Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Iowa Supreme Court Says Abortion Rights Not Constitutionally Guaranteed
Stateline: Iowa Supreme Court Topples State's Constitutional Abortion Protections
The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s constitution does not guarantee the right to abortion, giving state lawmakers broad leeway to ban the procedure. The ruling came in a case that challenged an Iowa law requiring a 24-hour waiting period before a person could receive an abortion. That law now will be allowed to take effect. "All we hold today is that the Iowa Constitution is not the source of a fundamental right to an abortion necessitating a strict scrutiny standard of review for regulations affecting that right," the court ruled. (Vestal, 6/17)
How the Supreme Court's ruling could change the health care landscape —
Politico: What A Roberts Compromise On Abortion Could Look Like
When the two sides in the abortion debate squared off at the Supreme Court last fall, they agreed on one thing: There was no middle ground. Now, any hope abortion rights supporters have of avoiding a historic loss before the court lies with Chief Justice John Roberts crafting an unlikely compromise. In the wake of POLITICO’s report last month on a draft majority opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, Roberts would have to convince at least one of his five Republican-appointed colleagues to sign on to a compromise ruling that would preserve a federal constitutional right to abortion in some form while giving states even more power to restrict that right. (Gerstein, 6/19)
The Washington Post: Dobbs Case Spurs Race To Teach Abortion Procedures In Medical Schools
As he aborted 11 pregnancies at a clinic here one busy Friday this month, Aaron Campbell also was training a medical student in a procedure that soon could be outlawed in this state and many others. Case by case, he narrated the nuances of pelvic examination, pain-blocking injection, cervical dilation and, ultimately, the removal of embryonic or fetal tissue. (Anderson, 6/20)
The Boston Globe: Could An Abortion Ban Mean More Maternal Deaths?
In a post-Roe world, reproductive health specialists warn, more mothers are likely to die — not only from a return of unsafe illegal abortions but also from pregnancy itself, which leads to a surprising number of deaths in the United States. In 2020, 861 people died in childbirth or within 42 days of the end of their pregnancy, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last January. Women in the United States are more likely to die from childbirth or pregnancy-related causes than those in other developed countries. In 2020, the United States had the highest maternal mortality rate of 10 high-income countries, including Canada, France, and the United Kingdom. (Ebbert, 6/17)
Houston Chronicle: Overturning Roe V. Wade Poses Risk To Women With Complicated Pregnancies, Houston OB-GYN Warns
As the country waits for the Supreme Court to decide whether to overturn Roe v. Wade, many Texas health care workers are bracing for the toll that stricter abortion laws will take on women who face life-threatening complications in a wanted pregnancy. Already, the state’s restrictions extend beyond abortion clinics and into large medical institutions, where doctors face considerable legal hurdles when recommending termination to preserve the health of an expectant mother. “I feel like I’m practicing medicine with my hands tied behind my back,” said Dr. Judy Levison, a longtime Houston obstetrician-gynecologist. (Gill, 6/20)
Stat: Researchers Who Study Abortion Access Brace For Challenges To Their Work
Last September, Texas lawmakers passed the most restrictive abortion policy in the country. The state’s leading researchers on reproductive health care weren’t consulted when it was being crafted. But they started studying it the moment it passed. “We are getting a glimpse in Texas of folks who, because of the way that the laws are written, are not able to get evidence-based care and their health and well-being is being put at risk,” said Kari White, the director of the Texas Policy Evaluation Project at the University of Texas Austin, which published two studies on the consequences of the law just six months after it passed. (Gaffney, 6/21)
In more state news —
The Washington Post: Texas Teen Who Wanted An Abortion Now Has Twins
Brooke Alexander found out she was pregnant late on the night of Aug. 29, two days before the Texas Heartbeat Act banned abortions once an ultrasound can detect cardiac activity, around six weeks of pregnancy. ... For many Texans who have needed abortions since September, the law has been a major inconvenience, forcing them to drive hundreds of miles, and pay hundreds of dollars, for a legal procedure they once could have had at home. But not everyone has been able to leave the state. Some people couldn’t take time away from work or afford gas, while others, faced with a long journey, decided to stay pregnant. Nearly 10 months into the Texas law, they have started having the babies they never planned to carry to term. (Kitchener, 6/20)
San Francisco Chronicle: This Is California’s Abortion ‘Desert.’ Here, Calls To Subvert State Law Are Growing Loud
Michelle Rivera didn’t think it would be easy to open a new Planned Parenthood clinic in one of the roughly 40% of California counties without an abortion provider. But the 31-year-old Central Valley sex-ed instructor didn’t expect quite so many kids holding “Little lives matter” posters at the Visalia City Council meeting. Or the antiabortion demonstrator sporting an entire sweatsuit scrawled in scripture. At least there’s security, Rivera thought, when clergy from nearby towns urged the council to “reject the arbitrary dictates of the state” and ban abortion in the city of 143,000 people. (Hepler, 6/19)
Nashville Tennessean: The Potential End Of Roe V. Wade And Trigger Bans Has Doctors Worried
On any given day, dozens of protestors converge outside the Knoxville Center for Reproductive Health, this East Tennessee city’s only abortion provider after an arsonist torched a nearby Planned Parenthood clinic on New Year’s Eve. The group has grown considerably in recent months, clinic staff say. As has the vehemence of their taunts and their pleas to patients to reconsider their choices. The clinic, which also provides breast cancer screenings, contraceptives and general gynecological care received a credible bomb threat last month. So, on one recent morning, even a cryptic warning from one of the protestors to a staffer to stay out of the building, especially today, was treated as a normal work day occurrence. No one is staying home. The clock is ticking. (Gluck, Clark and Yawn, 6/20)
Oklahoman: Planned Parenthood Network Connecting Patients, Abortion Providers Grows
They could be two friends getting together for a long weekend or perhaps neighbors grabbing a cup of coffee. However, the pair have never met. They've been brought together through Planned Parenthood Great Plains' patient navigation network created to help women in states like Oklahoma connect to abortion providers. It's an infrastructure that has recently been expanded in anticipation of the possible overturning of Roe v. Wade. Oklahomans have already been connected to abortion providers through the regional network, Anamarie Rebori-Simmons, a Planned Parenthood Great Plains spokeswoman said Friday. (Hinton, 6/18)
