Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Risk Of Legal Pathway For Red States To Defund Planned Parenthood
Indianapolis Star: Supreme Court Case Could Help Red States Defund Planned Parenthood
Although the case began as a dispute over alleged poor nursing home care, the sweeping nature of what the Health & Hospital Corp. of Marion County is asking the Supreme Court to do would have far-reaching repercussions. Among them: Taking away a key legal tool that Planned Parenthood has used to beat back efforts to defund the organization in Republican-led states, including Indiana. (Cook, 10/17)
In other abortion updates —
ABC News: How Some Providers Work Around Abortion Bans Since Roe V. Wade Was Overturned
Some state officials as well as abortion providers are trying to find workarounds to help patients who want to end their pregnancies after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Since the late June ruling, at least 12 states have ended nearly all abortion services, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights. (Kekatos, 10/17)
CNN: Fact Check: How Democratic Ads Mislead On Four GOP Candidates' Abortion Stances
Democrats have spent weeks attacking Republican midterm candidates with television ads about abortion. Some of the ads have been misleading. Many of the Democratic ads accurately describe their Republican targets’ strict anti-abortion positions. But some others employ slippery phrasing and the power of insinuation to promote the impression that certain Republican candidates have taken more aggressive anti-abortion stands than these candidates actually have. (Dale, 10/17)
The New York Times: Mike Pence Runs Toward Abortion Fight
Former Vice President Mike Pence shared his vision for a post-Roe America on Thursday evening, supporting efforts to further limit abortion rights, even as many in the Republican Party are running away from the issue in the final stretch of the midterm elections. “Our work must also go far beyond simply working to make abortion illegal,” Mr. Pence said to a banquet hall of about 1,200 people. “We must continue to work to make it unthinkable, changing hearts and minds.” (Dias and Lerer, 10/14)
USA Today: Missouri Abortion Ban Left This Woman 'With A Baby Dying Inside'
At 6:30 a.m. on Aug. 2, nearly 18 weeks into her pregnancy, Mylissa Farmer experienced what doctors call a preterm premature rupture of membranes – her water broke before labor, followed by vaginal bleeding, abdominal pressure and cramping. (Szuch, 10/15)
Also —
KHN: Listen: Why Childbirth Is So Dangerous For Many Young Teens
The new laws criminalizing abortion in many conservative states are expected to boost birth rates among teenage moms, whose bodies often aren’t built for safe childbirth. On this episode of NPR’s “Weekend Edition Sunday,” KHN senior correspondent Sarah Varney talks with host Ayesha Rascoe about the dangers that pregnancy poses for adolescents. (Varney, 10/17)
