Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
After Texas Enacted Abortion Ban, 10,000 More Babies Were Born
Houston Chronicle: Nearly 10,000 More Babies Born In Texas After Abortion Ban: Study
Nearly 10,000 more babies were born in Texas in the months after the state enacted a first-of-its-kind abortion ban in September 2021, according to new research from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The research, which evaluated births between April and December 2022, found that Texas’ Senate Bill 8 was associated with 9,799 additional live births. The legislation outlawed abortions after fetal cardiac activity was detected — usually around six weeks of pregnancy, when many people do not yet know they are pregnant. (Harris, 6/29)
In abortion updates from North Carolina —
North Carolina Health News: NC's New Abortion Ban Takes Effect Tomorrow
Beverly Gray, an OB-GYN at Duke Health who provides abortion care, expects that turning away people seeking abortions in North Carolina will be a daily occurrence beginning tomorrow, when the state’s new restrictions passed by Republican lawmakers take effect. Overnight, abortion access will significantly diminish as the time frame for seeking most abortions in the state drops from 20 weeks of pregnancy to 12 weeks. (Crumpler, 6/30)
AP: North Carolina Governor Signs Law Clearing Up Several Aspects Of Impending Abortion Law
Last-minute revisions to North Carolina’s new abortion restrictions that take effect this weekend were signed into law on Thursday by Gov. Roy Cooper. The Democratic governor’s decision to act quickly on changes from the Republican-controlled legislature should minimize the immediate results from a pending legal challenge. Still, a federal judge might temporarily block parts of the law that before it goes into effect Saturday. (Robertson, 6/29)
From New York and Iowa —
Politico: New York Dems Put Abortion On The Ballot In Bid To Retake The House
Left-leaning New York groups pledged $20 million Thursday to support a change to the New York State constitution to protect abortion rights that will be on the 2024 ballot — something they believe will boost turnout for Democrats in key swing House districts. A state Equal Rights Amendment will ask voters next November to codify a number of rights, including abortion and LGBTQ rights, in the state constitution. New York Democrats are hoping to replicate a model they found successful last cycle, when a constitutional abortion amendment was on the same ballot as vulnerable Democrats in Michigan. The amendment passed and those members held their seats. (Gibson, 6/29)
Axios: Abortions Drop In Iowa Post-Dobbs Decision
Abortions have decreased in Iowa following the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs decision, which ended constitutional rights to an abortion. Driving the news: A new Society of Family Planning report estimating Iowa's abortion rates from April 2022 to December 2022 shows they decreased by 48 abortions a month on average. (Ta, 6/29)
Also —
Fox News: US Catholic Bishops Issue Sharp Rebuke To Pro-Abortion Catholic Members Of Congress
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued a sharp rebuke to 31 Catholic Democratic members of Congress who have used their faith as a defense for their pro-abortion views. "Members of Congress who recently invoked teachings of the Catholic faith itself as justifying abortion or supporting a supposed right to abortion grievously distort the faith," said the June 28th statement, which was entitled, "U.S. Bishops' President and Chairmen Rebuke Distortion of Church Teaching in Abortion Statement by Members of Congress." (Rousselle, 6/29)
KFF Health News: KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': A Year Without Roe
It’s an understatement to say a lot has happened in the year since the Supreme Court overturned the nationwide right to abortion in its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. But while many of the subsequent legislative and court actions to either ban or preserve access to abortion were predicted, the decision has had other, sometimes far-reaching consequences. (6/29)
