Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Alabama's Law May Seem Jarring To Outsiders, But Anti-Abortion Roots Are Buried Deep In The State
The New York Times: In Alabama, Opposition To Abortion Runs Deep
Even before Alabama passed one of the nation’s most restrictive bans on abortions in decades, the procedure had been in decline in the state after years of limits. The remaining doctors who perform abortions — they have dwindled to a handful — work at only three clinics in a state where there once were more than a dozen. Dr. Yashica Robinson, who provides abortions in Huntsville, said she had been the target of a letter-writing campaign to have her hospital privileges revoked. Even some fellow medical workers, she said, have showed signs of hostility toward her. (Williams and Blinder, 5/16)
The New York Times: Abortion And The Future Of The New South
Two years ago, I got a text from a cousin I love announcing that she had moved to New Orleans, leaving behind a one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn and a job of millennial fever dreams. At 26, Tess was head of research and development for Christina Tosi and her baking empire, Milk Bar, the great 21st-century dessert disrupter. At the age of 12, Tess was already selling her brownies to a gourmet market on Cape Cod; her ascent seemed the equivalent of an anointment at J.P. Morgan for the child who went to bed calculating short positions on foreign currencies. (Bellafante, 5/16)
The Washington Post: Before Alabama's Abortion Ban, Gov. Kay Ivey Pushed A Deeply Conservative Agenda
With a quick scribble of her pen Wednesday afternoon, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) essentially made abortion in her state illegal in all circumstances, with zero exceptions for rape or incest. Doctors who perform the procedure face a penalty of up to 99 years in prison. As other Republican-controlled states are rubber-stamping abortion restrictions in a legal gambit to challenge Roe v. Wade, Alabama’s new law has left even some staunch abortion opponents tepid. On Wednesday, televangelist Pat Robertson called the bill “extreme” and said Alabama politicians had “gone too far.” (Swenson, 5/16)
The Washington Post: Alabama Now Has The U.S.’s Strictest Abortion Law. Northern Ireland’s Is Even Stricter.
The passage of Alabama’s strictest-in-the-nation abortion bill has renewed calls to overhaul Northern Ireland’s abortion regulations, which are among the most restrictive in the developed world. Under the Alabama abortion legislation, signed by Republican Gov. Kay Ivey on Wednesday, doctors who perform abortions could face up to 99 years or life in prison, but a pregnant woman would not face penalties. In Northern Ireland, both women who have abortions and those who assist them can face up to life in prison. (Adam, 5/16)
