Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
The Cost Of Louisiana Defending Its Anti-Abortion Laws In Recent Years: More Than $1 Million
The Associated Press: Records: Louisiana Spent Over $1M Defending Abortion Laws
Louisiana has spent more than $1 million to defend its abortion restrictions against a series of lawsuits since 2014, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press through open-records requests. And it's set to spend even more. Contracts with private law firms show the state repeatedly adding thousands of dollars to the agreements, extending them as the cases drag on while Louisiana fights to implement anti-abortion policies that have been halted by the courts. State officials say they'll keep spending to defend their laws. They say you can't put a price tag on human life. (Izaguirre, 6/7)
KCUR: Missouri Family Planning Groups Say Proposed Title X Changes Would Threaten Healthcare Safety Net
Newly proposed federal rules would force Missouri clinics to choose between providing comprehensive healthcare and receiving federal funds, according to family planning groups. Leaders of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, Missouri Family Health Council Inc. and other Missouri health groups on Thursday denounced proposed changes to the federal Title X program, which provides funding for family planning and reproductive health providers throughout the country. (Smith, 6/7)
And in other news —
Reveal: Axed Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs Win Back Federal Funds
A federal judge in a fifth lawsuit has ruled that the Trump administration illegally terminated the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, restoring grants to all 81 programs nationwide that had their funding abruptly axed last year. U.S. District Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s decision on a class action suit, issued last week, ordered the administration to handle all the applications “as if the agency had not undertaken to shorten these grantees’ federal awards.” (Kay, 6/7)
