Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Six-Week 'Fetal Heartbeat' Abortion Law Will Stand In South Carolina
The Hill: South Carolina Supreme Court Upholds ‘Fetal Heartbeat’ Abortion Ban
South Carolina’s Supreme Court upheld the state’s ‘fetal heartbeat’ law in a Wednesday ruling. Justices ruled the state can continue to ban abortion starting at six weeks of gestation, when the current law states a ‘fetal heartbeat’ can begin to be detected. Abortions in the state have been banned as soon as a health care provider can detect “cardiac activity, or the steady and repetitive rhythmic contraction of the fetal heart, within the gestational sac,” under a 2023 law called the Fetal Heartbeat Protection from Abortion Act. (O’Connell-Domenech, 5/14)
Kansas City Star: Missouri Voters Face New Abortion Ban Question In 2026
Missouri voters will decide whether to reimpose an abortion ban next year, after a landmark statewide vote last year that enshrined the right to the procedure in the state constitution and overturned a previous ban. The Republican-controlled Senate on Wednesday approved a proposed constitutional amendment that, if approved by voters, would overturn a November vote that legalized abortion access. (Bayless and Shorman, 5/14)
News Service of Florida: Florida Appeals Court Strikes Down Abortion 'Waiver' Law For Minors
Citing parental rights, a Florida appeals court Wednesday ruled that a law that can allow minors to have abortions without their parents’ consent is unconstitutional. (Saunders, 5/14)
AP: Judge To Hear Arguments To Louisiana Law Listing Abortion Pills As Controlled Dangerous Substances
Arguments surrounding first-of-its-kind legislation that categorizes two widely used abortion -inducing drugs as “controlled dangerous substances” in Louisiana are scheduled to take place before a state judge Thursday morning. In a lawsuit against the state, plaintiffs say the reclassification of misoprostol and mifepristone — which have critical reproductive health care uses in addition to being used as a two-drug regimen to end pregnancies — could cause needless and potentially life-threatening delays in treatment during medical emergencies. (Cline, 5/15)
The Texas Tribune: Houston Midwife Accused Of Illegal Abortions Appeals Case
A Houston-area midwife accused of performing illegal abortions has laid out the case for her innocence for the first time, alleging in an appeal filed Monday that the Texas Attorney General’s office was so desperate to prosecute an abortion case that it “conducted a shoddy investigation and leapt to wild conclusions.” (Klibanoff, 5/14)
Also —
The Washington Post: Abortion Abolitionists Urge States To Charge Women Seeking Abortions
An emboldened fringe movement is breaking with the antiabortion establishment by pushing for women who get abortions to face criminal charges, a departure from decades of “pro-life” tradition. The “abortion abolitionist” movement wants to see the procedure eradicated and supports changing the law to grant personhood to embryos, making their destruction an act of homicide that would be punishable by death in some states. (Bellware, 5/14)
The 19th: How A New Generation Of Birth Control Skepticism Is Shaping MAGA Politics
Cara Stanton didn’t get her period until she was 22. For years, doctors — including her pediatrician — recommended taking hormonal birth control to kickstart it. But Stanton was hesitant. “If something doesn’t make sense to me, I question it,” said Stanton, now a 32-year-old nurse practitioner based in Michigan. “It was just one of those things where I thought, ‘I don’t know that my ovaries are broken, so quit trying to put a bandaid on them.’ (Gerson and Padilla, 5/14)
CIDRAP: Task Force Recommends Prenatal Syphilis Screening Amid Growing Crisis
Yesterday the US Preventive Services Task Force released a final recommendation statement on screening for syphilis infection during pregnancy, giving screening the grade of "A" and suggesting early, universal screening for syphilis infection during pregnancy for all women. The task force has been issuing recommendations on maternal syphilis screening since 1996, most recently in 2018. (Soucheray, 5/14)
