Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Provision Banning Federal-Backed Spending On Abortion Left Out Of Funding Bills
The Hill: Senate Democrats Ditch Hyde Amendment For First Time In Decades
Senate Democrats on Monday for the first time in decades left out an amendment from their annual government funding bills that blocks people from using Medicaid or other federal health programs to cover abortion services. The provision, also known as the Hyde amendment, was omitted from legislation to fund the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education departments. The bill was unveiled by Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) on Monday afternoon. The Hyde amendment bans the use of federal funds for abortions in most cases and has been included in annual government funding bills since it was introduced by then-Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) in the 1970s. (Folley, 10/18)
And in updates on the Texas abortion law —
The Texas Tribune: Texas Abortion Law: Supreme Court Considers Taking Case
The U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether to take up abortion providers’ challenge to Texas’ near-total abortion ban sooner than the high court usually would hear arguments. The lawsuit has not been heard by a federal appellate court, but the Supreme Court agreed Monday afternoon to expedite providers’ request that the justices consider the case. Texas, one of the defendants in the suit, has until Thursday to respond to the petition asking that the case be fast-tracked. (Waller and Pollard, 10/18)
Dallas Morning News: Supreme Court Speeds Review Of Texas Abortion Law After Feds Seek Freeze On Enforcement
The U.S. Supreme Court signaled interest Monday in providing a quick review of Texas’ six-week abortion ban, giving abortion providers and the state until Thursday to argue whether they should or not. The order came shortly after the Justice Department filed an emergency application asking the court to halt enforcement of Senate Bill 8, which outsources enforcement to anyone willing to sue doctors or others who help a woman obtain an abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected. The court already plans oral arguments Dec. 1 on a Mississippi ban that kicks in at 15 weeks — also long before the threshold set in Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 landmark that stemmed from a Dallas County prosecution. (Caldwell and Gillman, 10/18)
USA Today: Abortion: Justice Dept. Case At Supreme Court One Of Many On Texas Ban
But the high-profile case is just one row in a Rubik's Cube of lawsuits that may signal where the Supreme Court is heading on the thorny issue of abortion, and whether it will continue to uphold the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that established the right to the procedure. Texas' ban has prompted a flurry of overlapping and difficult-to-follow lawsuits in different courts, any one of which may decide its fate. The justices, meanwhile, are also considering challenges to other state abortion laws that could affect the Texas case. (Fritze, 10/19)
In other news —
AP: Group Decries Sentencing Of Oklahoma Woman For Miscarriage
A national advocacy group for women on Monday blasted the sentencing of a 21-year-old Oklahoma woman to prison for a manslaughter conviction after she suffered a miscarriage while using methamphetamine. Brittney Poolaw, of Lawton, was sentenced to four years in prison this month after a jury convicted her of first-degree manslaughter. An autopsy of Poolaw’s fetus showed it tested positive for methamphetamine. But there was no evidence that her meth use caused the miscarriage, which the autopsy indicated could have been caused by factors including a congenital abnormality and placental abruption, a complication in which the placenta detaches from the womb, said Lynn Paltrow, executive director of the National Advocates for Pregnant Women. (Murphy, 10/18)
