Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Different Takes: Desperate Circumstances During Pregnancies Bring About Late-Term Abortions; Lessons on Going Forward With A Devastating Diagnosis
USA Today: Who Has A Late-Term Abortion? Women With Pregnancies Like Mine.
People are talking about me again, loudly, unkindly. Even the president of the United States has had his say about families like mine. I have told this story so many times, but I will tell it again as many times as it takes. I help run a support group for families who have ended pregnancy after poor prenatal or maternal diagnoses. If you’re wondering, “Who are these women who get abortions in the third trimester?” We are. I am. Parents who love our babies with our entire hearts. Desperate acts like an abortion in the 36th week of pregnancy are brought about only by the most desperate circumstances and are only available to those who can come up with a lot of money quickly. (Kate Carson, 2/19)
The Wall Street Journal: We Overcame A Grim Prenatal Prognosis
Radical legislation in New York and Virginia has brought late-term abortion into the spotlight. Advocates justify the practice on the ground that, as one put it, “terminations after 24 weeks are for severe fetal anomalies.” (Jaime Herrera Beutler, 2/18)
Dallas Morning News: Why Conservatives Should Care About Women's Health
For too long, conservative thinking on women's health has selectively overlooked the influence women have on both economic opportunity and social stability. Conservatism is rooted in ideals of individual rights, liberty and the protection of human dignity. But partisanship has caused too many conservatives to look past the moral and even economic reasons to care for the health of women. (Natalie Gonnella-Platts, 2/18)
Seattle Times: Veterans Deserve Reproductive Health Services
Americans have heard many stories and seen considerable documentation of the brain, spinal and other wartime injuries suffered by America’s military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan. Less-known is that the U.S. government callously interferes with these wounded veterans’ chance to have children. A 27-year-old law blocks the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs from providing some reproductive health services – such as in vitro fertilization – to veterans even though those same services are available to active-duty military. Congress repeatedly has refused to overturn that law, adding to thousands of veterans’ financial and emotional stress. (2/18)
