Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Republican AGs Say CVS, Walgreens' Abortion Pill Plans Are 'Illegal'
The Hill: 20 GOP Attorneys General Tell CVS, Walgreens Plans To Dispense Abortion Pills ‘Both Unsafe And Illegal’
Twenty Republican state attorneys general sent a letter to U.S-based pharmacy chains Walgreens and CVS on Wednesday, telling both companies their plans to distribute abortion pills through the mail are “both unsafe and illegal.” In the letter, the coalition wrote that federal law prohibits anyone from using the mail to send or receive any drug that will “be used or applied for producing abortion,” referring to the Comstock Act of 1873. (Oshin, 2/1)
In other abortion news from Texas, Nebraska, West Virginia, and Kentucky —
NPR: A Trump-Appointed Texas Judge Could Force A Major Abortion Pill Off The Market
A case before a federal judge in Texas could dramatically alter abortion access in the United States – at least as much, some experts say, as the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision last year, which overturned decades of abortion-rights precedent. (McCammon, 2/1)
AP: Nebraska Lawmakers Put Off Vote On 'Heartbeat' Abortion Ban
The Nebraska Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee took nearly eight hours of testimony Wednesday before adjourning without a vote on whether to advance a bill that would outlaw abortion at a point before many women know they’re pregnant. Hundreds of people crowded the halls of the state Capitol for a committee hearing on a so-called heartbeat bill. The bill would ban abortions once cardiac activity can be detected in an embryo, which is generally around the sixth week of pregnancy. (Beck, 2/2)
Reuters: West Virginia Clinic, Doctor Sue Over State's New Abortion Ban
West Virginia's only abortion clinic and the clinic's primary doctor on Wednesday filed a lawsuit challenging the near-total abortion ban passed by the state last year, saying it violates patients' constitutional rights. In their complaint in the Charleston, West Virginia federal court, Women's Health Center of West Virginia and the doctor, identified as John Doe, are asking the court for an immediate order blocking enforcement of the law while the case goes forward. (Pierson, 2/1)
The Guardian: ‘It’s A Public Health Risk’: Nurse Decries Infection Control At US Anti-Abortion Crisis Center
At 52, Susan Rames was looking for a way to give back. She worked part-time at a Kentucky hospital as a postpartum nurse and, with her three children nearly grown, she had some extra time during the week. Motivated by her Christian faith, Rames decided to volunteer at ALC Pregnancy Resource Center, a crisis pregnancy center whose mission is to discourage people from seeking abortions. (Morel, 2/2)
