Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Abortion-Related Content Withdrawn By Tech Platforms, Groups Contend
The New York Times: Abortion Groups Say Tech Companies Suppress Posts And Accounts
TikTok has briefly suspended the account of Hey Jane, a prominent telemedicine abortion service, four times without explanation. Instagram has suspended Mayday Health, a nonprofit that provides information about abortion pill access, without explanation as well. And the search engine Bing has erroneously flagged the website for Aid Access, a major seller of abortion pills online, as unsafe. The groups and women’s health advocates say these examples, all from recent months, show why they are increasingly confused and frustrated by how major technology platforms moderate posts about abortion services. (Schmall and Maheshwari, 6/11)
AP: Washington Will Make Clear That Hospitals Must Provide Emergency Abortions, Gov. Jay Inslee Says
Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday said Washington will spell out in state law that hospitals must provide abortions if needed to stabilize patients, a step that comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule this month on whether conservative states can bar abortions during some medical emergencies. There is no indication that patients have been denied emergency abortions in Washington, but the Democrat said during a news conference in Seattle he wanted to remove any doubt that hospitals were required to provide those services if necessary. (Johnson, 6/11)
Chicago Sun-Times: Illinois' Planned Parenthoods See Uptick In Abortion Seekers
Planned Parenthood clinics in Illinois are treating a record number of patients as the anniversary approaches for the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. More patients are also traveling greater distances to get abortions in Illinois, Planned Parenthood of Illinois reported Monday. (Washburn, 6/12)
San Francisco Chronicle: Planned Parenthood Privately Opposed Three Abortion Shield Laws
As Democratic lawmakers in several states worked to enact shield laws to protect doctors offering telehealth abortion services to patients in states where abortion is banned or restricted, an unexpected hurdle emerged: Planned Parenthood. The abortion rights group privately lobbied officials in California, New York and Massachusetts against the novel state laws, saying they could be risky for providers and damaging to efforts to protect existing abortion care. (Stein, 6/11)
San Francisco Chronicle: Thousands Of Out-Of-State Abortion Seekers Rely On Two Dozen Doctors From Telehealth Shield States
Like any other virtual visit, doctors in a handful of states log onto their computers, call patients and prescribe medication. Except their patients live in other states — and in some ways, another world. The medical providers — fewer than two dozen of them, only two of whom live in California — prescribe medication abortions for people who live in states that restrict or ban it. (Stein, 6/12)
