Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Court Blocks Buffer Zone Around A Kentucky Abortion Clinic
AP: Appeals Court Halts Louisville Abortion Clinic Buffer Zone
A federal appeals court has temporarily barred the enforcement of a Louisville city ordinance that creates a buffer zone around health care centers, including a downtown abortion clinic that attracts protests. The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled the buffer zone infringes on the First Amendment rights of protesters who demonstrate in front of the EMW Women’s Surgical Center. The lawsuit challenging the buffer zone was brought by Sisters For Life and the Kentucky Right to Life Association, along with a few individual protesters. (12/22)
In other health news from across the U.S. —
Salt Lake Tribune: This Year, At Least 159 Homeless Utahns Died. The Death Toll Is Likely Higher, Officials Say
Rhonda Hufferd died in May. She was 52 years old, short and blonde. Born in Tacoma, Washington, she and her husband James were living, unsheltered, in Salt Lake City for about eight years before her death. (Harkins, 12/22)
AP: Have A Safe Trip: Oregon Trains Magic Mushroom Facilitators
At a woodsy retreat center in Oregon, some 30 men and women are seated or lying down, masks covering their eyes and listening to serene music. They are among the first crop of students being trained how to accompany patients tripping on psilocybin, as Oregon prepares to become the first U.S. state to offer controlled use of the psychedelic mushroom to the public. (Selsky, 12/23)
San Francisco Chronicle: S.F. School District’s Emergency Removal Of Toxic Soil Raises Broader Questions
Workers were to begin digging up part of a courtyard and garden at a San Francisco school this week after high levels of lead and arsenic were found under two feet of soil during a routine inspection. (Tucker, 12/22)
AP: Noem Appoints New Health Secretary
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem on Thursday appointed the owner of a South Dakota health clinic company to lead the state’s Department of Health following the retirement of the previous secretary of health earlier this week. The Republican governor named Melissa Magstadt, who also served two terms as a Republican in the state House of Representatives, as her next health secretary. (12/22)
KHN: Colorado Considers Changing Its Red Flag Law After Mass Shooting At Nightclub
A Nov. 19 shooting that killed five people and wounded 19 at a Colorado Springs nightclub has officials considering changes to strengthen Colorado’s red flag law, particularly in self-declared “Second Amendment sanctuaries,” where emergency petitions to remove a person’s guns are filed less frequently and usually denied. The three-year-old state law allows law enforcement officials or family members to seek a court order to seize the guns of a person who poses a threat to themselves or others. But the Club Q shooting underscores a fundamental challenge for it and other red flag laws: Sheriffs often refuse to use the measures based on a belief that they infringe on the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms. (Hawryluk, 12/23)
