Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Abortion Issue Takes Center Stage In Kentucky Gov. Race, Trump's Campaign
NBC News: New Kentucky Governor Ad Features Rape Victim Criticizing GOP On Abortion Exceptions
Abortion has become a focal point in Kentucky's race for governor less than two months before Election Day — and Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear's latest salvo paints his GOP opponent as too conservative on abortion for deep-red Kentucky. Beshear, who's running for a second term, is out with a TV ad featuring a young sexual abuse survivor who speaks directly to the camera about her experience. (Marquez, 9/20)
Lexington Herald Leader: Democrats Continue Attacking Cameron’s Abortion Stances In New Ad Featuring Rape Survivor
A new ad from the re-election campaign of Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear is the latest in a string of attacks on the GOP nominee for his stances on reproductive health care. The Wednesday ad comes on the heels of Cameron publicly softening his stance on exceptions, Planned Parenthood releasing ads against him and his position on birth control being nationally scrutinized. (Acquisto, Duvall, and Horn, 9/20)
The Washington Post: Trump, Who Paved Way For Roe Repeal, Faces Abortion Blowback From Right
The former president returned to Iowa on Wednesday, the first GOP nominating state — and one where abortion is a potent issue for many social conservatives expected to participate in January’s caucuses. During remarks in Dubuque, he touted his role in overturning Roe. “And last year I was able to do something that nobody thought was possible,” Trump said. “And you have to really think about this, study this, because its very important, we ended Roe v. Wade. I did something that for 52 years people talked, they spent vast amounts of money in fighting it, but they couldn’t get the job done. Fifty-two years they fought and they fought hard. … They couldn’t get the job done. I got the job done. I got it done.” (Itkowitz, Roubein, Dawsey and Knowles, 9/20)
The Hill: Trump Urges Supporters In Iowa To Back Abortion Ban Exceptions
Former President Trump warned Republicans they will lose elections next year unless they back exceptions to bans on abortion. “Without the exceptions, it is very difficult to win elections,” he said at a Wednesday rally in Iowa. “We would probably lose majorities [in Congress] in 2024 without the exceptions, and perhaps the presidency itself.” (Gans, 9/20)
AP: Virginia Is The Next Big Battleground For Abortion Rights And May Send A Signal For 2024
Democrat Russet Perry has knocked on thousands of doors in a swing district outside the nation’s capital as she campaigns for a seat that could decide control of the Virginia state Senate in November. The issue that comes up the most — particularly among women and even from some Republicans and independents, she says — is protecting abortion rights. (Rankin and Burnett, 9/20)
AP: Abortion-Rights Group Rebrands To Reproductive Freedom For All In Post-Roe World
NARAL Pro-Choice America, an influential abortion-rights group, announced Wednesday that it is changing its name to Reproductive Freedom for All. The rebrand was needed to better reflect how people think about abortion access little more than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court revoked the constitutional right to the procedure, according to the advocacy organization. (Kruesi, 9/20)
In news from Ohio —
The Hill: Ohio Supreme Court Allows ‘Unborn Child’ Language To Stay In Abortion Ballot Measure
Ohio’s Supreme Court ruled late Tuesday that much of the GOP-controlled state ballot board’s language to describe a November question about abortion is accurate, dealing a blow to the abortion rights groups that challenged the board’s description. (Weixel, 9/20)
AP: Ahead Of Abortion Vote, Ohio Supreme Court Has Ordered A Rewrite Of Some Misleading Ballot Language
A wildly divided Ohio Supreme Court ruled late Tuesday that only one element of the disputed ballot language for describing a closely watched fall abortion rights question is misleading and must be rewritten. The decision lets stand most of the word choices targeted in a lawsuit by Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights, the pro-abortion rights ballot campaign, as well as the substitution of “unborn child” for “fetus,” which it chose not to dispute. (Carr Smyth, 9/20)
On other developments relating to abortion across the country —
Oklahoma Watch: Oklahoma Abortion Laws Force Women To Travel For Life-Saving Care
Magon Hoffman had to travel 600 miles for an abortion after Oklahoma passed confusing restrictions that led doctors to refuse the procedure. (Bryen, 9/20)
Axios Indianapolis: Indiana Abortions Fell Even Before The Ban Went Into Effect
Even before Indiana's near-total abortion ban took effect last month, the state already saw its number of abortions drop in 2023 compared to 2020. In the first six months of 2023 Indiana saw about 3% fewer abortions than during the same period in 2020, according to new data from the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion rights research and policy group. (Hurt, 9/20)
AP: Illinois Man Pleads Guilty To Trying To Burn Down Planned Abortion Clinic
A 73-year-old man has pleaded guilty to driving a car into a planned abortion clinic in eastern Illinois and trying to set the building on fire earlier this year, prosecutors said Wednesday. Philip J. Buyno of Prophetstown, Illinois, entered the plea Tuesday to a federal charge of attempting to use fire to damage a building used in interstate commerce. (9/21)
