Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Abortion Upheaval In US Clouds International Family Planning Aid
The Guardian: Biden Urged To Clarify That Abortion Aid Abroad Unaffected By Roe V Wade Ruling
A group of senators on Thursday sent a letter to Samantha Power, head of the US Agency for International Development, asking her to address “confusion” and make clear to aid recipients that the changing landscape of abortion rights in the United States does not affect USAID’s support for “the full range of family planning and reproductive health care services” permitted under the law. ... Reproductive rights advocates say that the 1973 Helms amendment – which restricts overseas aid for abortion – has led to many thousands of preventable maternal deaths since its passage, disproportionately affecting brown and Black women in poor countries and undermining healthcare systems that are reliant on US support. (Yachot, 8/12)
In the latest developments from Iowa, Florida, and Utah —
Iowa Public Radio: Reynolds Asks District Court To Reinstate Six-Week Abortion Ban
Gov. Kim Reynolds has filed a motion asking a district court to lift an injunction on a 2018 law that would ban abortions at around six weeks of pregnancy. (Krebs, 8/11)
Bloomberg: ACLU Asks Florida Supreme Court To Review 15-Week Abortion Ban
Health-care providers backed by the American Civil Liberties Union asked the Florida Supreme Court to review their challenge to the state’s new ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, which took effect July 1. (Larson, 8/11)
Salt Lake Tribune: AG’s Office Asks Permission From Utah Supreme Court To Appeal Hold On Abortion Trigger Law
One month after a district court judge granted a preliminary injunction on Utah’s abortion trigger law, the attorney general’s office is asking the Utah Supreme Court to allow it to appeal the hold on SB174. (Anderson Stern, 8/11)
In other abortion news from Nebraska, Illinois, Tennessee, Virginia, and tribal land —
The Washington Post: Facebook Had Little Choice But To Surrender Data In Nebraska Abortion Case
Facebook faced political scrutiny this week after it was revealed the company had handed over private messages between a young woman and her mother to Nebraska authorities investigating the death and disposal of a fetus. The hashtag #DeleteFacebook trended on Twitter as activists decried the social media giant’s role in helping to prosecute what looked to many like a young woman’s efforts to end her pregnancy. In the face of the pushback, Facebook said the search warrant they received didn’t mention abortion but declined to say how the company would have responded if it had been clear the case was about an abortion. (Nix and Dwoskin, 8/12)
NPR: Clinics In Neighboring States Team Up To Provide Abortion Care
The Waukegan clinic is Planned Parenthood of Illinois' busiest for out-of-state abortion patients. After Roe fell, 60% of patients came to this clinic from outside the state – mostly from Wisconsin. In fact, the organization opened in Waukegan two years ago with Wisconsin in mind, knowing that if Roe v. Wade did fall, access to abortion in that state would greatly diminish. (Schorsch, 8/11)
KHN: Abortion Is Just The Latest Dividing Line Between The Twin Cities Of Bristol And Bristol
The community of Bristol is proud to straddle the border between two states. Tennessee flags fly on the south side of State Street, Virginia flags on the north. A series of plaques down the middle of the main downtown thoroughfare mark the twin cities’ divide. A large sign at the end of town reminds everyone they’re right on the state line. (Whitehead, 8/12)
Mother Jones: Abortion Was Already Inaccessible On Reservation Land. Dobbs Made Things Worse
Native American tribes are sovereign nations that have a government-to-government relationship with the United States. Tribes have the right to make many laws on their land and for their citizens—and in theory, that right applies to making decisions about health care, including abortion. But in practice, decades of state and federal laws have limited tribal nations’ ability to provide reproductive health services, leaving Native people with disproportionate barriers to abortion access. In a post-Roe world, the obstacles to abortion access on tribal land have only gotten greater. (Hofstaedter, 8/12)
On the 2022 elections —
Stateline: Abortion Ballot Measures Seen As Critical — But Tricky — Strategy
Two more initiatives opposing abortion rights and three supporting it are slated for ballots in November — the most on record in a single year. And state lawmakers and advocates already are preparing ballot initiatives in a handful of states for the 2023 and 2024 elections. But legal and political experts on both sides of the issue remain circumspect about what the Kansas vote may mean for future elections in the rest of the country. (Vestal, 8/11)
Indy Star: Indiana Abortion Law: Here's How It Could Impact General Election 2024
Less than a day after the passage of Indiana's near-total abortion ban, Democrats called out an Indiana Republican candidate in one of the most competitive districts in the state for making a change to his website: Fred Glynn, who is running Carmel's House District 32, removed a line stating that he believed life begins at conception. (Lange, 8/12)
The New York Times: Progressives Push Democrats To Make Their Fight About Freedom, Too
Democrats at every level of the party and of varying ideological stripes — including President Biden, abortion rights activists in Kansas and, now, a constellation of left-leaning groups — are increasingly seeking to reclaim language about freedom and personal liberty from Republicans. It is a dynamic that grew out of the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June, and one that is intensifying as more states navigate abortion bans while Republicans nominate election deniers for high office. (Glueck, 8/12)
How abortion is portrayed in pop culture and different religions —
Vox: Abortion On Screen: Why Hollywood Keeps Getting It Wrong
We’re a screen-soaked culture, and that means that what we see on TV and in movies often serves as a framework to look at the world around us. That’s certainly true for abortion. It’s still rare to see an abortion depicted, and even more rare to see it in a situation that matches the circumstances of most abortions in America; research has found that the most common abortion patient is a low-income, unmarried young mother, without a college degree, who is seeking her first abortion. The majority of abortion patients in America are non-white. Yet that’s not the average depiction. And this affects not just what people think about abortion, but how viewers treat people who seek abortions, as well as how they think about public policy. (Wilkinson, 8/9)
PBS NewsHour: Faith Leaders Discuss How Their Religions Approach The Divisive Issue Of Abortion
While many say the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade is the answer to decades of prayer, some faith leaders fear their religious rights will be infringed amid new abortion restrictions. Amna Nawaz spoke with three faith leaders about how their religions approach the issue of abortion. (Nawaz and Couzens, 8/11)
