Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Southern Baptists Vote No To IVF
The Washington Post: Southern Baptist Convention Votes To Oppose In Vitro Fertilization
The Southern Baptist Convention on Wednesday approved a measure opposing in vitro fertilization as “dehumanizing” and asking “the government to restrain” the practice, a sign of the broadening effort by conservative evangelicals and the antiabortion movement since the fall of Roe v. Wade. The vote thrust the denomination into a national dispute over a medical procedure that is immensely popular among Americans and has already played a role in an intense election season. (Boorstein, 6/12)
Politico: Why The Southern Baptists' Vote Opposing IVF Could Change National Politics
The move may signal the beginning of a broad turn on the right against IVF, an issue that many evangelicals, anti-abortion advocates and other social conservatives see as the “pro-life” movement’s next frontier — one they hope will eventually lead to restrictions, or outright bans, on IVF at the state and federal levels. The vote comes as Democrats in Washington, hoping to drive a wedge among Republicans, prepare to hold a vote on legislation to protect IVF, while former President Donald Trump struggles with how to message to evangelicals on abortion and other reproductive health issues that they would like to see him take stronger positions on in the post-Roe era. (Messerly, 6/12)
The Texas Tribune: Ted Cruz’s Bill To Protect IVF Blocked
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s effort to protect access to in vitro fertilization was blocked on Wednesday as Democrats instead rallied around their own version of the legislation. (Yu, 6/12)
AP: Democrats Set To Force A Vote On Women's Right To IVF In Election-Year Push
Senate Democrats are seeking to highlight Republicans’ resistance to legislation that would make it a right nationwide for women to access in vitro fertilization and other fertility treatments, holding a vote on the matter Thursday as part of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s effort to drive an election-year contrast on reproductive care. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a military veteran who has used the fertility treatment to have her two children, has championed the bill, called the Right to IVF Act. The bill would also expand access through insurance as well as for military members and veterans. (Groves, 6/13)
Missouri Independent: Missouri Advocates Sound Alarm After IVF Safeguards Stymied In Legislature
Danielle Faith Zoll and her husband have one last embryo frozen in Missouri. Zoll’s daughter, who is 2 years old, was conceived through in vitro fertilization. But during that pregnancy Zoll developed Hellp Syndrome, an extreme and life-threatening case of preeclampsia. After giving birth to her daughter at 35 weeks, Zoll’s doctor advised her not to do so again out of fear that she wouldn’t survive another pregnancy. That warning left Zoll and her husband unsure of the best future for their last embryo. And the uncertainty turned to fear after an Alabama Supreme Court ruling in February. (Spoerre, 6/13)
In abortion updates —
The New York Times: 171,000 Traveled For Abortions Last Year. See Where They Went.
More than 14,000 Texas patients crossed the border into New Mexico for an abortion last year. An additional 16,000 left Southern states bound for Illinois. And nearly 12,000 more traveled north from South Carolina and Georgia to North Carolina. These were among the more than 171,000 patients who traveled for an abortion in 2023, new estimates show, demonstrating both the upheaval in access since the overturn of Roe v. Wade and the limits of state bans to stop the procedure. The data also highlights the unsettled nature of an issue that will test politicians up and down the ballot in November. (Escobar, Walker, McCann, Reinhard and Rosales, 6/13)
News Service of Florida: Nearly 10,000 Abortions Reported In Florida In May After Six-Week Law Began
Nearly 10,000 abortions were reported in Florida in May, when a law took effect that was expected to dramatically decrease the number of procedures performed. However, those numbers likely include some abortions from April because of the way data are reported to the state. (6/13)
CBS News: Florida Seeks Stay Of Abortion "Statement" Ruling
The state late Tuesday asked an appeals court to put on hold a circuit judge's decision that required changes to a "financial impact statement" that will appear on the November ballot with a proposed constitutional amendment about abortion rights. Solicitor General Henry Whitaker and other state lawyers filed a motion urging the 1st District Court of Appeal to issue a stay while an appeal of Circuit Judge John Cooper's ruling plays out. The motion came hours after Cooper rejected a stay in the case. (6/12)
