Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
New York City To Help Women Travel To Get An Abortion In Counter-Move To Restrictions In Conservative States
The New York Times: New York City Allocates $250,000 For Abortions, Challenging Conservative States
New York City will spend $250,000 to help poor women who travel from other states to obtain abortions here, inserting itself into the increasingly contentious debate over access to the procedure. While the amount of money is relatively small, the allocation is a symbolic if provocative move as more conservative states take steps to all but ban abortion. The money will go to the New York Abortion Access Fund, according to City Councilwoman Carlina Rivera, a Democrat from Manhattan, and Jennifer Fermino, a spokeswoman for the Council speaker, Corey Johnson. (Stewart, 6/14)
The New York Times: As Passions Flare In Abortion Debate, Many Americans Say ‘It’s Complicated’
Abortion is an issue that Lynndora Smith-Holmes goes back and forth on. “Six of one, half dozen of the other,” she said the other day as she finished her lunch break. “Does it go back to people having abortions in back alleys? Haven’t we overcome that?” she asked, questioning the restrictive laws passed recently in states like Alabama and Kentucky. At the same time, Ms. Smith-Holmes, who works for a day care center in the Allentown neighborhood of Pittsburgh and votes Democratic, said there should be limits. And she is not comfortable with the idea of taxpayer money going to fund abortions — a position that has become almost impossible to hold in the Democratic presidential primary. “Who’s paying for these?” she wondered. (Peters, 6/15)
The Associated Press: Planned Parenthood Builds Ala. Clinic Despite Abortion Law
Planned Parenthood is building the stage for another possible fight over abortion in Alabama: a large women's clinic that's under construction despite the state's passage of a near-total ban on abortions. Located beside an interstate highway in downtown Birmingham, the 10,000-square-foot structure is now nothing but a steel frame and roof. Workers under the constant watch of security guards appear to be installing electrical wiring, plus heating and cooling units. (Reeves, 6/15)
The Washington Post: Democratic Congresswoman Chides ‘Sex-Starved Males’ Opposed To Abortion Rights
Rep. Norma J. Torres (D-Calif.) chastised House colleagues who are opposed to abortion rights, saying she was tired of hearing “from so many sex-starved males” about a woman’s right to choose. Her remark Wednesday during a House debate on a spending bill for the Department of Health and Human Services caused a stir and immediately, Rep. Rob Woodall (R-Ga.) asked Torres if she would like to amend her remarks. Torres agreed, but not before getting the line in one more time. “If it pleases my colleague on the other side, I will withdraw my statement of sex-starved males on the floor,” she said. (Itkowitz and DeBonis, 6/12)
The Wall Street Journal: Massachusetts Lawmakers To Consider Cutting Abortion Restrictions
Abortion will take center stage at the Massachusetts State House on Monday, with lawmakers in both houses scheduled to hear a proposal to decriminalize the procedure throughout pregnancy and strip away other limits on the procedure. Dozens of Democratic Massachusetts legislators have signed on to legislation known as the “Roe Act” in reference to the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling establishing a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion. (Gershman, 6/16)
Boston Globe: Lawmakers Express Discomfort Over Teen Abortions Without Parental Consent
Most concerning to legislators is the proposed elimination of an age restriction that requires anyone under 18 to have a parent’s consent or a judge’s order to get an abortion. The notion that a girl as young as 12 could get an abortion without telling her parents is proving to be a tough proposition, even in liberal Massachusetts, where most lawmakers consider themselves supporters of abortion rights. (Ebbert, 6/16)
The Associated Press: Push For Public Vote On Missouri Abortion Law Hits Roadblock
Efforts to put a new Missouri law banning abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy to a public vote hit another roadblock. Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green on Friday dismissed a lawsuit by prominent Republican donor David Humphreys, who is seeking to force GOP Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft to approve his referendum petition on the new law. (6/14)
