Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
With Eye On Midterms, Biden Presses Need To Codify Abortion Rights
AP: Biden Vows Abortion Legislation As Top Priority Next Year
President Joe Biden promised Tuesday that the first bill he sends to Capitol Hill next year will be one that writes abortion protections into law — if Democrats control enough seats in Congress to pass it — as he sought to energize his party’s voters just three weeks ahead of the November midterms. Twice over, Biden urged people to remember how they felt in late June when the Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion, fresh evidence of White House efforts to ensure the issue stays front of mind for Democratic voters this year. (Kim, 10/18)
On abortion medication —
Crain's Chicago Business: Walgreens, CVS Investigated For Post-Roe Prescription Denials
Walgreens Boots Alliance, CVS and other pharmacy chains are being investigated by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services after the agency received complaints about pharmacists not filling prescriptions for medications that could harm a pregnancy. (Davis, 10/18)
Bloomberg: Abortion Pill Startups Face Fundraising Challenges—Even Post-Roe
Startups that provide abortion pills by mail saw a groundswell of attention after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade earlier this year. Today, though, the founders of two abortion pill companies say that raising money from investors has been complicated. (Anand, 10/19)
In other abortion updates —
AP: S Carolina Senate Again Rejects Abortion Ban; Bill Not Dead
South Carolina senators again Tuesday rejected a proposal to ban nearly all abortions in the state but left open a small chance that some compromise could be reached in the less than four weeks the General Assembly has left to meet this year. The stalemate in the Republican-dominated Legislature hasn’t changed over the past month. The Senate voted 26-17 to insist on its bill keeping South Carolina’s current ban on abortions after cardiac activity is present, which is usually around six weeks. (Collins, 10/18)
The Texas Tribune: Abortion Rights Supporters Struggle To Keep Issue Top Of Mind In Texas
After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, hundreds of people flooded the streets of downtown Fort Worth, marching, rallying, venting and promising that they’d never stop fighting to restore abortion access in Texas. But by mid-October, on the eve of the voter registration deadline, just a faithful few dozen gathered downtown for a Saturday evening rally. Lee Gaudreau, 49, said she was disappointed by the turnout. (Klibanoff, 10/19)
AP: Abortion Access Looms Over Medical Residency Applications
Students in obstetrics-gynecology and family medicine — two of the most popular medical residencies — face tough choices about where to advance their training in a landscape where legal access to abortion varies from state to state. In some cases, applicants who want to perform abortions as part of their career are pursuing residencies in states with more liberal reproductive laws and perhaps continuing their careers there, too — potentially setting up less permissive states for a shortage of OB-GYNs, observers said. (Pollard, 10/19)
