Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Issue Of Federal Abortion Ban Divides Republicans, Already Roils 2024 Race
Politico: Lost On Abortion Politics, Republicans Struggle For A Solution
The GOP is so divided over abortion politics that even top Mitch McConnell allies — who could succeed him as Senate leader — have opposing ideas on how to approach it. Minority Whip John Thune sees a 15-week national abortion ban as something Republicans can defend amidst Democratic attacks. Another possible GOP leader, John Cornyn of Texas, doesn’t see a need for Congress to weigh in on abortion policy in a post-Roe world. And GOP No. 3 John Barrasso said simply that “states ought to make the decision.” (Everett, 4/20)
The Washington Post: Abortion Divides 2024 Candidates And Confounds Many Within The GOP
When Republican donors arrived at the Four Seasons in Nashville last weekend, they were handed a polling memo written by former Trump aide Kellyanne Conway with a startling statistic: Eighty percent of voters disagreed with the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson last year overturning Roe v. Wade. Among Republican strategists and candidates looking to the 2024 presidential primary, abortion has become the trickiest political issue and a divisive one internally for the party, according to GOP officials, campaign strategists, donors and others involved. (Dawsey, Itkowitz, Kitchener and Reston, 4/20)
The Christian Science Monitor: Politics Of Abortion: Can Republicans Avoid Going Off A Cliff?
The Republican Party won a victory in overturning Roe v. Wade, but it may have put itself in a more precarious position politically. Candidates are navigating a new landscape – often silently or awkwardly. (Feldmann and Hinckley, 4/20)
The Guardian: Trump Considers Federal Abortion Ban A Vote-Loser And Is Unlikely To Support One
Donald Trump considers a federal abortion ban a losing proposal for Republicans as the party prepares to enter the first presidential election since the supreme court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade – and is unlikely to support such a policy, according to people close to him. The former president has told allies in recent days that his gut feeling remains leaving the matter of reproductive rights to the states – following the court’s reasoning in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization that ended 50 years of federal abortion protections. (Lowell and Gambino, 4/20)
The Hill: Leading Anti-Abortion Group Calls Trump’s Position Unacceptable
A leading anti-abortion group on Thursday called it “morally indefensible” of former President Trump to say the issue should be decided at the state level and warned it would not support a GOP presidential candidate who did not back at least a 15-week abortion ban. SBA Pro-Life America, an influential conservative organization, pushed back after the Trump campaign told The Washington Post that the former president “believes that the Supreme Court, led by the three Justices which he supported, got it right when they ruled this is an issue that should be decided at the State level.” (Samuels, 4/20)
The Hill: Pence: ‘I Fully Support Efforts To Take The Abortion Pill Off The Market’
Former Vice President Mike Pence says he “fully” supports efforts to take mifepristone, one of two drugs used for medication abortions, off the market. “The reality is that 20 years ago, the [Food and Drug Administration] exceeded its authority in approving the abortion pill,” Pence said Wednesday in an interview with Fox 11 Los Angeles during a visit to the Nixon Presidential Library. “And at the end of the day, I fully support efforts to take the abortion pill off the market.” (Shapero, 4/20)
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Forbes: State Abortion Bans May Affect Where Americans Attend College, Poll Finds—Even Republicans
Nearly three-quarters of college students say state reproductive rights laws affect their decision of staying enrolled at their school, a new study from the Lumina Foundation and Gallup finds, marking the latest consequence of state abortion bans. (4/20)
