Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
In Disputes Over Fertilized Eggs, Courts Often Rule For Party Who Wants Them Destroyed. Arizona Law May Change That.
The Washington Post: Who Gets The Embryos? Whoever Wants To Make Them Into Babies, New Law Says.
When their marriage fell apart, the most contentious issue between Ruby Torres and John Joseph Terrell was the fate of their frozen embryos. There were seven in storage, created with her eggs and his sperm before Torres underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatment for breast cancer. Torres, 37, wanted to use the embryos to have a baby. In divorce proceedings, she told the judge that the embryos probably represented her only chance to have biological children. Terrell protested that he had no interest in having a child with Torres. (Cha, 7/17)
In other women's health news —
The Associated Press: Planned Parenthood Sues Idaho Over Abortion Reporting Law
Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and the Hawaiian Islands is suing the state of Idaho in federal court over new abortion reporting requirements that critics say are unconstitutional and intended to stigmatize women seeking medical care. Planned Parenthood filed the lawsuit in Idaho's U.S. District Court on Tuesday, asking a judge to declare the reporting law void. (7/17)
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Abortion Pills Are Safe And Effective. Why Can't U.S. Women Buy Them Online?
Abigail Aiken, a reproductive health researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, anonymously interviewed 30 women and two men from 20 states who tried to get abortion pills online because going to a clinic posed huge financial and logistical problems. None succeeded in getting the pills. (McCullough, 7/17)
The Atlantic: What Happens If Roe V. Wade Is Reversed?
With the prospect of a more conservative Supreme Court on the horizon, some progressive women have begun to fear what will happen if Roe v. Wade, the case that legalized abortion, is overturned. Some of these prophecies have centered on a popular meme in the pro-choice community: The coat hanger. ...Women who want to have an abortion early in their pregnancies can take a combination of two drugs: misoprostol, whose brand name is Cytotec, and mifepristone, which is also called RU486. They are both on the World Health Organization’s “List of Essential Medicines,” which means they are considered safe and effective. The combination can be used until about the tenth week of pregnancy, and the medications are already used in roughly a third of all abortions. (Olga Khazan, 7/18)
