Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
States Impose Abortion Limits In Record Numbers This Year
NPR: States' Abortion Restrictions Reach A Record In 2021
More abortion restrictions have been enacted across the U.S. this year than in any previous year, according to an analysis by a group that supports abortion rights. State legislatures have passed at least 90 laws restricting the procedure in 2021 so far, finds a report released this month from the Guttmacher Institute. "We're really trying to bring attention to the fact that state legislatures are moving very quickly on abortion bans and restrictions," Elizabeth Nash, a co-author of the report and principal policy associate at the institute, told NPR. "Abortion rights are at stake." (Bowman, 7/9)
Bloomberg Law: Democrats Aim To End Abortion Restrictions, Bolster Health Funds
Bans on federal funds for abortion would be lifted and family planning grants to Planned Parenthood would be restored under a House spending bill released Sunday. (Ruoff, 7/11)
The New York Times: Citizens, Not The State, Will Enforce New Abortion Law In Texas
The provision passed the State Legislature this spring as part of a bill that bans abortion after a doctor detects a fetal heartbeat, usually at about six weeks of pregnancy. Many states have passed such bans, but the law in Texas is different. Ordinarily, enforcement would be up to government officials, and if clinics wanted to challenge the law’s constitutionality, they would sue those officials in making their case. But the law in Texas prohibits officials from enforcing it. Instead, it takes the opposite approach, effectively deputizing ordinary citizens — including from outside Texas — to sue clinics and others who violate the law. It awards them at least $10,000 per illegal abortion if they are successful. (Tavernise, 7/9)
Texas Public Radio: Abortion Pill Controversy Rages On In Texas, US
Medication abortion continues to play a major role as the decades-long battle over reproductive rights rages on in the U.S. During the special legislative session that began July 8, Texas lawmakers will reconsider a bill that would ban the provision of abortion medication by mail or delivery service, and ban pill-induced abortions after 7 weeks into the pregnancy. (7/11)
AP: State Reports Slight Increase In Indiana Abortions For 2020
The number of abortions performed in Indiana grew slightly last year, with a new state report showing that drug-induced abortions made up a majority of the procedures for the first time. The annual report from the state health department shows that the number of abortions in Indiana grew by 119, or 1.6%, to 7,756 during 2020. That increased number remained below the some 8,000 performed in 2018, Indiana’s highest number since 2014. (7/10)
KHN: Biden Is Caught In The Middle Of Polarizing Abortion Politics
It took five months for the Biden administration to make a substantive policy change to advance abortion rights. And even that change was buried in a 61-page regulation setting rules for 2022’s Affordable Care Act enrollment. ... But the new administration’s effort also highlights the frustrations abortion-rights advocates have with the slow pace of change from a president they strongly supported — and who courted their votes. “Biden will work to codify Roe v. Wade, and his Justice Department will do everything in its power to stop the rash of state laws that so blatantly violate Roe v. Wade,” said his campaign platform. (Rovner, 7/12)
