Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Perspectives: Abortion Bill Fails To Protect Pregnant Women; A Case Against 'Moral Loopholes' For Doctors
The New York Times: The Gathering Threat To Abortion Rights
People who care about basic American freedoms should be grateful to the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, for one thing: He has given liberals another good reason to flock to the polls in November. Mr. McConnell is set to hold a procedural vote this week on a bill that would ban abortion at 20 weeks of pregnancy. The so-called Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, sponsored by Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, is part of a long-term legislative effort by the anti-abortion movement to gut Roe v. Wade and severely curtail abortion access nationwide. (1/28)
Charlotte Observer: The Trump Administration May Be Legitamizing Discrimination In Health Care
These provisions would apparently “protect” healthcare workers who refuse to take part in abortions and those who deem treating transgender patients, and presumably other groups or individuals, objectionable. This approach to allow choice by health care givers regarding their patient encounters undermines the tenets of the Hippocratic Oath and all pledges dealing with the healing arts. (Frederick Greene, 1/26)
The New York Times: The White House Puts The Bible Before The Hippocratic Oath
Tamesha Means had been pregnant for just 18 weeks when her water broke in 2010. In pain, she rushed to a hospital near her house in Michigan. But because it was a Catholic health center, doctors there did not tell her that continuing her pregnancy could threaten her health and that abortion was her safest option. Instead they sent her home. They did so again when she returned the next day, bleeding, with painful contractions. They were preparing to send her home for a third time when she miscarried at the hospital. (1/28)
