Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Perspectives: Contrary To Inflammatory Rhetoric, Anti-Abortion Activists Can Care About Women's Health Too
USA Today: Alabama, Missouri Abortion Bans: We Must Support Women And The Unborn
One of the most troubling arguments I routinely hear is that the pro-life movement only pays lip service to caring for women, but they really just care about the unborn. Pro-choicers claim to be the ones caring for all life, and the term “choice” is painted as the compassionate option. Those engaging in the abortion debate have tried to make this into a binary choice — either you care for the woman or you care for the unborn child in her womb. Apparently you can’t do both. But we can and must care for the woman holistically, which includes protecting the little life inside of her. (Chelsea Patterson Sobolik, 5/22)
The Hill: Women Today Are More Likely Than Their Mothers To Die In Childbirth
A few weekends ago, like many Americans, we thought about the mothers in our lives. We reflected on the milestones and the sacrifices. And with some measure of guilt, we thought about how it can be so easy to take our mothers for granted. Perhaps this is why experts are just beginning to notice that motherhood in the United States has become riskier and costlier today than it was a generation ago. American women today are 50 percent more likely to die in childbirth than their mothers — risks that are three to four times higher for black women than white women. (Drs. Leana Wen and Neel Shah, 5/22)
The New York Times: My Own Nike Pregnancy Story
I’ve always known that expressing myself could hurt my career. I’ve tried not to show emotion, to anticipate what people expect from me and to do it. I don’t like to let people down. But you can’t change anything with silence. Last week, two of my former Nike teammates, the Olympian runners Alysia Montaño and Kara Goucher, heroically broke their nondisclosure agreements with the company to share their pregnancy stories in a New York Times investigation. (Allyson Felix, 5/22)
Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio Abortion, Ectopic Pregnancy Bill: 'It's Both Bad Medicine And Bad Law-Making'
HB 182 is primarily focused on eliminating insurance coverage for abortion and any treatment or device that might remotely cause an abortion, including treatment for an ectopic pregnancy. An ectopic pregnancy is one that implants outside of the uterus, most commonly in the fallopian tube. Ectopic pregnancies can be life-threatening because, as they grow, they may cause the tube to rupture, which can lead to catastrophic internal bleeding. (Dr. Daniel Grossman, 5/21)
The CT Mirror: Let's Think Critically About Pregnancy Resource Centers
I find it disconcerting that HB 7070 advocates are really stating that women are incapable of scrolling to the bottom of a homepage on a PRC website (where the location information is, might I add) and reading a disclaimer. In fact, I’ve visited a shoreline Connecticut PRC website, and it takes one scroll of my computer mouse to find out that I cannot get an abortion or an abortion referral at this center. (Katie Geeze, 5/23)
