Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Judge To Block Florida's 15-Week Abortion Ban; Kentucky Trigger Law Put On Hold
CNN: Judge Says Florida's 15-Week Abortion Law Is Unconstitutional
In a setback for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican lawmakers, a Florida judge has ruled that a new state law banning abortions at 15 weeks is unconstitutional and he intends to block it from taking effect on Friday. In a verbal ruling on Thursday, Second Judicial Circuit Court Judge John Cooper said he would be issuing a temporary statewide injunction that will go into effect once he signs the written order in the challenge brought by some Florida abortion providers. (Contorno, 6/30)
The Courier-Journal: Abortions Can Resume In KY For Now After Judge Grants Temporary Order
Jefferson Circuit Judge Mitch Perry on Thursday granted a request by the state's two abortion providers for a temporary suspension of the state's "trigger" law that bans abortions in Kentucky. EMW Women's Surgical Center and Planned Parenthood, the state's only two abortion providers, have begun taking appointments at their Louisville locations, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky. (Yetter, 6/30)
AP: Beshear Denounces Near-Total Abortion Ban As 'Extremist'
Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear on Thursday denounced a Kentucky law designed to impose a near-total ban on abortions as “extremist,” pointing to the lack of exceptions for rape and incest victims as he pushed back on an issue that Republicans have made a policymaking priority. (Schreiner, 6/30)
NPR: How Anti-Abortion Trigger Laws Are Impacting People Across The U.S.
In the week after six conservative judges undid a half-century of legal protections for people seeking an abortion, NPR spoke with a handful of reproductive rights supporters — activists, doctors, abortion clinic escorts and women who made the choice to end a pregnancy — to gauge how they're feeling and what their plans are, moving forward in a post-Roe world. What we found is a group of people bound together by immense grief, frustration and outright fury, but who are all committed to continuing to fight in whatever ways they can. They say the battle over what they believe is the fundamental right of people to choose an abortion is far from over, only now it will be fought in courtrooms and legislatures at the state level. (Romo, 7/1)
In related news about abortions on tribal land —
Axios: Indigenous Tribes Push Back On Calls To Open Abortion Clinics On Federal Lands
Representatives for some Indigenous tribes tell Axios they have no plans to set up abortion clinics on their lands and would take offense at any non-Native Americans, including progressives, telling them what to do. The Biden administration has made clear it has no plans to pursue such moves, telling progressives who leaned on them to set up abortion clinics on federal land in red states that they're underestimating the legal risks and other complications. (Cai and Chen, 6/30)
Abortion clinics resume work, but confusion reigns —
The 19th: Louisiana, Utah, Texas Abortion Clinics Operating After Courts Intervene
Patients burst into tears on the phone. For once, it was the good kind. Starting Tuesday, at least for short time, abortion would be legal again in Texas, and Andrea Gallegos had no time to lose. Her clinic, Alamo Women’s Reproductive Services in San Antonio, had been closed since Friday. They’d been forced to send patients home when Roe v. Wade was overturned, canceling 25 scheduled abortions. Patients originally scheduled to come in Monday and Tuesday lost their appointments as well. (Luthra and Carrazana, 6/30)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Abortion Clinics Say Demand Has Surged Amid Legal Limbo
In the week since constitutional protections for abortion were overturned, Planned Parenthood Southeast says it has fielded double the previous number of calls from people seeking abortions — except on some days, when the call volume tripled. Clinics in Georgia face a new crush of demand sparked by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which left abortion to the states and triggered an immediate ban in neighboring Alabama. (Malik, Croft and Prabhu, 7/1)
St. Louis Public Radio: Missouri Law Criminalizes Abortion. Here’s Why OB-GYNs Are Alarmed
Dr. Jeannie Kelly, a Washington University OB-GYN, is concerned for pregnant patients in Missouri. After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Missouri became one of the first states to ban most abortions. There’s an exception in cases of medical emergency, which the state defines as “serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function.” Kelly told St. Louis on the Air that the law’s definition lacks nuance. (Woodbury, 6/30)
