Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Federal Government Says 2 Hospitals Illegally Denied Emergency Abortion
AP: Feds: Hospitals That Denied Emergency Abortion Broke The Law
Two hospitals that refused to provide an emergency abortion to a pregnant woman who was experiencing premature labor put her life in jeopardy and violated federal law, a first-of-its-kind investigation by the federal government has found. (Seitz, 5/1)
Abortion news from Indiana, Montana, Oregon, and New Mexico —
Reuters: US Supreme Court Spurns Challenge To Indiana Abortion Cremation Or Burial Law
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge to the legality of an Indiana requirement that abortion providers bury or cremate embryonic or fetal remains following the procedure, sidestepping another dispute involving a contentious Republican-backed state policy concerning abortion. (Chung, 5/1)
AP: Rule Requiring Prior OK For Medicaid-Paid Abortions Halted
A judge in Montana temporarily blocked a new rule Monday that would have required physicians in the state to provide prior documentation showing that an abortion is medically necessary before the state’s Medicaid program will authorize payment for the procedure. (5/2)
AP: Oregon Lawmakers Advance Bill On Abortion, Trans Health Care
Oregon lawmakers have advanced a sweeping bill intended to protect abortion and gender-affirming health care for transgender people by boosting legal safeguards and expanding access and insurance coverage. Democratic representatives on Monday night passed the bill along party lines in a House floor vote that stretched for roughly six hours after Republicans sought to stall it. (Rush, 5/2)
AP: National Groups Rebut Abortion-Ban Ordinances In New Mexico
National and regional advocacy groups have urged the New Mexico Supreme Court to strike down recent abortion-ban ordinances in several cities and counties, in a legal filing Monday. The Supreme Court has not said yet whether it will consider legal arguments from independent parties, including a professional society for obstetricians and gynecologists, and Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains. The court blocked local abortion ordinances while it deliberates. (Lee, 5/2)
Also —
Axios: Red State Providers' New Abortion Dilemma
Providers in states where abortion is banned may find themselves forced to navigate conflicting state and federal laws when pregnant patients come to emergency departments for care — and face serious consequences for noncompliance with both. (Gonzalez and Owens, 5/2)
KFF Health News: After Idaho’s Strict Abortion Ban, OB-GYNs Stage A Quick Exodus
At a brewery in this northern Idaho city, hundreds of people recently held a wake of sorts to mourn the closure of Sandpoint’s only labor and delivery ward, collateral damage from the state’s Republican-led effort to criminalize nearly all abortions. Jen Quintano, the event’s organizer and a Sandpoint resident who runs a tree service, called to the crowd, packed shoulder to shoulder as children ran underfoot, “Raise your hand if you were born at Bonner General! Raise your hand if you gave birth at Bonner General!” Nearly everyone raised their hand. (Varney, 5/2)
