Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
University Officials Fear Fallout From Planned Parenthood Videos Will Hit Research Labs
Politico: Planned Parenthood Critics Have New Target — Universities
Officials of the nation’s leading universities have watched with dread as the fallout from the Planned Parenthood sting videos has threatened to engulf labs that depend on fetal tissue for research. Now the abortion wars are raging on their doorsteps as lawmakers in Wisconsin and Ohio try to ban such research and other states limit access to the tissue. More than three dozen of the universities, including Harvard, Yale and Johns Hopkins, have been drawn into the fight despite their traditional deep aversion to an issue that can divide faculties and donors and draw the ire of anti-abortion advocates nationwide. (Norman, 10/2)
The Associated Press: Board Postpones Vote On Another Planned Parenthood Review
South Carolina's Legislative Audit Council postponed voting Thursday on whether to launch another state investigation into Planned Parenthood. Members of the agency's governing board expressed concern about duplicating other investigations. But they said they're still inclined to approve audit requests signed by dozens of House and Senate Republicans. (Adcox, 10/1)
The Associated Press: Conservative Group Pushes Scott On Planned Parenthood Money
[Wis.] Gov. Rick Scott has signed new laws that make it harder for minors to get abortions, require an ultrasound before the procedure and force women to wait 24 hours before ending a pregnancy. He also ordered a state agency to investigate 16 Planned Parenthood clinics that provide abortions. But that's not enough for a conservative group that says Scott can't truly call himself an abortion opponent unless he cuts state money going to Planned Parenthood clinics through combined state/federal health care programs. (Farrington, 10/1)
The Washington Post's Fact Checker: The Repeated, Misleading Claim That Planned Parenthood ‘Provides’ Mammograms
Readers asked us to fact-check Planned Parenthood supporters’ claims that the organization “provides” mammograms. Maloney’s statement above appeared to contradict comments by Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards’s repeated claim at a Sept. 29 congressional hearing that the organization does not, in fact, offer mammograms or have mammogram machines in its clinics. (Lee, 10/2)
