Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'Life Is Winning Again In America': Re-Energized Anti-Abortion Movement Marches On D.C.
The New York Times: Anti-Abortion Marchers Draw Inspiration From An Unlikely Source
Droves of men, women and children opposing abortion swarmed the National Mall on Friday in a demonstration that served not only as a rallying cry for their movement, but as a peaceful act of support for the new president they have embraced as their improbable champion. The crowd gathered just a few blocks from where hundreds of thousands of women marched last weekend to protest President Trump — a striking and symbolic juxtaposition for a country cleaved by its most recent election. (Peters and Alcindor, 1/27)
The Associated Press: Pence Helps Bring New Energy To Anti-Abortion Rally In DC
The anti-abortion movement has political momentum on its side, and Vice President Mike Pence lent his newly minted star power to Friday's rally, promising the triumphant crowd that more victories await. "We've come to a historic moment in the cause for life," said Pence. "Life is winning in America." Pence and White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway pledged that President Donald Trump would keep his promises to end taxpayer-funded abortion and to choose a Supreme Court justice in the mold of the late Antonin Scalia, a conservative Catholic who opposed abortion. (1/29)
The Washington Post: Black Activists Look To Trump, GOP As Allies In The Fight Against Abortion
Donald Trump’s harsh comments about women, Hispanics and Muslims was not the reason that Catherine Davis declined to support him for president. It was her uncertainty about exactly where the Republican businessman stood on the issue that Davis, a 64-year-old African American, says is the most important one facing the black community: abortion. “If we don’t have life, then all the other issues pale,” Davis said. “Education doesn’t matter, criminal justice reform doesn’t matter, if you cannot make it out of the womb.” (Williams, 1/28)
Boston Globe: Anti-Abortion Marchers Cheer GOP Takeover
[Susan] Denningham joined tens of thousands on the National Mall on Friday for the 44th annual March for Life, the largest annual demonstration of antiabortion activists. This year’s event marked a turning point for attendees who say they feel more hopeful about their cause with the election of Donald Trump, who has promised an antiabortion agenda and who may have multiple Supreme Court picks. (Pager, 1/27)
KCUR: Kansas City Abortion Rights Opponents Feel Optimistic About New Administration
Abortion rights opponents marked the 44th annual demonstration they call the March for Life yesterday in both Washington, and Kansas City. Yesterday’s rally in downtown Kansas City drew about 100 people, which was substantial increase from last year. Kansas City author Jack Cashill says the event benefited from the much larger women’s marches last weekend. (Morris, 1/27)
Texas Tribune: Anti-Abortion Rally Draws Large Crowd To Texas Capitol
Amid Texas' battle to remove Planned Parenthood from Medicaid, thousands of Texans participated in this year's March for Life. Marchers made their way to Capitol grounds Saturday morning carrying signs calling for the defunding of Planned Parenthood and for overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion across the country 44 years ago this week. Heather Gardner, a member of Coalition for Life and one of the march’s organizers, said at least 4,000 people marched. (Alfaro, 1/28)
Meanwhile, in Texas —
Reuters: U.S. Judge Blocks Texas Regulations For Fetal Tissue Remains
A federal judge in Texas on Friday halted state regulations that would require abortion providers to dispose of aborted fetal tissue through burial or cremation, saying the rules imposed "undue burdens on a woman's right to seek a previability abortion." U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks issued an injunction that will stay in effect until the court can render "a meaningful decision on the merits" of the case, online court documents showed. (Herskovitz, 1/27)
Houston Chronicle: Judge Extends Injunction Blocking Texas Fetal Remains Burial Rule
A federal judge on Friday issued a preliminary injunction blocking the state of Texas from implementing a controversial new rule targeting abortion by requiring the burial or cremation of fetal remains, calling the regulation a possible "pretext for restricting abortion access" with the potential "to deliver a major, if not fatal, blow to health care providers performing abortions." The sharply critical 24-page ruling from U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks extends his previous injunction against the state and orders the parties to move forward with a trial challenging the new rule mandating the cremation or burial of the remains from an abortion, miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy. The rule was to go into effect in December. (Zelinski, 1/27)
Texas Tribune: Texas Fetal Remains Burial Rule Blocked By Federal Court
U.S. District Court Judge Sam Sparks ruled Texas cannot require health providers to bury or cremate fetuses, delivering another blow to state leaders in the reproductive rights debate. On Friday afternoon, Sparks wrote in his ruling that Texas Department of State Health Services’ fetal remains burial rule’s vagueness, undue burden and potential for irreparable harm were factors in his decision. He also wrote that the state had proposed the new rule “before the ink on the Supreme Court's opinion in Whole Woman's Health was dry.” (Evans, 1/27)
