Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Anti-Abortion-Pill Legislation Awaits Signature Of Mississippi Governor
Magnolia Tribune: Mississippi To Ban Abortion-Inducing Drugs Under Anti-Drug Trafficking Law
A measure that criminalizes the shipping or dispensing of abortion-inducing drugs has passed the Mississippi Legislature largely along party lines, with Republicans supporting the bill and Democrats voting in opposition. The bill now heads to the governor’s desk where it is believed that Governor Tate Reeves (R) will sign it into law given his strong pro-life stance. The conference report for HB 1613 states that it is unlawful for any person to knowingly or intentionally create, sell, barter, transfer, manufacture, distribute, dispense, prescribe or possess with knowledge or intent to create, sell, barter, transfer, manufacture, distribute, dispense or prescribe an “abortion-inducing drug.” (Corder, 4/2)
The Baltimore Sun: Maryland Legislature Passes Bill To Restore Emergency Abortion Care
The bill, SB 169, would enshrine in state law the requirement to stabilize patients experiencing pregnancy-related medical emergencies. Hospitals that violate this policy would be subject to financial penalties, up to $50,000 for facilities with 100 or more beds and $25,000 for those with fewer than 100 beds. The legislation now goes to Gov. Wes Moore’s desk. The right to abortion and other reproductive freedoms were enshrined in the Maryland Constitution after a ballot referendum passed in 2024. (Wilson, 4/2)
Daily Montanan: Montana Supreme Court Says Abortion Clinic Law Likely Violates Montana Constitution
The Montana Supreme Court has upheld an injunction against a 2023 Montana law that treats clinics that offer abortion access differently than other medical providers — another ruling by the high court that protected the reproductive rights of women to access abortion, even as the state passed a constitutional amendment in 2024 guaranteeing that right. (Ehrlick, 4/1)
The Salt Lake Tribune: Utah's New Constitutional Court Cancels Long-Awaited Hearing In Abortion Trigger Law Case
Republicans’ decision to send a lawsuit over Utah’s abortion trigger ban to a newly created three-judge panel will keep the law un-triggered, likely delaying a decision for several more months, while the parties wrangle over the legality of the constitutional court, judges ruled Tuesday. After a series of legal losses in cases challenging lawmakers’ actions — enacting the abortion ban, adopting gerrymandered congressional maps, and others — GOP lawmakers wanted to revamp how legal challenges to state laws are heard. The shift, legislative leaders said, would hasten decisions in such cases. (Stern and Gehrke, 4/2)
News From The States: Wisconsin Supreme Court Candidates Trade Barbs On Elections, Abortion In Sole Debate
This year the race will decide if the Court’s liberal wing will gain a 5-2 majority or if the split will remain 4-3. (Redman, 4/3)
More reproductive health care news —
NBC News: Georgia Bans Many Midwives From Practicing. Several Are Suing The State
Twice a month, Sarah Stokely travels 4½ hours from her home in Rome, Georgia, to work for a week at a birth center in Blountville, Tennessee. Stokely is a certified nurse-midwife — the title for registered nurses who specialize in midwifery. But Georgia laws make it difficult for her to practice there. (Bendix, 4/2)
AP: Things To Know If You Are Thinking Of Becoming Pregnant Later In Life
More and more women are having babies later in life. A federal report showed that 21% of all births in the U.S. were to women 35 and older in 2023, up from 9% in 1990. And this “advanced maternal age” raises risks for both moms and babies. (Ungar, 3/30)
Axios: AI Startup Helps Women Pay For Egg Freezing, Fertility
Sunfish — an AI-powered fertility platform — is introducing an egg-freezing program that uses predictive models to estimate the cost of reaching a target number of eggs. Fertility treatments are a significant contributor to debt for many families in the U.S., but unlike mortgages, student debt or car payments, the treatments usually give people little transparency into what the final bill will be. (Morrone, 4/2)
Stat: Why An Ovary Disorder May Get A New Name: Men Can Have It, Too
The curious case of agreeing on a new term for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), difficult to diagnose, hard to name when men share symptoms. (Merelli, 4/1)
