Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Perspectives: The Effects Of Overturning Roe Have Begun; US Should Follow France On Abortion
The New York Times: America’s Post-Roe Chaos Is Here
It’s chaos out there. The end of Roe v. Wade was foreseen, but in wide swaths of the country, it has still created wrenching and potentially tragic uncertainties. There have been numerous reports of patients screaming and sobbing in desperation when clinics canceled their appointments. Recipes for potentially deadly herbal abortions are going viral on TikTok. A group of hospitals, pharmacies and clinics in Missouri, a state where a so-called trigger law immediately banned abortion upon Roe’s demise, briefly stopped providing emergency contraception. In some states, doctors who perform in vitro fertilization fear they might be prosecuted for discarding unused embryos. (Michelle Goldberg, 7/1)
The Atlantic: How France And The U.S. Parted Ways On Abortion
When the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last week, a quote attributed to Simone de Beauvoir quickly circulated on French social media. “Never forget that all it takes is a political, economic or religious crisis for women’s rights to be called into question,” it said. “These rights are never fully acquired. You must remain vigilant your whole life.” (Pamela Druckerman, 6/30)
The Tennessean: Roe V. Wade: Will Tennessee Lawmakers Finally Tend To Women's Health?
I'm still trying to process the news about the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the landmark case Roe v. Wade and hand over a woman's right to an abortion to each individual state. (Kyra Watts, 6/30)
The Washington Post: Abortion Rights Should Be Law, Not A Corporate Perk
Almost as soon as it became clear the Supreme Court would overturn Roe v. Wade, a number of the United States’ largest corporations began to announce they would pay for employees and their dependents in states that would lose abortion access to travel and obtain one. Starbucks stepped up. Amazon. Citigroup, too. That number increased last week, after the decision was announced, with companies including Bank of America and Dick’s Sporting Goods announcing they would join others already offering the benefit. (Helaine Olen, 6/30)
The Baltimore Sun: Dobbs Decision An Attack On Our Patients
The Maryland Section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, representing obstetrician-gynecologists across our state, condemns the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which represents a direct attack on the patient-physician relationship and the practice of medicine (”Abortion is my birthright,” June 29). (6/30)
Chicago Tribune: Why It Is Critical To Talk To Your Kids About Abortion Rights
With the reversal of Roe v. Wade, one group that may feel unsure about how and whether to discuss the decline of women’s rights is parents. It’s tempting to assume that adult issues such as abortion are inappropriate or irrelevant from a child’s perspective. But as a developmental psychology professor and a (currently pregnant) parent, I would argue that it is critical to talk with your school-age children about abortion rights. (Katherine Kinzler, 7/1)
Also —
The CT Mirror: As Cancer Patients Wait, Connecticut Plays Favorites
Connecticut cancer patients soon will have new treatment options. Hartford HealthCare and Yale New Haven Health received regulatory approval on April 12 for the state’s first proton therapy center in Wallingford. What the partners fail to mention in their news release is that a competitor could beat them to market with a similar facility 45 miles west in Danbury —except the state is running interference. (Jaimie Cavanaugh and Daryl James, 6/30)
Los Angeles Times: On Gun Control, Young People Might Be Our Last Hope
Anna Pham is not your typical activist. At just 11 years old, she became passionate about gun control after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018. Joining other teens in March for Our Lives, a national student-led movement against gun violence, Anna turned to activism because she was “tired of seeing my representatives not doing anything and just tweeting.” Now a rising junior at Murrieta Valley High School, Anna has led crowds of up to 8,000 protesters demanding gun safety reform — and she’s part of a generation that may be our last hope for meaningful change. (Isaac Lozano, 6/30)
