Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'It's All About The States': Abortion Battlegrounds Take Shape
The Wall Street Journal: Uncertainty Over Abortion Access Grows After Supreme Court Ruling
Abortion access has continued to evolve almost by the hour since the court on Friday overruled Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that for almost half a century protected a woman’s right to choose an abortion. Abortions are now largely unavailable in about a dozen states, either because of new bans or legal uncertainty, while another half dozen or more states could ban or restrict abortion in the coming days and weeks. ... Several early post-Roe legal developments came Monday, with state judges in Louisiana and Utah issuing restraining orders that temporarily blocked abortion bans in those states, while a federal judge cleared the way for South Carolina to enforce a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. (Kusisto, Calfas and Paul, 6/27)
The New York Times: Abortion Rights Groups Take Up The Fight In The States
“It’s all about the states from here on out,” said Jessie Hill, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University who has worked on abortion rights cases. “We can fantasize about federal solutions to this issue or nationwide settlements of the abortion question, but I think that after Dobbs, I don’t see a lot of possibilities at the federal level.” ... Professor Hill is part of a team of lawyers challenging in federal court an Ohio law that bans abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. A judge allowed that law to take effect after the Supreme Court ruling. But Professor Hill said she believed that protections for individual rights in Ohio’s Constitution could make for a compelling argument that abortion is protected in the state. (Hubler and Smith, 6/27)
Politico: The Major Abortion News In The 4 Days Since Roe V. Wade Was Overturned
It’s been four days since the Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe v. Wade — dismantling a constitutional right that’s been in place for a half-century and granting states the green light to ban abortion — and a lot has happened. (Berg and Olander, 6/27)
The Guardian: Fears Of Violence Against Pro-Choice Protests Intensify Amid Wave Of Attacks
Across the country, hundreds of thousands of people have gathered at protests objecting to the ruling. The protests have been overwhelmingly peaceful but some have seen incidents of police violence – including attacks on protesters – and an incident of a car driving dangerously through marchers. Law enforcement cracked down on protests in multiple states, wielding batons and forcibly removing protesters from public spaces and firing teargas in Arizona. Over two dozen pro-choice activists were arrested in New York City as protests took place in Washington Square Park, Union Square and in front of the NewsCorp building in midtown, home to Fox News studios. (Salam, 6/28)
NBC News: There's Another War Between The States Coming Over Abortion
The Supreme Court’s abortion decision is likely to set off a wave of legal and political disputes among states and the federal government unlike anything seen since the years before the Civil War, legal experts say. With some states allowing private lawsuits against out-of-state abortion providers — and other states prohibiting cooperation with abortion investigations — the abortion issue is likely to pit state law enforcement agencies and court systems against one another in dramatic fashion. The federal government, meanwhile, faces a choice over how to deal with states that seek to ban Food and Drug Administration-approved abortion medication, now used in about half of pregnancy terminations. And whatever the Biden administration does, federal policy could change dramatically if the Republicans take the White House. (Dilanian, 6/27)
