Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Report Finds US Abortion Rate Is The Same As During Roe Era
AP: About As Many Abortions Are Happening In The US Monthly As Before Roe Was Overturned, Report Finds
The number of abortions performed each month is about the same as before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and the nationwide right to abortion more than a year and a half ago, a new report finds. The latest edition of the #WeCount report conducted for the Society of Family Planning, a nonprofit organization that promotes research on abortion and contraception, finds that between 81,150 and 88,620 abortions took place each month from July through September of last year, the most recent period for which survey results are available. Those numbers are just slightly lower than the monthly average of about 86,800 from April through June 2022, before Roe and just after was overturned. (Mulvihill, 2/28)
ABC News: Abortions Via Telehealth Medication Have Been On The Rise, Report Finds
In the first nationwide count of telehealth abortions, researchers estimated that the number of such abortions had steadily increased over an 18-month period and that in September, 16% of abortions in the U.S -- approximately 14,000 -- were done via pills dispensed by mail after consultations with virtual clinicians online. The report, released on Wednesday conducted by the Society of Family Planning, examined the seismic shift in abortion access from April 2022 to September 2023, a period of time that mostly includes months since the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade. (Stewart, 2/29)
Also —
The Hill: Witness Calls Out Sen. Kennedy In Abortion Hearing: ‘Nothing But Fearmongering’
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) gave a graphic description of an abortion procedure during a Senate hearing Wednesday, leading one witness to say his statements did not reflect her experience and were “nothing but fearmongering. ”Kennedy pushed back on the theme of the Senate Committee on the Budget hearing, with Chair Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) saying in his opening statement that “reproductive justice” would lead to “economic justice.” (Dunlap, 2/28)
The Guardian: Group Linked To Anti-Abortion Mega-Donors Pours Money Into Alabama Supreme Court Race
A group connected to anti-abortion billionaire Trump mega-donors has funneled more than half a million dollars to an Alabama supreme court judicial candidate who said “embryos were human beings whose lives begin at fertilization”. Alabama’s supreme court was thrust into the limelight earlier this month when eight of the court’s nine justices ruled that embryos created for in vitro fertilization (IVF) were “extrauterine children” in the eyes of the law. (Glenza, 2/29)
St. Louis Public Radio: Missouri Abortion Rights Backers Feel Momentum But Face Hurdles
Missouri’s abortion rights supporters have not had an easy couple of years. Minutes after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to an abortion in June 2022, the ruling triggered Republican-backed legislation for a near-total ban on the procedure — with no exceptions for rape or incest, just medical emergencies. And efforts to get a ballot initiative that repealed the ban off the ground faced a torrent of obstacles, including lawsuits with Republican officials, a dueling proposal and infighting among abortion rights activists. (Rosenbaum, 2/29)
The CT Mirror: CT Proposal Would Ban Religious Objections To Reproductive Care
Reproductive rights advocates are eyeing a change in state law that would no longer allow medical providers to deny a patient reproductive health care based on a religious or conscientious objection. The proposal is one of several outlined recently by the legislature’s Reproductive Rights Caucus and Reproductive Equity Now, an advocacy organization. (Carlesso, 2/28)
Iowa Public Radio: In The Midwest, It's Hard To Count How Many Hispanic Women Die From Pregnancy Issues
In Missouri and Nebraska, information about maternal mortality rates among Hispanic women is not reliable. That’s a challenge for health care organizations that depend on those statistics to send resources to that population. (Arena and Spidel, 2/27)
