Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Bans Forcing Patients To Travel More Than Twice As Long For An Abortion
CNN: After Roe V. Wade Overturned, Travel Time To Abortion Facilities Grew Significantly
The average travel time to an abortion facility increased significantly for women in the United States after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and revoked the federal right to an abortion, according to a new study published Tuesday in JAMA. More than a dozen states enacted complete or partial bans on abortion after the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling, and researchers considered abortion facilities in those states to be inactive – cutting the number of active facilities by a tenth. (McPhillips, 11/1)
NBC News: Effects Of Supreme Court Abortion Ruling: Longer Travel Time, More Requests For Pills
One of the newly published studies showed that it took people 100 minutes, on average, to travel to abortion facilities in September, compared to an average of 30 minutes before the Dobbs decision. The share of women of reproductive age who lived more than an hour away from an abortion facility rose from 15% to 33%. (Bendix, 11/1)
In related news from Ohio —
Columbus Dispatch: Ohio's Six-Week Ban Led To 65% Drop In Abortions
Abortions in Ohio dropped by 65% in the months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and the state imposed a six-week abortion ban, according to a new report. (Balmert, 11/1)
On the Missouri investigation —
Missouri Independent: Missouri Says Feds Initiated Investigation Of Joplin Hospital That Denied Emergency Abortion
The federal government, not state political leaders, initiated an investigation of the care Freeman Health Services in Joplin provided after a denying a woman an emergency abortion, a Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services spokeswoman said Monday. (Keller, 11/1)
KHN: Hospital Investigated For Allegedly Denying An Emergency Abortion After Patient’s Water Broke
The federal government has launched its first confirmed investigation of an alleged denial of an abortion to a woman experiencing a medical emergency. In late October, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services opened an investigation at Freeman Hospital West in Joplin, Missouri, under the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, department spokesperson Lisa Cox told KHN. It was authorized by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which contracts with state agencies to conduct EMTALA surveys. (Meyer, 11/1)
How abortion is affecting the midterm elections —
Stat: Senate Race Shows How Hard It Is To Run On Abortion In The Heartland
If any Senate race should be a referendum on abortion access it’s the one in Missouri. The Republican official running to represent the Show Me State, Eric Schmitt, used his previous post as Missouri’s attorney general to ban all abortions in the state even in cases of rape and incest, just minutes after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Missouri was the first state to enact its so-called trigger law. (Florko, 11/2)
Anchorage Daily News: How Abortion Is Shaping Alaska’s Statewide Campaigns
At a recent event with supporters in Soldotna, former Gov. Sarah Palin told the crowd that she is “100% pro-life.” Her view — that abortions should be banned, including when the pregnancy is the result of rape — goes against that of a majority of Alaskans, according to public opinion polling. (Samuels, 11/1)
