Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
With VA Union Contracts Voided, Staff Lose Extra Time Off After Baby Comes
Axios: VA Curbs Maternity Leave After White House Cancels Union Contract
New and expecting parents who work at Veterans Affairs are getting approved maternity and paternity leave canceled after their union contract was terminated by the White House, according to two internal memos viewed by Axios. (Peck, 8/15)
In abortion news —
Virginia Mercury: Virginia Abortion Funds See Sharp Uptick In Patients Both In And Out Of State
Virginia-based abortion funds are citing an increased uptick in calls to their intake lines, as more people rely on their assistance to help cover the cost and sometimes travel expenses to get abortions. Since federal protections were overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court three summers ago, various states have enacted restrictions or near-total bans on the procedure. With Virginia the least-restrictive southern state, several funds here told the Virginia Mercury in interviews they’re seeing a spike in assistance requests. (Woods, 8/18)
West Virginia Watch: Abortion Pill Campaign Targets Rural West Virginia, Kentucky Gas Stations
Advertisements promoting the abortion pill will be at gas stations across West Virginia and Kentucky over the next few weeks. Mayday Health, a New York-based health education nonprofit, will run the ads at 104 rural gas stations through Sept. 7. The campaign started Aug. 11. The advertisements say “Pregnant? Don’t want to be? Learn more at Mayday Health.” (Kersey, 8/18)
Axios: Ohio's Abortion Wait Times Drop After Pause On 24-Hour Law
Preterm Cleveland, the region's largest abortion provider, says its patients are getting care faster since Ohio's 24-hour waiting period was put on hold last year. The change has been especially significant for out-of-state patients, whose numbers have doubled since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. 80% of those patients were seen in a single day over the past year, avoiding costly extended stays in Ohio, per Preterm. (Allard, 8/18)
Mother Jones: Anti-Abortion Playbook, Flipped: Arkansas Abortion Fund Opens Its Own “Crisis Pregnancy Center”
For nine years, Karen Musick stood outside the Little Rock Family Planning Services clinic in Arkansas, protecting women arriving for their abortion appointments from anti-abortion protesters who regularly gathered there. After retiring from her job as a loan specialist with the Small Business Administration, Musick was filled with purpose as a clinic escort volunteer. “I remember thinking on a Saturday morning, while I’m being called the devil and a murderer and all these things,” she recalls, “that I’m doing exactly what God wants me to do.” In 2022, when Roe v. Wade was overturned and the total abortion ban in Arkansas went into effect that summer, the Little Rock clinic shut down. But Musick had found another way to contribute to the pro-choice movement by co-founding the Arkansas Abortion Support Network, which helps pregnant women travel out of state for abortion care. The clinic’s owner allowed them to work from the building for free. (Morel, 8/18)
Newsweek: Texas Laws Changing On September 1: From Abortion To Property Tax
Texas Senate Bill 33 bans local government in the state from funding out-of-state abortions after the Lone Star State introduced a near-total abortion ban, with limited exemptions to protect the life of the mother, after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022. (Bickerton, 8/16)
The Hill: Patty Murray Rips Costco Over Mifepristone Decision
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) hammered Costco on Friday for appeasing “far-right extremists,” after the retailer said earlier this week that its pharmacies would not dispense the abortion medication mifepristone. “I am deeply alarmed by news reports that Costco is refusing to sell safe, effective, and legal medication for no other reason than to appease the politics of anti-abortion fanatics,” Murray said in a statement following the news. “I refuse to stand by and allow far-right extremists to bully major corporations and dictate what medicine women can or cannot get access to.” (Thomas, 8/16)
Also —
The Hill: US Plan To Destroy $10M Contraceptives Sparks Fierce Pushback
Lawmakers and activists in Europe and the United States are scrambling to stop the State Department from destroying nearly $10 million worth of contraceptives funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contraceptives have been sitting in a warehouse in Belgium for months after President Trump froze all U.S foreign aid and shuttered USAID earlier this year. (O’Connell-Domenech, 8/16)
