Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Abortion Ban Stands After Iowa Supreme Court Swats Away Appeal
Iowa Public Radio: Iowa Supreme Court Won't Reconsider Abortion Ruling
The Iowa Supreme Court on Monday denied abortion providers’ request to reconsider its decision to uphold a law banning most abortions around six weeks of pregnancy. The Court ruled last month in a 4-3 decision that the abortion ban is constitutional and that an injunction blocking its enforcement should be dissolved. However, the law banning most abortions when cardiac activity is detected has not taken effect as of Monday afternoon because a lower court has yet to dissolve the injunction. Until that happens, abortion is still legal in Iowa up to about 20 weeks of pregnancy. (Sostaric, 7/22)
PoliticoPro: House GOP Forced To Temporarily Scrap 2 Funding Bills With Abortion Riders
House Republicans have pulled two government funding bills scheduled for a floor vote this week, signaling further peril for leadership's doomed efforts to pass all 2025 spending measures before the August recess. Republicans’ funding bill for the Agriculture Department and the FDA, in addition to the Financial Services spending bill, will not be considered on the floor as originally planned, according to three sources familiar with the whipping problems. (Scholtes, 7/22)
Oklahoma Voice: Attempts To Further Restrict Abortion Fail To Cross The Finish Line In Oklahoma
Despite a near-total ban on abortion, Oklahoma’s state Legislature saw dozens of bills attempting to impose more restrictions. But none crossed the finish line to become law this session. Bills ranged in focus, from restricting “chemical abortions” and “abortion pills” to personifying fetuses and restricting travel for the procedure. Oklahoma law bans abortion, with the only exception being to save the life of the pregnant person. It does not allow exceptions for rape or incest. (Murphy, 7/22)
Michigan Advance: Anti-Abortion Researchers Back Riskier Procedures When Pregnancy Termination Is Needed, Experts Say
The day the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, the medical board that certifies OB-GYNs in America released a statement calling legal pregnancy termination and knowledge of abortion procedures “essential to reproductive health care.” But a small number of influential anti-abortion doctors have spent the last two years trying to change the reproductive health care standards in state and federal health policy, in a way that is potentially dangerous, doctors representing major medical institutions say. (Resnick, 7/21)
