Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Supreme Court Seems Likely To Alter Roe Decision
NPR: Roe V. Wade's Future Is In Doubt After Historic Arguments At Supreme Court
The right to an abortion in the United States appeared to be on shaky ground as a divided Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday on the fate of Roe v. Wade, the court's 1973 decision that legalized abortion in the United States. At issue in Wednesday's case — Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization — was a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Until now, all the court's abortion decisions have upheld Roe's central framework — that women have a constitutional right to an abortion in the first two trimesters of pregnancy when a fetus is unable to survive outside the womb, roughly 24 weeks. But Mississippi asked the Supreme Court to reverse all its prior abortion decisions and return the abortion question to the states. (Totenberg, 12/1)
KHN: Conservative Justices Seem Poised To Overturn Roe’s Abortion Rights
A newly conservative Supreme Court on Wednesday heard the most serious legal challenge in a generation to a woman’s right to obtain an abortion. And judging from the questions asked by the justices, it appeared possible — even likely — that a majority of them could vote to turn the thorny question of whether to allow abortion and under what circumstances back to individual states. The law under review in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, passed by Mississippi in 2018, would ban most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. That is a direct contravention of Supreme Court precedents set in 1973’s Roe v. Wade and 1992’s Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, which say states cannot ban abortion until fetal “viability” — generally considered to occur at about 22 to 24 weeks. (Julie Rovner, 12/2)
Politico: 5 Takeaways From The Supreme Court Showdown Over Abortion
At least five justices expressed a willingness to significantly pare down, if not overturn, Roe v. Wade, during Wednesday’s argument over a Mississippi law prohibiting abortion after 15 weeks. The nearly two hours of oral arguments revealed a court divided not only on the merits of the particular state law, but also on whether compromise is possible on abortion rights, the future of the court‘s standing with the American public, the bar for overturning longstanding precedent and what other dominoes might fall should a majority decide to overturn Roe. (Gerstein and Miranda Ollstein, 12/1)
The Washington Post: Roe's Sudden Precariousness Shakes Up Political Landsape
Democrats immediately signaled they would aim to make abortion rights a central focus in next year’s midterm elections, where their prospects have been viewed as dim, while many Republicans sought to keep the focus on inflation and other problems facing President Biden. “This is an attack on women to make their own health-care decisions. Their families, it’s up to them,” said Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.), a former chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “To have politicians decide to me is just frightening, and I expect a lot of voters will react to that.” (Sullivan and Min Kim, 12/1)
CNN: John Roberts Has A Plan That Would Gut -- Yet Save -- Roe V. Wade. Can It Work?
Chief Justice John Roberts came to Wednesday's abortion arguments with an idea, an idea that no other Supreme Court justice would likely want but one that a slim majority might eventually accept. By his questions during the intense session that ran nearly two hours, Roberts suggested the high court reverse a significant part of Roe v. Wade but preserve some constitutional right to abortion. Roberts would end the existing protection for a woman's abortion decision before viability -- that is when the fetus can survive outside the womb -- at about 23 weeks. He suggested he would let states ban abortion at 15 weeks of pregnancy, as Mississippi has done in the case before the justices, but that he would not go further to completely ban abortion. (Biskupic, 12/2)
NBC News: Abortion Rights Advocates In Mississippi Strategize For A Post-Roe World
As the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday about reversing a nearly 50-year precedent on abortion rights, a young woman wearing a “Bans off my body” T-shirt walked up to a white poster in a downtown Jackson hotel ballroom. Several members and supporters of the Mississippi Abortion Access Coalition had jotted down messages on an array of pink, blue and orange sticky notes — what they would want to say to the justices. (Harris, 12/2)
In news from Texas —
Roll Call: Texas To Implement Second Major Abortion Law
Texas is expected to implement a second major abortion law on Thursday as the Supreme Court weighs arguments that could change the future of how states can restrict abortion. The new Texas law would limit medication abortions, a nonsurgical procedure where a patient takes two pills known as mifepristone and misoprostol that induce an abortion. Medication abortions — not to be confused with the morning-after pill, also known as Plan B, that prevents pregnancy — are commonly used during the earliest stages of pregnancy. (Raman, 12/1)
ABC News: Texas Law Restricting Access To Abortion Pills Goes Into Effect: What To Know
As the U.S. Supreme Court continues to weigh whether to leave Texas's unprecedented six-week abortion ban, SB8, in place, a new law that also restricts abortion access is going into effect in the state. Starting Thursday, people in Texas will have a narrower window in which they can receive abortion-inducing medication, including the two most commonly used medications, mifepristone and misoprostol. (Kindelan, 12/2)
