Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Worries Rise Pentagon Abortion Access Policy Could Be Forced To Change
Military Times: Abortion Access Policy Could Be Dumped, Former Pentagon Leader Warns
The Pentagon’s former personnel head warned that the Defense Department’s abortion access policies could be rescinded as early as next year if critics win key seats in the upcoming November elections. “The Department of Defense’s abortion travel policy was a necessary, though incomplete, step to remedying the Supreme Court’s error. It also could be reversed on the very first day of a new administration,” wrote Gil Cisneros, the former undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, in an op-ed published by The Hill on Tuesday. (Shane III, 1/3)
Task & Purpose: Arkansas Air Guard Commander Resigns Over Abortion Travel Policy
The commander of the Arkansas Air National Guard’s 188th Air Wing resigned late last month for what the state’s Governor said is a protest of the Pentagon policy that pays for reproductive medical expenses, which includes out-of-state travel for abortions. According to Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ office, Colonel Dillon Patterson resigned on December 18 as commander of the 188th Air Wing at Ebbing Air National Guard Base just, just outside the town of Fort Smith on the Oklahoma border. (Schogol and White, 1/3)
In other abortion news —
CBS News: Arguments Set For February On Florida Abortion Measure
With the measure's supporters getting close to meeting a petition-signature requirement, the Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday said it will hear arguments on February 7th about a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at ensuring abortion rights in the state. The arguments will center on whether the Supreme Court should approve the wording of the proposed constitutional amendment and allow it to go on the November ballot. (1/3)
Roll Call: Latina Candidates Plan Abortion Rights Push
While Republicans have made inroads with Latino voters in recent years, Democrats say the GOP’s support for strict limits on abortion threatens to undercut those gains. A majority of Hispanics, 57 percent, say abortion should be legal in most or all cases, according to a Pew Research Center survey released in 2022. Among young Latinos, one of the nation’s fastest-growing demographic groups, that figure climbs to 72 percent. Support for reproductive rights remains strong even among Catholic Latinos. Polling data from eight key states compiled by UnidosUS, a Hispanic civil rights organization, found that 71 percent of Latinos opposed efforts to make abortion illegal or “take that choice away from everyone else,” regardless of their personal beliefs. (Altimari, 1/2)
Side Effects Public Media: Some States With Abortion Bans Saw Slightly More Births, New Analysis Finds
Abortion bans may have led to an increase in birth rates in some states, a new report suggests. Three university researchers closely analyzed 13 states that prohibited abortion in nearly all situations by the end of 2022, after the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated a federal right to abortion. The IZA Institute of Labor Economics published their discussion paper in November. (Watkins, 1/3)
