Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Slew Of Abortion Cases Working Way Up To Supreme Court With Possible Petition Coming As Early As This Fall
Politico: New Supreme Court Justice Could Weigh In On Abortion Quickly
President Donald Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court won’t have to wait long to make a potentially historic decision on abortion rights. A slew of abortion-related cases are working their way through lower courts, dealing with questions about when abortions should be allowed, or which procedures doctors can perform to terminate a pregnancy. Any of these could become opportunities for the justices to address fundamental questions about the legal right to abortion in the United States, putting Roe v. Wade in the Supreme Court’s sights. (Haberkorn, 7/3)
The Hill: Abortion Rights Group Targets Susan Collins In First Supreme Court Ad Buy
An abortion rights group leading the fight on the left against President Trump's next Supreme Court nominee announced its first ad buy Tuesday targeting Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who is expected to be a key vote in the confirmation battle. NARAL Pro-Choice America announced full page print ads and "homepage takeovers" of four Maine newspapers and websites: the Portland Press Herald, Kennebec Journal/Morning Sentinel, Bangor Daily News and Lewiston Sun Journal. The ads begin Wednesday. (Hellmann, 7/3)
The Associated Press: Court Vacancy Makes Abortion Politics A Midterm Priority
Democrats and Republicans once largely agreed that the upcoming midterm elections would hinge on the economy, health care and President Donald Trump's popularity. Not anymore. A Supreme Court vacancy has pushed abortion to the forefront of election year politics, with both supporters and opponents suggesting that the emotional issue could drive more voters to the polls. That's especially true in states like Iowa, where Republicans have enacted restrictive measures on abortion in the past two years. (Beaumont and Rodriguez, 7/5)
Politico: Trump’s Supreme Court Search Unleashes Fierce Politicking
President Donald Trump’s commitment to select from a widely publicized list of Supreme Court candidates may have helped win him the White House — but it has also injected unprecedented politicking into the selection process for the next justice. Much of the jockeying has centered on D.C. Circuit Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh, who is the preferred choice of White House counsel Don McGahn, according to two Republicans close to the White House. McGahn’s backing helped Kavanaugh secure a spot on Trump’s existing Supreme Court list last November, when the president added five names. (Johnson, 7/4)
The Washington Post: Liberal Democrats Mount Campaign Against Trump’s Supreme Court Nominee By Targeting Two Republican Senators
Liberal political strategists hope to block President Trump’s next Supreme Court nominee by replaying a strategy they used to help defeat the Republican effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act last year. The multimillion-dollar plan of advertising and grass-roots activism will focus heavily on convincing two Republican defenders of the ACA, Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine), to buck the president again by denying his first choice to replace retiring Justice Anthony M. Kennedy. Trump plans to reveal his selection Monday. (Scherer, 7/4)
Boston Globe: Mass. Lawmakers Aim To Ensure Abortion Remains Legal Even If US Supreme Court Upends Roe V. Wade
Abortion-rights advocates and Massachusetts legislative leaders are moving to repeal a 19th-century state law that criminalizes abortion, acting out of concern that the US Supreme Court may overturn its Roe v. Wade ruling. ... The bill, formally an act Negating Archaic Statutes Targeting Young Women, would eliminate the state’s unenforced abortion ban, along with other old laws on contraception that have since been invalidated by Supreme Court decisions. (Miller, 7/4)
