Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Starbucks Joins List Of Companies Covering Abortion Travel Costs
AP: Starbucks Will Cover Travel For Workers Seeking Abortions
Starbucks said Monday it will pay the travel expenses for U.S. employees to access abortion and gender-confirmation procedures if those services aren’t available within 100 miles of a worker’s home. The Seattle coffee giant said it will also make the travel benefit available to the dependents of employees who are enrolled in Starbucks’ health care plan. Starbucks has 240,000 U.S. employees but the company didn’t say what percentage of them are enrolled in the its health care plan. (Chapman and Durbin, 5/16)
And more on Roe v. Wade —
NBC News: Abortion Fight Thrusts State Attorney General Races Into The Forefront
The Supreme Court appears poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, a decision that would end legal abortion in nearly two dozen states and hand more power to state attorneys general — a shift that has thrust those down-ballot contests into the limelight. (Edelman, 5/16)
The Washington Post: States Pursue Extreme Restrictions In Crafting Post-Roe Abortion Law
What had been a slow, deliberate erosion of abortion rights over the 50 years since the court’s ruling in Roe now seemed to be a flash flood of increasingly severe restrictions and proposals cropping up at the state level, abortion rights advocates say, as antiabortion Republicans envision a post-Roe world. “I think these state lawmakers are feeling emboldened based on what they think is coming down the pike from the Supreme Court,” said Rachel Fey, who works on policy programs for Power to Decide, a nonprofit organization that seeks to prevent unplanned pregnancies and supports abortion rights. (Wang and Kitchener, 5/16)
Politico: What Abortion Rights Advocates Are Planning If Roe Falls
The reproductive rights community is exploring creative new legal avenues to fight state abortion bans in anticipation of a post-Roe v. Wade world. But it’s also confronting a difficult reality: Lawsuits alone will not provide a fix. POLITICO’s publication of a draft Supreme Court opinion that overturns the landmark decision protecting access to abortion has forced attorneys and abortion activists to prepare for a legal Wild West. To stop half the country from becoming an abortion access desert in the coming months, they’re exploring a range of new tactics, all while managing expectations. (Ollstein and Barron-Lopez, 5/16)
NBC News: Alito Says Overturning Roe Gives Women A Voice On Abortion. In The South, It's Not That Simple
In his leaked draft Supreme Court opinion, Justice Samuel Alito argues that overturning Roe v. Wade would allow “women on both sides of the abortion issue to seek to affect the legislative process.” ... But advocates for voting access and civil rights say that Alito’s depiction does not account for the parts of the country, particularly in the South, where laws make it harder for the poor and voters of color to cast their ballots, and where racially polarized voting can make it more difficult for abortion rights candidates to gain ground. (Harris, 5/16)
Texas Tribune: With Roe V. Wade On The Line, Some Texans Look South Of The Border For Abortion Drugs
Maria laid the pregnancy test facedown on the counter in her boyfriend’s bathroom in McAllen and set a timer for the longest three minutes of her life. She watched the timer tick down, mentally running through her litany of reassurances: They’d used a condom; she’d taken the Plan B pill; maybe her missed period was just an anomaly. “I was just praying, please don’t let this be the case,” she said. “I had no idea how I’d navigate the situation. But what can I do but flip this test over?” (Klibanoff, Ferman and García, 5/16)
