Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Antiabortion Group Plans City Water Tests For Abortion Drug Evidence
The Washington Post: Antiabortion Movement Seeks To Jail People For ‘Trafficking’ Illegal Pills
The largest antiabortion organization in Texas has created a team of advocates assigned to investigate citizens who might be distributing abortion pills illegally. Students for Life of America, a leading national antiabortion group, is making plans to systematically test the water Erin Brockovich-style in several large U.S. cities, searching for contaminants they say result from medication abortion. (Kitchener, 12/14)
AP: Montana Justices Weigh If Some Nurses Can Provide Abortions
Advanced practice registered nurses in Montana should be allowed to provide abortions based on a state Supreme Court ruling that guarantees residents the right to get a legal abortion from a health care provider of the patient’s choice, an attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights argued Wednesday. (Hanson, 12/15)
AP: Tennesseans Misunderstand Abortion Law, Want Exceptions
Most registered voters in Tennessee want exceptions for rape or incest in the state’s sweeping abortion ban, but they largely don’t know the specifics of what’s in the law as it stands today, according to new Vanderbilt University polling. The disconnect comes in a state that votes consistently for Republicans and has one of the strictest abortion bans in the country. Three out of four people polled think that abortion should be legal if the pregnancy results from rape or incest, an exception that doesn’t exist in current law. But fewer than 1 in 5 were able to pick which of the statements Vanderbilt provided that most closely described the current abortion law’s requirements, according to Vanderbilt pollsters. (Mattise, 12/14)
Also —
Axios: Dobbs Decision Is "Devastating" U.S. Maternal Health, Biden Administration Says
The Supreme Court's Dobbs decision to end the constitutional right to abortion has been "devastating" to maternal health and widened gaps in care as the U.S. grapples with the highest maternal mortality rate among developed nations, Biden administration officials said Tuesday. (Gonzalez, 12/14)
Axios: Democrats Look To Protect Fertility Treatments In Post-Roe Era
Democrats are moving to protect access to fertility treatments in anticipation of a raft of bills bestowing legal rights on fetuses that are expected to be introduced in state legislatures next year. (Gonzalez, 12/15)
