Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: What's The Real Reason Roe Was Reversed?; Abortion Bans Go Hand In Hand With No Paid Leave
Politico: Why The Supreme Court Really Killed Roe V. Wade
We’ve had a year now to contemplate the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and what led up to the justices’ decision to overturn 50 years of jurisprudence and end the constitutional right to abortion. Many abortion rights supporters and others on the left blame the court’s Republican-appointed majority, seeing those judges as too politically partisan. But we see something a bit different going on. To really understand why the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade, we think it’s crucial to see Dobbs as the triumph of two social movements and the rising influence of a distinctive kind of judge. (Robert L. Tsai and Mary Ziegler, 6/25)
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Since Dobbs, States With Abortion Bans Far Outpace Those Offering Paid Family Leave
This double whammy of mandated birth and state neglect has severe consequences. In states limiting abortion access, maternal mortality rates are higher and birthing people are more likely to have children who are born too early or who die within their first year of life. (Alina Schnake-Mahl and Jaquelyn Jahn, 6/26)
The Washington Post: All That Hasn’t Happened Since Roe V. Wade Fell
Millions of people don’t live within reach of an abortion clinic, and so we live in a worse world, a world where millions of people cannot live their lives like full people. And for as long as we remain in this world, the loss will accumulate. I want to be able to know precisely how cruelly we have robbed ourselves. (Alexandra Petri, 6/24)
Arizona Republic: Dobbs Effect: Year Later, Anti-Abortion Laws Threaten Women's Health
Zealots of any sort rarely consider the law of unintended consequences. It’s no different for anti-abortion zealots. For now, Arizona allows licensed physicians to perform abortions up to 15 weeks. But that law, as Eloisa Lopez, executive director of the Abortion Fund of Arizona and Pro-Choice Arizona, told The Arizona Republic’s Stephanie Innes, is “hanging by a thread.” (RJ Montini, 6/24)
The New York Times: How The Conservative Movement Sees Birth Control Today
Most Republican voters — 84 percent of them, according to a 2022 poll on behalf of the organization where I work — support safe and accessible birth control. But after Roe v. Wade was overturned last year, Republicans in Congress blocked legislation that would have enshrined a federal right to contraception. (Hadley Heath Manning, 6/24)
