Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Pentagon Ends Abortion Travel Policy For Troops And Their Families
The Hill: Pentagon Scrubs Biden-Era Abortion Travel Policy
The Pentagon has struck a Biden administration policy of covering travel costs for service members and their dependents who must cross state lines to receive abortions and other reproductive care, according to a new memo. The change, which took effect Tuesday, was announced in a memo posted by the Defense Travel Management Office on Wednesday. (Mitchell, 1/30)
The Conversation: Stricter Abortion Laws May Cause Increased Infant Deaths
Infant mortality in the U.S. has increased by 7% since the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson U.S. Supreme Court decision overturned the constitutional right to abortion, according to an October 2024 study. Those findings followed another study that reported a 12.7% rise in infant mortality in Texas after the implementation of Senate Bill 8, which bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected. ... Both studies noted larger increases in deaths among infants born with birth defects. This suggests women are delivering more babies with severe congenital malformations who have no hope of survival beyond a few hours, days or, at most, a few weeks. (Winterstein and Rasmussen, 1/30)
The Guardian: Groups Helping Americans Find Abortion Pills Report Instagram ‘Shadow-Banning’
Over the last week, the accounts of some major organizations that help Americans find abortion pills had their Instagram posts censored or removed, and at least one group said its account became difficult to find through searching – a practice known as “shadow-banning”. Since last week, an Instagram search for the words “hey jane” will not surface the organization’s account. Instead, users can only find it if they type in the word “hey jane health” – the account’s full name. This, Davis said, constitutes a shadow ban. “For someone who’s not following us but is seeking out care, there’s really no way for them to be able to know that the only way to find us is to type ‘hey jane health’,” Davis said. (Sherman, 1/29)
Politico: ‘Using The Devil's Own Tools Against Them': Abortion Opponents Turn To Environmental Laws
A cadre of red and purple states is introducing bills this week to impose restrictions on abortion pills over claims that the drugs could be contaminating drinking water. The new legislation in Arizona, Idaho, Maine, West Virginia and Wyoming — which would require doctors who prescribe abortion pills to make their patients collect and return their expelled fetuses in medical waste bags for disposal — is the latest development in anti-abortion groups’ yearslong campaign to wield environmental laws to cut off access to the drugs. (Wittenberg and Ollstein, 1/30)
