Planned Parenthood Files Complaints Against Missouri’s Medicaid Law
Missouri Planned Parenthoods are challenging a new law in Missouri that bans any funding — including for preventive care like cancer screenings or pap smears — from going to the reproductive health care organization. Related news comes from Oklahoma, Arkansas, and elsewhere.
AP:
Planned Parenthood Challenges Missouri Law That Kicked Area Clinics Off Of Medicaid
Missouri Planned Parenthoods filed legal challenges Monday against a new law that kicked the organizations off the federal Medicaid health insurance program. Planned Parenthood Great Plains and Planned Parenthood Great Rivers said they are filing complaints with the state’s Administrative Hearing Commission, which functions as a court to hear disputes between Missouri government and private organizations. (Ballentine, 8/26)
Vox:
The Huge Stakes In The Supreme Court’s New Abortion Case, Oklahoma V. HHS
Oklahoma v. Department of Health and Human Services is the sort of case that keeps health policy wonks up late at night. On the surface, it involves a relatively low-stakes fight over abortion. The Biden administration requires recipients of federal Title X grants — a federal program that funds family-planning services — to present patients with “neutral, factual information” about all of their family-planning options, including abortion. Grant recipients can comply with this requirement by giving patients a national call-in number that can inform those patients about abortion providers. Now, however, Oklahoma wants the Supreme Court to allow it to receive Title X funds without complying with the call-in number rule. Oklahoma raises two arguments to justify its preferred outcome, one of which could potentially sabotage much of Medicare and Medicaid. (Millhiser, 8/26)
Wyoming Public Radio:
Abortion Advocates Worry About Future Of Telehealth In The West
Abortion advocates in the west worry that telehealth services could come under threat with a second Trump administration. According to a report released earlier this month, about 1 in 5 abortions [20%] are now done through telehealth in the U.S. That’s up from just 4% before Roe v. Wade was overturned. (Merzbach, 8/26)
The Washington Post:
Arkansas Touts ‘Pro Life’ Stance But Faces High Maternal, Infant Mortality
In a state that touts itself as “the most pro-life state in the country,” where abortion is prohibited except to save the life of the mother, timber country in southeast Arkansas is an especially dangerous place to give birth. (Gowan, 8/27)
