Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Supreme Court To Hear Kentucky Attorney General's Case To Defend State Abortion Law
NBC News: Supreme Court Considers Whether Kentucky Attorney General Can Defend Abortion Law
The Supreme Court on Tuesday will consider whether Kentucky's attorney general can defend a state abortion law that bans a surgical procedure commonly used in the second trimester of pregnancy. Immediately after the law was signed by then-Gov. Matt Bevin, a Republican, in 2018, a Louisville women's surgical center challenged the measure in court. A federal judge found the law unconstitutional in 2019, concluding that it restricted a woman's right to an abortion before the fetus is considered viable. (Williams, 10/12)
Louisville Courier Journal: SCOTUS Abortion Ruling: Daniel Cameron To Defend Kentucky Abortion Law
Lawyers for Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron will appear before the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, seeking the right to revive a defense of a 2018 state abortion law a federal appeals court struck down last year. The court will convene at 10 a.m. to hear arguments on whether Cameron can reopen a case involving an abortion procedure generally used after about the 14th week of pregnancy. The hearing focuses on a single procedural question of whether Cameron may challenge a decision last year by the appeals court striking down the Kentucky law or whether he intervened in the case too late. (Yetter, 10/12)
Bloomberg: What the Front Line of the U.S. Abortion Fight in Kentucky Looks Like Now
A woman seeking to end a pregnancy in Kentucky after 14 weeks has one choice: She enters a brick building on the edge of downtown Louisville after running a gantlet of abortion opponents determined to change her mind. Patients coming to the EMW Women’s Surgical Center on a recent Tuesday navigated as many as 10 protesters, including a preacher with a microphone, a man and boy holding "abortion is murder" signs and a woman who tried to redirect people to the anti-abortion pregnancy center next door. “These abortionists are serial killers!” one called out as a young woman opened the clinic’s glass front door. “They don’t care about you, baby!” (Stohr, 10/11)
Where do the Supreme Court justices stand on abortion? —
AP: Justices' Views On Abortion In Their Own Words And Votes
Abortion already is dominating the Supreme Court’s new term, months before the justices will decide whether to reverse decisions reaching back nearly 50 years. Not only is there Mississippi’s call to overrule Roe v. Wade, but the court also soon will be asked again to weigh in on the Texas law banning abortion at roughly six weeks. The justices won’t be writing on a blank state as they consider the future of abortion rights in the U.S. They have had a lot to say about abortion over the years — in opinions, votes, Senate confirmation testimony and elsewhere. Just one, Clarence Thomas, has openly called for overruling Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the two cases that established and reaffirmed a woman’s right to an abortion. Here is a sampling of their comments. (Sherman and Gresko, 10/12)
And in abortion news from South Carolina —
AP: Appellate Court Sets Hearing In South Carolina Abortion Case
An appellate court is set to debate a lawsuit challenging South Carolina’s abortion law about a week after the U.S. Supreme Court considers a similar measure in Mississippi. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has tentatively calendared the South Carolina case for oral arguments the week of Dec. 6, according to an order from the court posted Friday. Planned Parenthood is suing South Carolina to over the measure, which was signed into law by Republican Gov. Henry McMaster earlier this year and requires doctors to perform ultrasounds to check for a so-called “fetal heartbeat.” If cardiac activity — which can typically be detected about six weeks into pregnancy — is detected, the abortion can only be performed if the pregnancy was caused by rape or incest, or if the mother’s life is in danger. (Kinnard, 10/11)
