Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
IVF Patients, Doctors Make Contingency Plans For Frozen Embryos
ABC News: Overturning Roe V. Wade Raises Stakes For Patients Who Need IVF, Experts Say
Cara Skowronski and her husband are the parents of a 2-year-old daughter who was born through in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and a gestational surrogate, who carried their daughter. ... Skowronski and her husband recently moved from Nebraska to Texas, where abortion will be banned under a trigger law that goes into effect 30 days after the Supreme Court's decision. The couple's remaining frozen embryos are in Nebraska, where Gov. Pete Ricketts has said he will push for the state legislature to pass a total abortion ban in the wake of Roe being overturned. (Kindelan, 6/27)
The Wall Street Journal: Fertility Doctors Move Embryos, Expecting Abortion Law Changes
Fertility companies and patients have been moving embryos and making contingency plans, anticipating that if Roe v. Wade were overturned, abortion laws in some states could extend to protect eggs fertilized in laboratories. More than 2% of 3.7 million babies born in the U.S. in 2019 were conceived through in vitro fertilization, the latest federal data show. Many embryos created through IVF aren’t viable, fertility specialists said, and those that aren’t ultimately transferred into a uterus may be discarded. (Mosbergen and Andrews, 6/24)
The Washington Post: Roe Is Gone. How Will State Abortion Restrictions Affect IVF And More?
Increasingly, state legislatures that pass laws restricting abortion have included explicit exemptions for the fertility industry. Since 2010, states have introduced or passed 83 bills that mention both abortion and IVF. Of these, 45 bills explicitly exempt IVF and assisted reproductive technologies. None of these bills explicitly included IVF — or any reproductive technology — in banning abortion or defining legal personhood as beginning at conception. (Heidt-Forsythe, Kalaf-Hughes and Mohamed, 6/25)
Other repercussions of the ruling —
KHN: Genetic Screening Results Just Got Harder To Handle Under New Abortion Rules
Ann was 15 weeks pregnant with her fourth child when the results of her prenatal genetic test came back last August. The test suggested that her daughter, whom she and her husband planned to name Juliet, was missing one of her two X chromosomes — a condition called Turner syndrome that can cause dwarfism, heart defects, and infertility, among other complications. Many people decide to terminate their pregnancies after this diagnosis, a genetic counselor told Ann and her husband. But the counselor had more bad news: In two days, the family would no longer have that option in their home state of Texas. A law, in effect as of Sept. 1, 2021, allows anyone to sue those who assist any person in getting an abortion in Texas after six weeks’ gestation — and the state provides a $10,000 bounty to plaintiffs if they win. The genetic counselor told Ann she could no longer discuss termination with her for this reason. (Reardon, 6/27)
Fortune: The Roe V. Wade Decision Is "Pushing People Into Psychological Crisis," Mental Health Expert Warns
Following the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision guaranteeing federal protection of abortion rights, experts warn of dire mental health consequences. Frank C. Worrell, president of the American Psychological Association (APA) calls for mental health providers to support people as they grapple with their reproductive health decisions. “We are setting up a situation where we are deliberately pushing people into a psychological crisis,” Worrell tells Fortune, emphasizing that the decision will disproportionately hurt the mental health of low-income individuals and people of color. “If you live in a state with a law that will get rid of abortion, your level of anxiety will go up.” Even for those who are not pregnant, Worrell says, there is new anxiety that can impact people's everyday lives, as they worry about what may happen if they don’t have a choice when pregnant. And for many seeking abortions, he says, the decision affects how they feel they are seen in society, highlighting fears of being judged as irresponsible or criminal. (Mikhail, 6/24)
KHN: After Two Ectopic Pregnancies, I Fear What Might Happen Without Roe V. Wade
I’ve been pregnant five times. I have one child. A son, Sam, who was born on his due date, weighing 6 pounds and 14 ounces, in 1997. My four other pregnancies didn’t go so well. After Sam, carrying a baby past the first trimester proved impossible. I had one miscarriage early in the first trimester; a second in which the baby’s heart stopped beating between the ninth and 10th week; and then two ectopic pregnancies, a condition in which an embryo implants outside the uterus. If not treated, ectopic pregnancies can be deadly. (Faryon, 6/24)
The New York Times: In Light Of Roe V. Wade Ruling, Men Share Their Abortion Stories
When Quenton Albertie, 29, found out his college girlfriend was pregnant, he was surprised at first — and then elated. He was 23, she was 19 and they had been dating for roughly five months while attending Mercer University in Georgia. “I called my mom the next day to tell her and she was excited, too,” Mr. Albertie said. “She always goes on about how she wants a grandchild.” But two months later, his girlfriend got an abortion without telling him. She informed him after the fact, saying she couldn’t manage school and the pregnancy at the same time, Mr. Albertie recalled. (Gupta, 6/25)
