Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Abortion Pills Will Soon Be Illegal Without A Prescription In Louisiana
ABC News: Louisiana Governor Signs Bill Classifying Abortion Pills As Controlled Substances Into Law
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said Friday he has signed a first-of-its-kind bill making abortion pills controlled substances into law. The law puts the abortion pill regimen -- mifepristone and misoprostol -- in the same category as opioids and other addictive medications. The law makes it illegal for people to possess the drugs without a prescription in Louisiana, which has a near-total ban on abortion. The bill does say the drugs can be used for non-abortion reasons and women will not be punished. The bill will go into effect on Oct. 1. (Deliso and Oppenheim, 5/24)
NPR: Nebraska Voters Could Face Two Conflicting Abortion Questions This Fall
Opposing petition drives in Nebraska could present voters with competing choices on abortion. The one with the most votes wins. (Rembert, 5/27)
On 'crisis centers' —
The Kansas City Star: Federal Guidelines Could Cut Spending On Pregnancy Centers
For years, Missouri lawmakers have redirected millions from a federal grant program intended to help low-income families to a state program aimed at steering women away from receiving abortions despite the state’s strict ban on the procedure. (Sago, 5/27)
Slate: A Crisis Pregnancy Center Is Accusing A Former Patient Of Domestic Terrorism. She's Fighting Back.
Hannah Kamke wanted medical care—she wanted to confirm whether she was pregnant, and if so, she wanted to terminate. Instead, she stumbled onto a crisis pregnancy center that she claims lied to her about her pregnancy status and later slapped her with a lawsuit accusing her of domestic terrorism. Today, CompassCare, an anti-abortion “crisis pregnancy center,” is trying to weaponize a pro-choice law known as the FACE Act against Kamke in federal court while publicly disparaging her as a violent and dangerous extremist. Kamke is fighting back, accusing the clinic of misconduct and demanding damages of her own. (Stern, 5/28)
More abortion news —
The New York Times: The Conservative Christian Network That Took Down Roe V. Wade
It happened almost by accident, over cocktails. Exactly the kind of accident that Leonard Leo intended to happen at his Federalist Society’s annual conference — a three-day gathering of the conservative tribe and a strategy session for right-wing lawyers, officials and judges that drew both big names and those who had lower profiles but were no less ambitious. Nine days after Donald Trump won the 2016 election, the halls of the Mayflower Hotel, just blocks from the White House, were adorned with twinkling Christmas lights and abuzz with the possibilities of a future that had changed overnight. Hillary Clinton, the woman the anti-abortion movement feared more than perhaps anyone, had failed to win the presidency. And Leo and the conservative legal movement that he worked for years to create were about to reclaim power. With that power would come the chance to do what seemed unthinkable until this moment: strategize to take down Roe v. Wade. (Dias and Lerer, 5/28)
NBC News: The Rise Of ‘Abortion Abolitionists’ Targeting Women, Doctors And Donald Trump
Operation Save America members promote legislation that would pave the way for women to be prosecuted and potentially locked up for ending a pregnancy. (Atkins, 5/26)
The New York Times: The Unlikely Women Fighting For Abortion Rights
For a long time, many women who had abortions because of catastrophic fetal diagnoses told their stories only privately. Grieving pregnancies they dearly wanted and fearing the stigma of abortion, they sought the closely guarded comfort of online communities identified by the way many doctors had described the procedure — TFMR, or “termination for medical reasons.” In the two years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, their pain has been compounded into anger by new abortion bans across the country. While these women account for a fraction of abortions in the United States, they have emerged as the most powerful voices in the nation’s post-Roe debate, speaking out against bans with their stories of being forced across state lines and left to feel like criminals in seeking care. (Zernike, 5/27)
Stat: Sickle Cell Pregnancy Risks Amplified In A State With Abortion Ban
Here are some things A. was told when she arrived at the hospital one night in June 2023. That she couldn’t have the pain medicine she usually got for a sickle cell crisis because she was six weeks pregnant, but she could have Tylenol. That if she just took her blood thinner everything would be fine. That she needed to leave, and if she still felt bad by the time she’d wheelchaired out into the parking lot, she could turn around and check herself back into the emergency room. She asked to speak to someone higher up. She was angry, but mostly she was in pain: crying pain, pain that made it hard to move and hard to speak, pain that other people couldn’t understand, that sometimes made her wish to be in a coma, anything to make it go away. Her blood pressure was spiking. She knew from experience that, left untreated, this kind of crisis could lead to a seizure. (Boodman, 5/28)
WCVB: Massachusetts Man Accused Of Misleading Woman Into Taking Abortion Pill, DA Says
A Massachusetts man is accused of misleading a woman he was dating into taking medication to end her pregnancy, the Middlesex County District Attorney said. Authorities say Robert Kawada, 43, of Brookline, was charged with poisoning, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a pregnant person and assault and battery on a household or family member. According to authorities, Kawada and the victim were dating and the victim became pregnant. Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Watertown Chief of Police Justin Hanrahan say Kawada secretly gave the victim medication under the guise that he was giving her iron pills and vitamins. Authorities said the medication was actually intended to end the pregnancy. (Ganley, 5/27)
