Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
As Voters Across The US Rethink Issues, One State Seems To Have Too Many
The Washington Post: From Coronavirus To Race To The Economy, Wisconsin Is A Microcosm Of The Forces Roiling America
Four years ago, the Wisconsin state fairgrounds were a scene of celebration. The nation’s newly elected president, Donald Trump, stood amid red-bauble-bedecked Christmas trees and regaled thousands of supporters with tales from the night Wisconsin propelled his improbable victory. Today, the grounds are host to a field hospital for treating coronavirus patients, row-upon-row of stark white beds to accommodate overflow from the state’s beleaguered medical centers. (Witte, 10/25)
New Jersey, Arizona, South Dakota and Montana consider marijuana sales —
AP: Election Could Stoke US Marijuana Market, Sway Congress
Voters in four states from different regions of the country could embrace broad legal marijuana sales on Election Day, and a sweep would highlight how public acceptance of cannabis is cutting across geography, demographics and the nation’s deep political divide. The Nov. 3 contests in New Jersey, Arizona, South Dakota and Montana will shape policies in those states while the battle for control of Congress and the White House could determine whether marijuana remains illegal at the federal level. (Blood, 10/25)
Californians weigh stem cell research and dialysis —
Stat: Can California Afford Stem Cell Research? Voters Are Set To Decide
This Election Day, California voters are being asked to replenish funding for the state’s ambitious stem cell research program, with a well-financed campaign that’s making heady promises about curing diabetes, paralysis, cancer, and Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. Backers of Proposition 14 also cast it as a job-creation measure, arguing the money it raises will boost the state economy by cementing the Golden State’s place as a leading incubator of successful biotech startups. But opponents say that amid the Covid-19 pandemic and wildfires, California has far more pressing needs. (McFarling, 10/26)
KHN: DeJa Vu For California Voters On Dialysis
The survival of California’s dialysis clinics is in the hands of its voters this November. Sound familiar? Voters heard the same dire campaign claim two years ago, when the dialysis industry spent a record $111 million to defeat a statewide ballot measure that would have limited clinic revenues. (Young, 10/26)
Colorado and Louisiana rethink abortion limits —
The Hill: Ballot Initiatives In Colorado, Louisiana Could Restrict Abortion Access
Abortion rights supporters and opponents have said the issue is on the ballot this November with the battle between President Trump, who considers himself "pro-life," and Joe Biden, who says he is "pro-choice." But abortion is literally on the ballot in two states where voters will decide whether to support initiatives that could restrict access to the procedure. (Hellmann, 10/24)
KHN: Colorado Initiative Would Further Limit Access In Middle America’s ‘Abortion Desert’
Colorado voters are deciding a ballot question that seeks to limit how far into pregnancy an abortion can be legally performed. While the measure would change the law only in Colorado, it would resonate throughout the Rocky Mountain states and Midwest amid an intensifying national fight, fueled by a Supreme Court vacancy, over the future of abortion. In 1967 — six years before the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision protected the right to an abortion in the U.S. — Colorado became the first state to pass a law widening access to legal abortion. More than 50 years later, it remains one of just seven states without gestational limits on the procedure, making Colorado one of the few options for people nationwide who need abortions later in pregnancy. (Blossom, 10/26)
