Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Vermont Enacts Nation's First Law Protecting Medication Abortion Access
AP: Vermont Governor Signs 1st-In-Nation Shield Bills That Explicitly Include Medicated Abortion
Vermont’s Republican governor signed abortion and gender affirming shield bills into law Wednesday that are the first in the country to explicitly include protecting access to a medication widely used in abortions even if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration withdraws its approval of the pill, mifepristone. The bills protect providers from discipline for providing legally protected reproductive and gender affirming health care services. (Rathke, 5/10)
Abortion news from Nevada and North Carolina —
AP: Nevada Advances Proposal To Enshrine Abortion Rights Into State Constitution
Nevada lawmakers on Wednesday passed a joint resolution that would codify reproductive rights — including already-existing abortion access up to 24 weeks — into the state constitution. The state Assembly approved of the measure 28 to 14 along party lines, about three weeks after the state Senate passed it 13 to 8 along party lines. State lawmakers must pass the resolution again in 2025 before it would go before voters as a ballot question in 2026. If passed, the resolution would provide the highest level of state protection for not only abortion rights, but also other reproductive access, including postpartum and prenatal care, as well as birth control. (Stern, 5/10)
AP: North Carolina Governor Makes Last-Minute Plea To Block New Abortion Limits
North Carolina’s Democratic governor rallied residents and local doctors Wednesday in Wilmington as part of a last-minute bid to persuade at least one Republican lawmaker to sustain his expected veto of a bill banning most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy. The visit marks the second day of Gov. Roy Cooper’s cross-state campaign to urge the constituents of four GOP state legislators to demand they uphold abortion access after expressing hesitance about further restrictions during their election campaigns last year. (Schoenbaum, 5/11)
From Louisiana, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia —
AP: Rape, Incest Exceptions To Louisiana Abortion Ban Rejected By GOP Lawmakers
Republican lawmakers in Louisiana rejected legislation Wednesday that would add exceptions in cases of rape and incest to one of the strictest abortion bans in the country. This legislative session, there is a package of bills aimed at loosening Louisiana’s near-total abortion ban by adding exceptions, clarifying “vague language” and decreasing the punishment for doctors convicted of performing illegal abortions. However, much of the proposed legislation died in a GOP-controlled committee Wednesday or was voluntarily deferred by the bills’ authors. (Cline, 5/11)
AP: South Carolina Republicans Advance New Abortion Restrictions
South Carolina Republicans are pushing new abortion restrictions in a late attempt to curtail access after a near-total ban failed last month. A Senate bill that would ban abortion except in the earliest weeks of pregnancy is moving quickly through the South Carolina House in the first sign that Republican leaders may be close to restoring limits passed in 2021 but overturned by the state Supreme Court. (Pollard, 5/10)
The Texas Tribune: Abortion Bills Gain Little Traction In Texas Legislature
The first Texas legislative session since the overturn of Roe v. Wade was “a draw,” said Rep. Donna Howard, a Democrat from Austin, as abortion bills on either side of the aisle languished in parliamentary purgatory. “For the first time that I can remember, for quite a few sessions, back to at least 2011, maybe before that, we haven’t really dealt with abortion,” Howard said. (Klibanoff, 5/11)
AP: Republican Virginia Attorney General Miyares Defends Staying Out Of Abortion Pill Case
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares has defended his decision not to join most of his Republican counterparts around the country in supporting a lawsuit challenging the safety and approval of the abortion medication mifepristone. In a wide-ranging interview Tuesday with The Associated Press, Miyares said he opted not to sign onto the amicus brief by 22 other Republican attorneys general earlier this year because he had concerns about whether the plaintiffs in the case had standing to sue. (Rankin and Lavoie, 5/10)
The 19th: Abortion Access Is At Stake In This Summer’s Virginia Democratic Primary
As abortion access continues to dwindle in the South, its future in Virginia is set to loom large in this fall’s legislative elections. But this summer, before the parties duke it out for control of the statehouse, abortion rights advocates are eyeing a key primary that will pit [Lashrecse] Aird against the last anti-abortion-rights Democrat in Virginia. (Barclay, 5/11)
Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump voice their opinions —
The Hill: McConnell Breaks With Tuberville Over Blanket Hold On Military Nominees
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) said Wednesday that he does not support Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Ala.) blanket hold on more than 180 non-political military promotions, which Democrats say is keeping qualified people out of key roles. “I don’t support putting a hold on military nominations, I don’t support that,” McConnell told reporters. Tuberville has held up the promotions of 184 general and flag officers for weeks to protest the Defense Department’s abortion policy of providing paid leave and travel reimbursements to service members who have to cross state lines to obtain abortions and fertility treatments. (Bolton, 5/10)
The Hill: Trump Calls Overturning Roe ‘A Great Victory,’ Dodges On Federal Abortion Ban
Former President Trump called the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade “a great victory” but did not say whether he would support a federal ban on abortion if he’s elected again. “It was such a great victory and people are starting to understand it now,” Trump said of the ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which struck down the 1973 decision protecting abortion rights, when asked at a CNN town hall on Wednesday how he would appeal to female voters in 2024. (Manchester, 5/10)
Also —
Axios: Report: "Sharp Increase" In Crimes Against Abortion Clinics Post-Roe
The Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was followed by a "sharp increase" in violence directed against abortion providers and patients, according to a new report from the National Abortion Federation. (Gonzalez, 5/11)
