Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
For Now, Abortion Pill May Remain Available By Mail, Judge Rules
AP: Judge Refuses To Block Sending Abortion Pills By Mail
A federal judge Tuesday refused to block filling prescriptions for the abortion pill mifepristone by mail across the U.S. — at least for now — in a setback to Louisiana’s effort to stifle groups that send it into states where abortion is banned. U.S. District Judge David Joseph, who sits in Lafayette, Louisiana, ruled against Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, who asked that U.S. Food and Drug Administration rules that allow mifepristone to be dispensed through the mail be paused while a challenge to those 2023 regulations moves through the courts. (Mulvihill and Kruesi, 4/7)
More abortion news —
Kansas Reflector: Pair Of GOP Anti-Abortion Bills Draw Vetoes From Democratic Kansas Governor
Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed a bill approved by the Kansas Legislature to maneuver around medical objections and legal challenges to state mandates that patients be provided abortion information layered with junk science. She vetoed a second bill that could make it easier for women who had an abortion to sue abortion doctors or clinics. (Carpenter, 4/7)
NPR: Abortion Pills Would Be Safe Even Over-The-Counter, A New Study Says
A paper in JAMA Internal Medicine adds to the growing scientific evidence that medication abortion pills would be safe to sell over-the-counter at the pharmacy. But political opposition means that possibility may not happen anytime soon. (Simmons-Duffin, 4/6)
KFF Health News: Urgent Care Clinics Move To Fill Abortion Care Gaps In Rural Areas
Providing abortions was the last thing Shawn Brown thought she’d be doing when she opened an urgent care clinic in this remote town in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. But she also wasn’t expecting the Planned Parenthood in Marquette to shut down last spring. Roughly 1,100 patients relied on that clinic each year for cancer screenings, IUD insertions, and medication abortions. Now the area has no other in-person resource for abortions. “It’s a 500-mile stretch of no access,” Brown said. (Wells, 4/8)
On pregnancy and fertility —
CNN: From ERs To Courtrooms, Trump’s Warning That Pregnant Women Shouldn’t Take Tylenol Is Causing Shockwaves
Six months after President Donald Trump shocked mainstream medicine by saying pregnant women shouldn’t take Tylenol because it is “associated with a very increased risk of autism,” the effects of his comments are still rippling across the country. (Owermohle, 4/6)
The Wall Street Journal: Men Are Obsessed With Their Sperm Health, And Brands Are Cashing In
Julian Prosia, a 31-year-old optometrist in Waterloo, Ontario, was living a healthy life when he and his wife started planning for a baby. Around that time, he started seeing social-media videos discussing the importance of improving sperm health. The posts, featuring influencers urging men to enhance their fertility by exercising to increase testosterone, eating healthy, taking supplements and reducing alcohol intake, made an impression. Prosia popped his vitamins religiously, pushed himself to work out more vigorously and cut out alcohol. Within a couple of months, his wife was pregnant. (O'Brien, 4/7)
