Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Abortion Fight Front And Center On Election Day In Kentucky, Virginia
NPR: In Key 2019 Races, Activists Gear Up For Big Fight Over Abortion
On a recent, cloudy fall afternoon, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin stood outside the governor's mansion in Frankfort, flanked by a couple dozen activists in blue T-shirts, holding signs that read, "I Vote Pro-Life." "It took me a while to figure out why I keep seeing these blue T-shirts," Bevin joked as he turned to the volunteers. "I wasn't sure who you were, but I'm just grateful to you." These activists have been door-knocking across Kentucky on Bevin's behalf, to reach 200,000 voters before the election on Nov. 5. (McCammon, 11/4)
NH Times Union: Shaheen Will Face A Strong, Anti-Abortion Foe In 2020
U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, rose to political power from a career of championing abortion rights as a strategist and field organizer 30 years ago. In 2020, we know that to win her third term, Shaheen will have to get by the most vocal, anti-abortion nominee she has faced in all her past campaigns for federal office. Since the landmark, Roe vs. Wade decision legalizing abortion in 1973, the New Hampshire House has but for two years had a majority supporting abortion rights. (Landrigan, 11/4)
The Associated Press: Oklahoma Supreme Court Blocks Abortion Law
The Oklahoma Supreme Court has temporarily blocked a ban on a second-trimester abortion procedure. The high court acted Monday after an Oklahoma abortion clinic appealed a lower court judge's decision to uphold a ban on a second-trimester abortion procedure. (11/4)
The Hill: Oklahoma Supreme Court Temporarily Blocks Law Banning Common Abortion Procedure
The preliminary injunction will remain in effect while the Supreme Court decides whether the ban is lawful. The Center for Reproductive Rights asked the court to block the ban from taking effect after an Oklahoma state trial court upheld it earlier this year. (Hellmann, 11/4)
The Associated Press: Abortion Ban Proposal Faces A Murky Future In South Carolina
South Carolina could get closer to being the latest state to pass a ban on almost all abortions Tuesday as a proposal faces another vote, but the bill’s future is murky because it does not include exceptions for victims of rape and incest. The state Senate Medical Affairs Committee is expected to pass the measure along to the full Senate floor for a possible 2020 election year fight. (Collins, 11/5)
CalMatters: How An Abortion Rights Law Ended Up Bankrolling Anti-Abortion Forces In California
In 2015, California Democrats passed a state law aimed at ensuring pregnant women get a complete picture of their options, including the right to an abortion. Little did they know that, four years later, their effort would yield a $2 million windfall for conservative legal campaigns to restrict abortion and LGBTQ rights. In an irony for the annals of California’s resistance, court documents show that reproductive rights advocates have paid a steep price for the failure of the Freedom, Accountability, Comprehensive Care, and Transparency, or FACT Act, which sought to compel anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers to disclose their license status and let women know that public family programs provide abortions. (Morain, 11/4)
Tampa Bay Times: Young Florida Doctors Find A Calling On Abortion’s Front Lines
The medical field largely treats abortion as a specialty, not an essential part of a doctor’s toolkit. And most ob-gyns don’t perform abortions. Instead, a small funnel of doctors seek out training and devote themselves to clinics and side gigs despite hate mail and death threats. That kind of harassment has spiked since the 2016 election, according to the National Abortion Federation, which keeps statistics. In medical school, stuffed curriculums typically devote less than an hour to abortion — if it’s mentioned at all. (McNeill, 11/5)
In related news —
BuzzFeed News: Global Gag Rule: Donald Trump's Anti-Abortion Policies Have Created A Nightmare For Women In Nepal
On Wednesdays and Fridays, Shikha Sharma was banned from saying the word “abortion” out loud. This makes things pretty tricky for her, because Sharma is the go-to person for everything young Nepalis want to know about sex but are too afraid to ask. (Jha and Rai, 11/2)
