Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Pressure Grows For Texas To Impose Charges On Those Who Aid Abortion
Houston Chronicle: Texas Lawmakers Call For Criminal Charges For Those Who Aid An Abortion Patient, Effective Immediately
More than 70 Republican state lawmakers have signed on to a friend-of-the-court brief siding with Attorney General Ken Paxton in arguing that a nearly century-old law imposing criminal penalties against those who help a patient obtain an abortion is enforceable now that the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. (Goldstein, 7/19)
The Texas Tribune and Propublica: Texas Officials Cheer End Of Abortion Rights But Trail On Postpartum Care
While celebrating last month’s U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning the constitutional right to an abortion, Gov. Greg Abbott pointed to the millions of dollars in spending that state lawmakers approved during the 2021 legislative session to help pregnant women and new mothers. (Kriel, 7/20)
In news on the clinic at the center of the abortion debate —
AP: Mississippi Clinic Ends Challenge Of Near-Ban On Abortion
The Mississippi abortion clinic that was at the center of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade ended a lawsuit Tuesday in which it had sought to block the state from enforcing a law that bans most abortions. Jackson Women’s Health Organization dropped its litigation a day after clinic owner Diane Derzis told The Associated Press that she sold the facility and had no intention to reopen it, even if a state court allowed her to do so. (Wagster Pettus and Willingham, 7/20)
AP: Crowd Protests Relocation Of Abortion Clinic To New Mexico
Anti-abortion activists from across the country converged in southern New Mexico on Tuesday to protest relocation plans by the Mississippi clinic at the center of the court battle that overturned Roe v. Wade, but New Mexico’s governor vowed not to back down from her support for access to abortions. (7/20)
On abortion news from across the states —
AP: Montana Republican Party Opposes Nearly All Abortions
The Montana Republican Party platform opposes nearly all abortions, after a vote of those attending the party’s platform convention over the weekend. Party members on Saturday approved a platform that opposes all elective abortions. They rejected a proposal to allow exceptions for rape or incest, Montana Public Radio reported. (7/19)
AP: S. Carolina Conservatives Suggest Almost Total Abortion Ban
A House committee reviewing South Carolina’s abortion law suggested Tuesday the state ban almost all abortions other than when the life of the mother is at risk. The state currently has a ban at roughly six weeks that includes exceptions for rape and incest. After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, conservatives in the General Assembly started to look if they could join the growing number of states banning the procedure. (Collins, 7/19)
The Hill: Supreme Court Clears Way For Indiana Parental Notice Abortion Law
The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for Indiana to enforce a law that stiffens parental notice requirements in cases where a minor seeks an abortion. The law at issue had been blocked since 2017 by lower courts based on Roe v. Wade and related precedents. Following Roe’s overruling, Indiana asked the justices last week to fast-track an order to lower courts to clear the way for the law to become effective immediately. (Kruzel, 7/19)
AP: After Judge's Order, W.Va.'s Abortion Clinic Resuming Care
West Virginia’s only abortion clinic pressed forward Tuesday with scheduling abortions, even as the state’s attorney general went to the Supreme Court to try to stop it. A Charleston judge on Monday blocked enforcement of the state’s 150-year-old abortion ban, freeing the Women’s Health Center of West Virginia to begin scheduling abortion patients. Executive Director Katie Quiñonez said Tuesday her staff planned to begin performing abortions as early as next week. (Willingham, 7/19)
