Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'Pregnant? Don’t Want To Be? Call Jane.': A Look At A Clandestine Abortion Network That Operated Before Roe V. Wade
The New York Times: Code Name Jane: The Women Behind A Covert Abortion Network
The no-frills advertisement, printed at times in student and alternative newspapers, went straight to the point: “Pregnant? Don’t want to be? Call Jane.” A telephone number followed. This was nearly half a century ago, when abortion was illegal almost everywhere in the country and alternative newspapers were in their heyday. There was no Jane, though, not literally anyway. Yet at the same time, Jane was anybody. (Haberman, 10/14)
The Associated Press: Texas Cancels Troubled Contract With Anti-Abortion Group
Texas is canceling $6 million in troubled contracts with an anti-abortion group hired to bolster women's health services after Republican lawmakers cut off Planned Parenthood, and officials said Friday that more than $1 million in billings are under investigation. The announcement ends a tumultuous two years of Texas in business with the Heidi Group, an evangelical nonprofit that started in the 1990s promoting alternatives to abortion. (10/12)
Dallas Morning News: Texas Health Department Ends Its Contracts With Underperforming Anti-Abortion Group
The Heidi Group served only 3,300 clients out of nearly 70,000 it told the state it would cover in fiscal 2017, according to data from the commission. Despite this, the group was awarded new contracts for fiscal 2019, which began Sept. 1. But after a regular review, spokeswoman Carrie Williams said, the agency decided to end the partnership effective Dec. 11. (Stone, 10/13)
