Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Pointing To Obamacare, Wyoming High Court Affirms Right To Abortion Care
AP: Abortion Stays Legal In Wyoming As Its Top Court Strikes Down Laws, Including First US Pill Ban
Abortion will remain legal in Wyoming after the state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that two laws barring the procedure, including the country’s first explicit ban on abortion pills, violate the state constitution. The justices sided with the state’s only abortion clinic and others who had sued over the abortion bans passed since 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. (Gruver, 1/6)
Vox: Republicans Accidentally Protected Abortion While Trying To Kill Obamacare
The Wyoming Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that abortion must remain legal in that state, despite a 2023 law seeking to ban it. The case is known as State v. Johnson. Wyoming is America’s reddest state — President Donald Trump won Wyoming by 46 points in 2024, a wider margin than in any other state — so it is more than a little surprising that abortion is legal there. It turns out, moreover, that abortion is legal in Wyoming entirely because of a largely performative state constitutional amendment enacted in 2012 to undercut the Affordable Care Act, the landmark health care legislation often referred to as Obamacare. (Millhiser, 1/6)
More abortion news —
Military Times: Department Of Veterans Affairs Reinstates Near-Total Ban On Abortions
The Department of Veterans Affairs has reinstated a near-total ban on abortion services for veterans and their dependents after new guidance from the Justice Department concluded that the agency lacks legal authority to provide the procedure — including in cases of rape or incest. A VA spokesperson confirmed to Military Times the restrictions took effect immediately. (Noury, 12/29)
Politico: Conservatives Balk At Trump’s Calls To Be ‘Flexible’ On Abortion Coverage In Health Care Talks
President Donald Trump stunned conservative Republicans Tuesday when he directed them to be “flexible” on abortion coverage issues in ongoing health care talks — a nonstarter in the negotiations for hard-liners and scores of other GOP lawmakers. “You have to be a little flexible on Hyde, you know that. You gotta be a little flexible. You gotta work something … we’re all big fans of everything. But you have to have flexibility,” Trump told House Republicans during remarks at the GOP conference’s daylong policy meeting Tuesday. (Hill and Guggenheim, 1/6)
From Kentucky, New Jersey, and Minnesota —
WKYT: Ky. Fetal Homicide Case Raises Questions About Abortion Ban Enforcement, Legal Exceptions
A 35-year-old Kentucky woman faces a fetal homicide charge after admitting to taking abortion pills ordered online and burying the fetus in her backyard. Melinda Spencer was arrested Wednesday on charges of fetal homicide, abuse of a corpse, and evidence tampering. Kentucky State Police say Spencer used abortion pills she purchased online to have an abortion. According to her arrest citation, Spencer later went to a clinic in Campton and told them she’d had a medical abortion at home. That clinic called police. (Valentino, 1/2)
New Jersey Monitor: N.J. Abortions Up 21% Since Supreme Court Overturned Roe V. Wade
Abortions in New Jersey have risen 21% since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Providers performed nearly 58,000 abortions last year, a new report found. (DiFilippo, 1/4)
The Star Tribune: Minnesota Abortions Actually Decreased After Error Discovered In Recent Report
The Minnesota Department of Health reported a corrected total of 13,729 elective abortions in 2024, which represents a more than 6% decline from 2023. (Olson, 1/5)
