Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Arizona Physicians, Leery Of Breaking Law, Likely Won't Do Abortions
Axios Phoenix: Arizona Doctors Unlikely To Perform Illegal Abortions Even If They Won't Be Prosecuted
Attorney General Kris Mayes' promise that she won't prosecute doctors for violating the soon-enforceable abortion ban likely isn't enough to persuade doctors to break the law, Arizona abortion providers tell Axios Phoenix. (Boehm, 4/18)
NBC News: Some Pharmacists Fear Jail Time Over Murky Abortion Laws
Alarm bells ring in Matt Murray’s head when a prescription for misoprostol comes through his independent pharmacy in Boise, Idaho. ... The medication is legal — approved by the Food and Drug Administration to prevent stomach ulcers — but it can also be used for abortions, which became illegal in Idaho with few exceptions when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. (Edwards and Kopf, 4/18)
Capital B News: As Abortion Bans In Florida And Arizona Loom, Black Families Are Left Vulnerable
Abortion attacks aren’t slowing down as the clock ticks on Florida’s six-week ban and Arizona’s Supreme Court has paved the way to reinforce a Civil War-era law that criminalizes nearly all abortions. The consequences could be catastrophic for Black reproductive health, exacerbating existing disparities in access to care and alarming rates of maternal mortality, advocates and health-care providers fear. (Snipe, 4/18)
New Hampshire Public Radio: Abortion Data Collection Bill Latest Flare Up Over Reproductive Rights In NH
On a party-line vote, Republicans in the New Hampshire Senate last week approved a bill that would require abortion providers to share certain data about the procedures they perform with state public health officials. Forty-six other states already have similar laws in place, making New Hampshire an outlier in the dissemination of abortion statistics. (Bookman, 4/18)
AP: Emergency Rooms Refused To Treat Pregnant Women, Leaving One To Miscarry In A Lobby Restroom
One woman miscarried in the restroom lobby of a Texas emergency room as front desk staff refused to admit her. Another woman learned that her fetus had no heartbeat at a Florida hospital, the day after a security guard turned her away from the facility. And in North Carolina, a woman gave birth in a car after an emergency room couldn’t offer an ultrasound. The baby later died. Complaints that pregnant women were turned away from U.S. emergency rooms spiked in 2022 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, federal documents obtained by The Associated Press reveal. (Seitz, 4/19)
Reuters: Supreme Court Considers EMTALA Preemption Of State Abortion Bans
On April 24, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in Idaho v. United States and Moyle v. United States, consolidated cases asking whether the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) preempts, under certain emergency circumstances, an Idaho law banning most abortions. The Supreme Court's decision may chart a course for numerous federal and state cases brought in the wake of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that question the interplay between state laws limiting abortion, medical exceptions to those laws, and EMTALA. (4/18)
In other news about pregnancy and IVF —
AP: As Syphilis Cases Among US Newborns Soar, Doctors Group Advises More Screening During Pregnancy
With syphilis cases in U.S. newborns skyrocketing, a doctors group now recommends that all pregnant patients be screened three times for the sexually transmitted infection. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists issued new guidance on Thursday saying the screening should be done at the first prenatal visit, during the third trimester and at birth. Though the screening isn’t required, health professionals generally follow the group’s recommendations. (Ungar, 4/18)
Roll Call: In France And US, Two Wildly Different Takes On IVF
In vitro fertilization, a procedure first used more than 45 years ago, has suddenly become the topic of political debate on both sides of the Atlantic — but for wildly different reasons. In France, President Emmanuel Macron’s government is eyeing policies to promote the use of assisted reproductive technology, including IVF, to increase the nation’s declining birth rate. But French feminist groups say the proposal unduly inserts the government into private lives of women. They also worry that nationalist sentiment is driving the effort to boost birth rates. (Cohen, 4/18)
