Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Ind. Abortion Ban Blocked; Inquiry Into Doctor Who Helped Girl, 10, Will Go On
Reuters: Judge Blocks Indiana Abortion Ban On Religious Freedom Grounds
A second Indiana judge on Friday blocked the state from enforcing its law banning most abortions after Jewish, Muslim and other non-Christian women challenged it in a lawsuit. Marion County Superior Court Judge Heather Welch issued a preliminary injunction against the Republican-backed law, which prohibits abortions with limited exceptions for rape, incest, lethal fetal abnormalities or a serious health risk to the mother. The plaintiffs have argued that the measure infringes on religious freedom protected by another state law. (12/2)
AP: Indiana Judge Won't Block Probe Over 10-Year-Old's Abortion
Indiana’s Republican attorney general can keep investigating an Indianapolis doctor who spoke publicly about providing an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim from neighboring Ohio, a judge ruled Friday. An attempt to block a probe by Attorney General Todd Rokita’s office was rejected by Marion County Judge Heather Welch. (Davies, 12/2)
In other abortion news —
The Boston Globe: Antiabortion Forces Push Local Bans In States With Legal Access
When the City Commission in Clovis, N.M., scheduled a discussion of a proposal aimed at restricting abortion access within the community, attendance at the meeting was expected to be so high the mayor announced he’d give city residents preference to get in the room. So the out-of-state antiabortion activist whose organization was backing the ordinance, Mark Lee Dickson, didn’t take any chances. A Texas resident, Dickson leased a property for a few days, he told the Globe, so he could say that he was a resident when he spoke at the meeting. (Villa Huerta, 12/3)
Politico: Some Republicans Say The Midterms Were A Mandate For Further Abortion Restrictions
Many GOP lawmakers who sailed to victory in states with anti-abortion laws balk at the idea that Democrats’ focus on abortion rights is evidence the left’s message resonated with voters. Instead, they’re taking their electoral victories as a mandate to pass additional abortion restrictions. “South Carolina had a huge red tidal wave in this election. We flipped eight seats in the South Carolina House of Representatives … We all ran on pro-life,” said South Carolina Republican Rep. John McCravy, who spearheaded efforts this summer to prohibit abortion in most cases starting at conception. “If anything, we need to ramp our efforts up.” (Messerly, 12/3)
The New Yorker: An Anti-Abortion Activist’s Quest To End The Rape Exception
Rebecca Kiessling has made a career as an attorney and a pro-life activist by leveraging her experience as a child of rape who narrowly “survived” abortion. Her main targets are rape exceptions, the legal provisions that allow pregnant victims special access to the procedure. “I believe I am the living embodiment of what is at stake,” she has said. (Orbey, 12/5)
Wyoming Public Radio: Inside The Only Clinic Providing Abortions As Wyoming's Trigger Ban Goes To The State Supreme Court
Phones rang and patients filed through the waiting room at the Women’s Health & Family Care Clinic in Jackson on Nov. 30. It was a typical Wednesday at the clinic, the only place that administers abortions in Wyoming. (Merzbach, 12/2)
In other reproductive health news —
NPR: Male Birth Control Research Is Starting To Make Progress
"We would like to create a menu of options for men similar to what women have available to them," says Stephanie Page, a researcher and endocrinologist at the University of Washington. (Barber and Muraskin, 12/4)
C-HIT.ORG: After Stillbirth, Undocumented Woman Organizes Partnership To Help Others Find Better Care
When Laura Garcia was pregnant with her third child, a boy she named Matias, she had symptoms that made her uneasy. Her nails turned purple, her feet were swollen and she was vomiting. Undocumented and uninsured, she sought care in a community clinic. “They told me it’s normal,” said Garcia of Norwalk. (Jones, 12/4)
