Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Harris Blames Trump And His Supreme Court Picks For Abortion Bans
Los Angeles Times: Harris Hammers Trump On Abortion In Surprise Los Angeles Appearance
Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday continued to hammer Arizona’s new abortion ban and former President Trump’s role in overturning Roe vs. Wade during a surprise appearance in Century City. “Here’s the thing about what they’re doing and the cruelty of it: No exception in some states even for rape and incest. You are saying to a survivor of a crime of violence to their body, a violation to their body, that they have no right to make a decision about what happens to their body next,” Harris said. “That’s immoral.” (Mehta, 4/13)
The Washington Post: Arizona Abortion Clinic Vows To Continue Work Even As Court Ban Looms
The staff at the Camelback Family Planning abortion clinic has been through this before, legislative measures and court decisions threatening to block the care they provide to women ending a pregnancy. So they opened their doors as usual on Thursday morning, doctors and nurses steeled for the latest battle, the first appointments already in line and half a dozen protesters clustered just beyond the parking lot entrance of the tan stucco office building. In a state that has suddenly become a key front in the national fight for reproductive rights, physician Gabrielle Goodrick declared herself ready: “We’re not closing.” (Hennessy-Fiske, 4/13)
Colorado and Florida gather signatures to put abortion on the ballot —
NBC News: Colorado Groups Say They've Collected Enough Signatures To Place An Abortion Rights Measure On The Ballot
A proposed amendment that would formally enshrine access to abortion in Colorado’s constitution is all but certain to appear on the November ballot after a coalition of reproductive rights advocates said Friday they have collected the required number of signatures. Coloradans for Protecting Reproductive Freedom, the group leading the effort, announced it had collected the signatures of more than 225,000 registered voters, more than the approximately 124,000 required by April 26 to qualify for this fall’s ballot. (Edelman, 4/12)
Tallahassee Democrat: Abortion, Weed Amendments In Florida Don't Yet Have Enough Votes: Poll
Those campaigning to get recreational marijuana legalized and abortion rights guaranteed in Florida have a lot of work to do. Floridians will have the option to vote on both proposed constitutional amendments this November. But for the proposals to become the law the land, they must get at least 60% of the vote. If the vote were taken right now, it's far from certain that they would pass, according to an exclusive USA TODAY/Ipsos poll. (Soule, 4/14)
Also —
NBC News: Permanent Birth Control Procedures Increasing After Abortion Laws, New Research Finds
The number of young adults who chose tubal ligation and vasectomies as birth control jumped abruptly after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and has continued to rise, new research shows. The paper, published Friday in JAMA Health Forum, is the first to focus specifically on the contraception choices of women and men ages 18 to 30 after the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ended the constitutional right to abortion. (Mantel, 4/12)
Austin Bureau: Over-The-Counter Birth Control Expands Access Across Texas
The nation’s first over-the-counter birth control pill hit store shelves this month, a possible “game changer” for teens in Texas who cannot get a prescription without parental consent, advocates said. ... For decades, teens could get around the requirement at federal Title X clinics, which provide birth control and reproductive health services. But that changed in the last two years after federal courts ruled the state’s parental consent law trumps the federal clinics’ policy. (Severson, 4/12)
NPR: 6 In 10 Catholics Favor Abortion Rights, Pew Report Finds
Catholics in the U.S., one of the country's largest single Christian groups, hold far more diverse views on abortion rights than the official teaching of their church. While the Catholic Church itself holds that abortion is wrong and should not be legal, 6 in 10 U.S. adult Catholics say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to a newly released profile of Catholicism by Pew Research. (DeRose, 4/12)
