Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Near-Total Abortion Ban In N. Dakota Deemed Unconstitutional
The Washington Post: Judge Overturns North Dakota’s Near-Total Abortion Ban
A North Dakota judge struck down the state’s near-total ban on abortion Thursday, saying the state constitution gives women a “fundamental right to choose abortion” before fetal viability. Restrictions on the right is “a violation on medical freedom,” he ruled. State District Judge Bruce Romanick declared the law, enacted by the legislature last year, “unconstitutionally void for vagueness.” The statute made the procedure illegal in all cases except rape or incest when the woman has been pregnant for less than six weeks or when the pregnancy poses a serious physical health threat. Doctors and other health care professionals found to be in violation of the law could be charged with a felony — and then face up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000 fine. (Wax-Thibodeaux, 9/12)
AP: Congressional Democrats Push Resolution That Says Hospitals Must Provide Emergency Abortions
A resolution introduced by Congressional Democrats would make clear that U.S. emergency rooms need to provide emergency abortions when a woman’s health or life is at risk, despite strict state abortion bans. The resolution has little chance of passing a Republican-controlled House in an election year. Democratic Senator Patty Murray of Washington announced on social media that she would introduce a Senate version of the resolution next week. (Seitz, 9/12)
The New York Times: DeSantis Spars With Abortion Rights Backers Over Florida Ballot Measure
Less than eight weeks before Floridians will vote on an abortion-rights amendment to the state Constitution, a bitter standoff is escalating between Gov. Ron DeSantis and the amendment’s backers over whether a string of state actions directed at the measure amount to a taxpayer-funded effort to defeat it at the polls. The debate first erupted last week after the state Agency for Health Care Administration posted a 30-second video on social media that casts current Florida law — which bans almost all abortions after six weeks of pregnancy — as proof that “Florida cares about women and families.” The post links to an agency website that claims that the abortion rights measure, known as Amendment 4, “threatens women’s safety.” It adds: “Don’t let the fear-mongers lie to you.” (Wines, 9/12)
The Washington Post: Abortion Foes Trying To Derail Or Undermine States’ Fall Ballot Measures
An unprecedented number of abortion initiatives are on state ballots this November, nearly all seeking to protect reproductive rights, but opponents are trying to defeat them even before the start of voting through legal challenges, administrative maneuvers and, critics say, outright intimidation. (Hennessy-Fiske, Rozsa and Gowen, 9/12)
Politico: The Young Woman Making Kamala Harris’ Strongest Case On Abortion Rights
Hadley Duvall helped a Democratic governor win in a red state. The vice president is counting on her to deliver votes in multiple battlegrounds. (Gilsinan, 9/12)
Roll Call: Two Years Later, Dobbs Decision Continues To Spur A Reckoning
In the two years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, countless people have shared their personal experiences with reproductive health – including accessing abortion, seeking fertility services, experiencing miscarriages and giving birth. (Raman, 9/12)
On IVF —
Roll Call: Schumer Tees Up Second Vote On IVF
The Senate is expected to take another vote on legislation next week that would expand access to and coverage of in vitro fertilization as Democrats look to pressure Republicans to take a stand on IVF policies former President Donald Trump has called for on the campaign trail. (Raman, 9/12)
Politico: Trump Sells Himself As A ‘Leader’ On IVF, Angering Some Republicans
Donald Trump pitched himself as a “leader” on in vitro fertilization during his Tuesday debate with Vice President Kamala Harris. His plans are angering swaths of the Republican Party. “Though we share his desire for Americans to have more babies, Trump’s plan to fund in vitro fertilization for all American women is in direct contradiction with that hope,” said Pro-Life Action League President Ann Scheidler. “Hundreds of thousands of embryos — each of them as fully human as you or me — are created and then destroyed or frozen in IVF procedures.” (Ollstein and Messerly, 9/12)
