, as Trump's Halloween Great Gatsby party unequivocally demonstrated while SNAP food benefits were being eliminated. However, we can make a choice each day about what each of us can do to help someone in need and support political candidates and organizations who are helping those less fortunate than we are.]

Eighty-eight years ago, in his second inaugural address, Franklin D Roosevelt told America that “the test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”

It was not a test of the nation’s military might or of the size of the national economy. It was a test of our moral authority. We had a duty to comfort the afflicted, even if that required afflicting the comfortable.

The Trump regime has adopted the reverse metric. The test of its progress is whether it adds to the abundance of those who have much and provides less for those who have too little.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/nov/07/trump-snap-medicaid-moral-authority

[Excerpt]

"How low Trump has sunk.

Eighty-eight years ago, in his second inaugural address, Franklin D Roosevelt told America that “the test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”

It was not a test of the nation’s military might or of the size of the national economy. It was a test of our moral authority. We had a duty to comfort the afflicted, even if that required afflicting the comfortable.

The Trump regime has adopted the reverse metric. The test of its progress is whether it adds to the abundance of those who have much and provides less for those who have too little. It is passing this test with flying colors.

What is the Democrats’ demand amid the shutdown? That lower-income Americans continue to receive subsidized healthcare. Otherwise, healthcare premiums for millions of lower-income Americans will soar next year in large part because the Trump Republican One Big Beautiful Bill Act (really, Big Ugly Bill) slashed Obamacare subsidies.

Republicans had rammed the Big Ugly Bill through Congress without giving Senate Democrats an opportunity to filibuster it because Republicans used a process called “reconciliation”, requiring only a majority vote of the Senate.

The Big Ugly Bill also requires Medicaid applicants and enrollees – also low-income – to document at least 80 hours of work per month

Many people dependent on Medicaid won’t be able to do this, either because they’re not physically able to work or won’t be able to do the required paperwork to qualify for an exemption from the work requirement.

The Congressional Budget Office, as assessed by KFF, estimates the work requirement will be the largest source of Medicaid savings, reducing federal spending on the low-income Americans by $326bn over 10 years and causing millions to become uninsured.

All told, the Big Ugly Bill cuts roughly $1tn over the next decade from programs for which the main beneficiaries are the poor and working class, and gives about $1tn in tax benefits to the richest members of our society.

It is the most dramatic reversal of FDR’s moral test in American history.

By the time of FDR’s second inaugural address in 1937, most of the country was still ill-housed, ill-fed, and ill-clothed. Yet we were all in it together. The fortunes of the robber barons of the Gilded Age had mostly been leveled by the Great Crash of 1929...

Trump is throwing a huge party for America’s wealthy – giving them tax cuts and regulatory rollbacks to ensure that their wealth (and support for him) continues to grow.

Meanwhile, he is throwing to poor and working-class Americans the red meat of hatefulness – hate of immigrants, people of color, the “deep state”, “socialists”, “communists”, transgender people and Democrats.

This is the formula strongmen have used for a century – more wealth for the wealthy, more bigotry for the working-class and poor – until the entire facade crumbles under the weight of its own hypocrisy.

On Tuesday, millions of American voters refused to go along with this unfairness. They repudiated, loudly and clearly, the formula Trump and his regime have used.

It is the responsibility of all of us to return the nation to a path that is morally sustainable."