Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Vice President To Meet With Abortion Providers
Fox News: Abortion Providers To Meet With Kamala Harris Virtually At The White House
Vice President Kamala Harris will meet virtually with abortion providers at the White House on Thursday morning, as the Supreme Court considers a key abortion case after an opinion overturning Roe v. Wade (1973) leaked earlier this month. Harris will speak with abortion providers over livestream video in a 2 p.m. Eastern event at the White House Thursday, a White House official told Fox News. The vice president will provide opening remarks, speak with the providers, and engage with pro-choice advocates in the audience. (O'Neil, 5/19)
NPR: 64% Of U.S. Adults Oppose Overturning Roe V. Wade, Poll Says
About two-thirds of Americans say they do not support overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal in the United States, according to the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll. Seven-in-10 U.S. adults, however, say they are in favor of some degree of restrictions on abortion rights. That includes 52% of Democrats. The issue of abortion rights was once again thrown into the hot spotlight of American politics after the unprecedented leak of a draft opinion from the Supreme Court earlier this month that showed the majority-conservative court ready to overturn Roe. (Montanaro, 5/19)
AP: With Roe In Doubt, Some Fear Tech Surveillance Of Pregnancy
When Chandler Jones realized she was pregnant during her junior year of college, she turned to a trusted source for information and advice. Her cellphone. “I couldn’t imagine before the internet, trying to navigate this,” said Jones, 26, who graduated Tuesday from the University of Baltimore School of Law. “I didn’t know if hospitals did abortions. I knew Planned Parenthood did abortions, but there were none near me. So I kind of just Googled.” (Dale, 5/18)
In abortion news from Oklahoma, Utah, Maryland, and elsewhere —
PBS NewsHour: As Nearly All Abortions Come To A Halt In Oklahoma, Clinics Search For New Ways To Connect Patients With Care
Before Oklahoma’s governor signed a six-week abortion ban earlier this month, Dr. Iman Alsaden was often driving hundreds of miles a week, mostly from Kansas to Oklahoma, to see patients. As the lead medical director for Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which operates two of the four abortion clinics in Oklahoma, Alsaden was seeing upwards of 50 patients a day at her clinic in Oklahoma City. Demands on the clinic had grown since last September, when more people from Texas sought care following a new law that banned most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. Overnight, her clinic and others in Oklahoma had become critical access points for Texans seeking care. Months later, after Oklahoma’s new ban, Planned Parenthood Great Plains has stopped scheduling surgical and medical abortions in the state altogether. For Alsaden, it’s now the patients she’s no longer seeing that worry her the most. (Kemp, 5/18)
Salt Lake Tribune: What Utah Schools Can Teach About Abortion
For a conservative state that heavily regulates what public schools can teach about sex, it may come as a surprise that there is nothing specific in Utah law about classroom discussions on abortion. Some parents have questioned how the topic is presented to Utah’s students after a Supreme Court draft opinion was recently leaked, showing a majority of the court privately voting to overturn Roe v. Wade and leave the decision on allowing abortions up to each state. Parent groups have been posting on social media about making sure that abortion is not being presented as an option to teens — especially since it will be generally banned in Utah, if the court moves forward as expected. But students at several Salt Lake Valley high schools walked out last week in protest of the anticipated ruling and in favor of abortion rights. (Tanner, 5/18)
The Baltimore Sun: Kelly Schulz Vows Not To Change Maryland Abortion Laws If Elected Governor. As A Lawmaker, She Tried
As a Republican state lawmaker in a conservative district a decade ago, Kelly Schulz sponsored and voted for bills that would have restricted women’s access to abortions in Maryland. But as a candidate for governor in a blue state as a landmark legal decision giving women that right appears poised to be struck down, she’s vowing a different approach. “The laws that are in place right now, I will do nothing in my office to be able to change that,” Schulz said Tuesday when asked about her record in the House of Delegates and what she would do if she’s elected and the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. (Janesch, 5/18)
NPR: Some States Are Bracing For A Huge Influx Of Patients If Roe Falls
Across the U.S., health clinics that offer abortions are gearing up for a huge migration of patients from the more than two dozen states that are likely to ban abortions, if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. Some warn they will not be able to handle the surge in demand. The nation's high court will soon deliver its ruling in a Mississippi case that could eliminate the nationwide right to abortion. A leaked opinion from the court — while only a draft — has already signaled that as a likely outcome. (Stone, 5/19)
