Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Proposed Texas Anti-Abortion Pill Bill Also Aims To Defang Judicial Role
The Hill: Texas GOP Seeks To Block Legal Challenges Against Abortion
Texas Republicans are rolling ahead with a controversial bill that seeks to further restrict abortion access in the state, while making it impossible for it to be challenged in state courts, despite Democratic objections. Senate Bill 2880 advanced through the state Senate and is now heading for a House vote, after being moved Friday out of the Committee on State Affairs, with its chair facing growing pressure ahead of a deadline that had been slated for Saturday. (O’Connell-Domenech, 5/25)
The Texas Tribune: Texas May Block Cities' Gun Buyback Programs
The Texas Senate gave preliminary approval Monday to a bill that would prevent cities or counties from holding a gun buyback program. The proposal also seeks to stop local governments from sponsoring or organizing such a program. State Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, told lawmakers Monday it was a “necessary guardrail against misuse of local authority.” (Carver, 5/26)
Reproductive health in Iowa, Minnesota, and New Hampshire —
AP: Planned Parenthood To Close 4 Clinics In Iowa, 4 In Minnesota
Four of the six Planned Parenthood clinics in Iowa and four in Minnesota will shut down in a year, the Midwestern affiliate operating them said Friday, blaming a freeze in federal funds, budget cuts proposed in Congress and state restrictions on abortion. The clinics closing in Iowa include the only Planned Parenthood facility in the state that provides abortion procedures, in Ames, home to Iowa State University. Services will be shifted and the organization will still offer medication abortions in Des Moines and medication and medical abortion services in Iowa City. (Hanna, 5/24)
New Hampshire Public Radio: Some NH First Responders Are Training For A New Kind Of Emergency: Delivering Babies
In recent years, New Hampshire has seen a rise in so-called "unplanned location births." That means dozens have given birth unexpectedly at home, in a car or en route to a hospital, according to state data. That’s also meant that emergency responders are playing a growing role in labor and delivery, by guiding new parents through giving birth outside of a hospital setting. (Liu and Furukawa, 5/23)
In Colorado and Montana —
Chalkbeat Colorado: Universal Dyslexia Screening Is Now The Law Of The Land In Colorado
Surrounded by smiling supporters and curious fourth graders, Gov. Jared Polis on Friday signed a bill into law that will require universal dyslexia screenings in Colorado schools starting in the 2027-28 school year. (Schimke, 5/26)
The Colorado Sun: Colorado Legislature Steps In To Help Kids Who Need IV Nutrition
The 100 or so children in Colorado who rely on backpacks of liquid nutrition to survive got a lifeline from lawmakers this spring. Legislation passed in the final days of the session will raise the reimbursement rates for pharmacies that make the unique-to-each-person mix of calories, vitamins, minerals, fats and sugars that keep them alive. The measure is a relief to parents who’ve grown increasingly nervous in the past year as all but one pharmacy left the state or stopped offering the bags of nutrition, citing low reimbursements from Medicaid. (Brown, 5/26)
KFF Health News: Federal Cuts Ripple Through A Bioscience Hub In Rural Montana
Scientists are often careful to take off their work badges when they leave the campus of one of the nation’s top research facilities, here in southwestern Montana’s Bitterroot Valley. It’s a reflection of the long-standing tension caused by Rocky Mountain Laboratories’ improbable location in this conservative, blue-collar town of 5,000 that was built on logging. (Houghton, 5/27)
In Kansas, West Virginia, Georgia, and North Carolina —
Kansas City Star: Warren Hills Cancer Inquiry Focuses On Past Diagnoses
After six teachers at one Liberty elementary school were diagnosed with breast cancer in the past five years, advocates desperate for answers are making a plea for more information. They want to know if former students or past teachers at Warren Hills Elementary have been diagnosed with cancer or other illnesses since leaving the school, which has a 120 foot cell phone tower located 130 feet from the building. The goal, advocates say, is to understand the scope of what they may be dealing with and ultimately see what, if anything, is making people sick. (Bauer, 5/26)
AP: Groups Sue Over West Virginia Governor's Order On Religious Exemptions For School Vaccines
Two groups filed a lawsuit Friday over an executive order by West Virginia Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey granting religious exemptions from required school vaccinations. The American Civil Liberties Union’s West Virginia chapter and Mountain State Justice filed the lawsuit against the state Department of Health, its Bureau for Public Health and agency leaders on behalf of two parents in Kanawha County Circuit Court. (Raby, 5/23)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: CARE, Other Georgia Humanitarian Organizations Lay Off Staff, Lower Wages
CARE USA, the humanitarian organization headquartered in Atlanta, says it has laid off hundreds of employees across the nation and thousands abroad in the wake of the Trump administration’s massive cuts to federal foreign aid. Founded at the end of World War II, the nonprofit has also temporarily slashed wages for its employees, including CEO Michelle Nunn, said Ritu Sharma, CARE’s vice president of U.S. programs and policy advocacy. (Redmon, 5/25)
North Carolina Health News: Scathing Report Details NC's Involuntary Commitment Problem
A new report by Disability Rights North Carolina found that a legal tool used to hold patients against their will for psychiatric treatment is frequently misused — violating patients’ rights and causing them long-term harm. (Knopf, 5/27)
