New York Law Will Protect Doctors Who Prescribe Abortion Meds Online
In the aftermath of the indictment of a New York doctor in Louisiana, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill Monday that allows doctors to keep their names off abortion pill prescriptions. Also, Virginia moves to shield doctors who provide abortion care to out-of-state patients from extradition.
Gothamist:
New NY Law Lets Doctors Keep Their Names Off Abortion Meds
A bill Gov. Kathy Hochul signed Monday aims to make it harder for authorities in other states to prosecute New York doctors who prescribe abortion medication online. The new law allows doctors to keep their names off of prescription labels for mifepristone and misoprostol, drugs commonly used to terminate early pregnancies. Instead, they’ll be allowed to list their practices or — once lawmakers approve an agreed-upon tweak in the coming days — the addresses of the practices instead, according to Hochul’s approval message. (Campbell and Max, 12/3)
Slate:
Louisiana’s Prosecution Of A New York Abortion Provider Will Test The Entire Country
Can Louisiana extradite a New York doctor charged with a felony for sending abortion pills? (Ziegler, 2/4)
Virginia Mercury:
Doctors Who Provide Abortion, Transgender Care Could Get Legal Protections Under Virginia Bill
Virginia moved closer Monday to shielding doctors from extradition if they provide reproductive or gender-affirming healthcare to out-of-state patients, advancing legislation that underscores the deepening divide over healthcare access and state sovereignty. The Senate narrowly passed Senate Bill 1098, sponsored by Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, which would block the extradition of health care providers facing criminal charges in other states for performing medical services that are legal in Virginia. Every Republican opposed the measure. (Woods, 2/3)
KHOL/Jackson Hole Community Radio:
Abortion Bills Requiring Transvaginal Ultrasounds And Restricting Clinics Head To Wyoming Senate
Two bills aimed at restricting abortions passed the Wyoming House of Representatives last week. One bill, HB 64, requires women to undergo a transvaginal ultrasound no more than 48 hours before taking abortion medication. It includes a requirement for the ultrasound provider to tell a woman the age, length and head diameter of the embryo or fetus and give the woman the "opportunity" to view or hear the heartbeat. Another, HB 42, is the return of a bill Gov. Mark Gordon vetoed last year. It aims to up requirements of facilities performing in-clinic abortions, of which Wyoming has only one, in Casper. (Boyd-Fliegel, 2/3)
On maternal deaths —
MedPage Today:
States With More Maternal-Fetal Specialists Had Lower Rates Of Maternal Death
States with more maternal-fetal medicine physicians had lower rates of maternal mortality, according to a cross-sectional analysis of nearly 15 million births. States with a low density of these specialists had an adjusted maternal mortality rate of 24.25 per 100,000 live births compared with 16.96 per 100,000 live births for states with a high density (incidence rate ratio 0.70, 95% CI 0.58-0.85), reported Tetsuya Kawakita, MD, MS, of Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, during a presentation at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine annual meeting. (Robertson, 2/3)
