Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Missouri Planned Parenthood Ordered To Turn Over Patient Records
Missouri Independent: Planned Parenthood Must Give Up Patient Records, Court Rules
Planned Parenthood Great Rivers must turn over documents about gender-affirming care to Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, an appeals court ruled Tuesday morning. Bailey has been looking into the use of cross-sex hormones, puberty blockers and gender-transition surgeries for minors in the state since March 2023, when a former case worker at the Washington University Transgender Center claimed the center rushed children into treatment. (Hanshaw, 5/7)
Politico: ‘Rolling Thunder’: Inside Conservatives’ Strategy To Curb Abortion Pill Access
The nation’s most influential anti-abortion groups have a new plan to roll back access to the procedure for millions of Americans in what they’re calling the “biggest opportunity for the pro-life movement” since toppling Roe v. Wade. The effort, which the groups have privately named “Rolling Thunder,” is the movement’s first concerted attempt under the second Trump administration to target abortion pills, and aims to convince the FDA, Congress and courts to crack down on their use. (Ollstein, 5/7)
ProPublica: Sepsis Rates Vary Widely In Dallas And Houston Under Abortion Ban
Nearly four years ago in Texas, the state’s new abortion law started getting in the way of basic miscarriage care: As women waited in hospitals cramping, fluid running down their legs, doctors told them they couldn’t empty their uterus to guard against deadly complications. The state banned most abortions, even in pregnancies that were no longer viable; then, it added criminal penalties, threatening to imprison doctors for life and punish hospitals. The law had one exception, for a life-threatening emergency. (Surana, Presser and Suozzo, 5/7)
In other reproductive health news —
NBC News: Girls Who Eat A Healthy Diet May Be Less Likely To Start Puberty Early, Study Suggests
Girls who grow up eating a healthier diet than their peers may be less likely to get their first menstrual periods at an earlier age — regardless of height or body mass index — a new study suggests. Though previous research has tied height and BMI to the earlier onset of menarche, or first period, the study, published Tuesday in the journal Human Reproduction, claims to be the first to explore the biological milestone’s link to specific diets. (Leake, 5/7)
The Hill: Economists Question Efficacy Of $5,000 Baby Bonus Proposal
The White House is reportedly considering a proposal to give new mothers a $5,000 “baby bonus” to help encourage Americans to have more children, but economists and social science experts are skeptical that the potential move would work. The New York Times reported last month that the White House was consulting with policy experts and pronatalist advocates about ways to incentivize American women to have more children. Cash bonuses and Fulbright scholarship allotments are among the ideas under consideration. (O’Connell-Domenech, 5/7)
CIDRAP: New Data Show Sustained Declines In Chlamydia, Syphilis Among Doxy-PEP Users
A study conducted at a sexual health clinic in San Francisco found sustained significant declines in cases of chlamydia and syphilis among those who used doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis (doxy-PEP) nearly 2 years after it was introduced, with a smaller effect on gonorrhea, researchers reported yesterday in Clinical Infectious Diseases. (Dall, 5/7)
The New York Times: Philip Sunshine, 94, Dies; Physician Who Pioneered Treatment Of Premature Babies
Philip Sunshine, a Stanford University physician who played an important role in establishing neonatology as a medical specialty, revolutionizing the care of premature and critically ill newborns who previously had little chance of survival, died on April 5 at his home in Cupertino, Calif. He was 94. His death was confirmed by his daughter Diana Sunshine. (Rosenwald, 5/6)
