CQ: Federal Judge Remains Skeptical Of Short-Term Plans Lawsuit
A federal district court judge seemed skeptical Tuesday during a hearing to determine whether a challenge to a Trump administration rule expanding short-term plans merits a full trial. U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon of the D.C. Circuit wondered if it was too premature to make a decision on stopping the rule. “Why wouldn’t it make more sense for this to play out for a year or two?” he said. (Raman, 5/21)

Modern Healthcare: Federal Judge Signals Reluctance To Block Short-Term Plans
A federal judge on Tuesday indicated he wasn't willing to block the Trump administration's rule expanding access to short-term, limited-duration health plans since Congress didn't limit them in the Affordable Care Act or in the six years after its passage. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon heard a second round of arguments in the lawsuit over the Trump administration's reversal of the Obama administration's cap on short-term plans. (Luthi, 5/21)

In other health law news —

Kaiser Health News: Did The ACA Create Preexisting Condition Protections For People In Employer Plans?
During a recent appearance on MSNBC, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) answered questions from “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski about the latest lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. “The most important part of Obamacare, as you know, Mika, is the protection against preexisting condition discrimination that extended to more than 150 million Americans, folks who get their health insurance through their employer,” he said. (Rovner, 5/21)

The Associated Press: States Sue Over Rule Allowing Clinicians To Refuse Abortions
Two dozen states and municipalities sued the federal government Tuesday to stop a new rule that lets health care clinicians decline to provide abortions and other services that conflict with their moral or religious beliefs. A Manhattan federal court lawsuit asked a judge to declare the rule unconstitutional and say it was passed in an arbitrary and capricious manner. In a separate lawsuit in San Francisco federal court, California sued as well, saying there was no evidence that the impact on patients was considered. (Neumeister, 5/21)

The Washington Post: Two Dozen States, Municipalities, Sue Over Trump’s ‘Conscience’ Rule
A lawsuit by a coalition of nearly two dozen states and cities, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, alleges that the rule illegally favors the personal views of health-care workers over the needs of patients — “at a dangerous price” of hobbling the ability of state-run health-care facilities to provide effective care. A separate suit, brought by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, alleges that the rule “impedes access to basic care” and “encourages discrimination against vulnerable patients, including women and LGBTQ individuals.” (Goldstein, 5/21)

The Hill: Democratic States, Counties, Sue Trump Admin Over Religious Protections Rule 
The new complaint called the final rule “an unprecedented and unlawful expansion” of nearly 30 federal statutes that will prevent the plaintiffs from administering their own health care systems. “The federal government is giving health care providers free license to openly discriminate and refuse care to patients — a gross misinterpretation of religious freedom that will have devastating consequences on communities throughout the country,” James said in a statement. (Weixel, 5/21)

Bloomberg: Trump Sued Over Rule Allowing Health-Care Religious Refusals 
“A war is being waged on access to health care across our country from Alabama to Texas to Washington D.C., where once again the president and vice president are issuing illegal rules that use health care as a political weapon while risking American lives," California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, a Democrat, said in a statement announcing his lawsuit. (Larson, 5/21)

The Associated Press: Mississippi Abortion Law 'Smacks Of Defiance,' US Judge Says
A federal judge indicated Tuesday that he is likely to block a Mississippi law that will ban most abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected. The new law puts a cutoff point for abortion at about six weeks, when many women may not yet know they're pregnant. U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves heard arguments about a request from the state's only abortion clinic, which wants him to block the law from taking effect July 1, as scheduled. (Wagster Pettus, 5/21)

The Washington Post: He Already Struck Down One Abortion Ban. Now The Judge Says A New Bill ‘Smacks Of Defiance.’
Mississippi’s law, which bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, is part of a nationwide barrage of restrictions, pushed for by the religious right and meant to challenge the Constitution and force the Supreme Court to reconsider its ruling in Roe v. Wade. In most cases, the goal is not a law’s enaction, but the legal challenges and appeals that could pave a path to the high court and its conservative majority. (Thebault, 5/21)

The Associated Press: Alabama House Approves 'Born Alive' Abortion Bill
Doctors would face prison sentences if they fail to treat babies "born alive" after an attempted abortion, under a bill approved Tuesday night by the Alabama House of Representatives. The measure patterned after legislation in Texas was approved after more than an hour of contentious debate. It comes a week after Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation seeking to outlaw almost all abortions in the state. Representatives voted 66-18 for the bill that now moves to the Alabama Senate. (Chandler, 5/22)

The Washington Post: #BoycottGeorgia For Its Abortion Bill? Two Major Film Productions Just Said They Would.
Two major Hollywood productions have announced that they plan to avoid filming in Georgia because of the stringent antiabortion bill the state’s Republican legislature signed into law earlier this month. The show “The Power,” a drama series for Amazon Studios that is based on a female-centric science fiction novel of the same name, decided to pull scouts who were scouring the state for potential filming locations and said that it would not be filming any of the show in the state. (Rosenberg, 5/21)

Los Angeles Times: Georgia Abortion Law: Boycott Heats Up As TV Show And Kristen Wiig Movie Bail
“We had no problem stopping the entire process instantly,” “The Power” director Reed Morano told Time, adding that there was “no way” her project would give its production money to Georgia. Location scouts had reportedly been working in Savannah, Ga., for several months in preparation for Morano’s arrival, Time reported. “[I]t felt wrong to us to go ahead and make our show and take money/tax credit from a state that is taking this stance on the abortion issue. We just couldn’t do it,” Morano said on Instagram. (D'Zurilla, 5/21)

The Associated Press: Louisiana: Anti-Abortion Constitutional Language Nears OK
Louisiana lawmakers took another step Tuesday in efforts to chip away at abortion rights, nearing final passage of a bill that would ask voters to rewrite the state constitution to ensure it offers no protections for the procedure. The constitutional change, which has been enacted in some other conservative states, is one of several anti-abortion measures proposed in Louisiana’s legislative session, including a bill nearing final passage that could ban the procedure as early as six weeks of pregnancy. (Deslatte, 5/21)

The Hill: Wisconsin Governor Vows To Veto Abortion Restriction Bills Passed By State Lawmakers 
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) on Tuesday vowed to veto abortion restrictions the state assembly passed last week, saying that government should allow women to make their own health care decisions. "We shouldn’t be limiting the right for women to make their own healthcare decisions," Evers said on Twitter. "That’s why I’ll veto the bills passed by the Assembly last week if they arrive on my desk. It’s time to listen to women. #StopTheBans" (Wise, 5/21)

The Associated Press: Nevada Lawmakers Close To Repealing Tough Abortion Rules
Nevada lawmakers are bucking a national trend of restrictive abortion laws by voting to repeal requirements that physicians document a pregnant woman’s marital status and tell her about the “emotional implications” of an abortion. Democrats in the Assembly passed the bill in a largely party-line vote on Tuesday, the same day protesters across the country decried actions in other statehouses that toughen abortion laws. Nevada has the first overall female-majority Legislature in the country. (Tarinelli, 5/22)

KCUR: Kansas Paid Outside Law Firms $899,000 In Losing Effort To Defund Planned Parenthood 
A day after Kansas notified Planned Parenthood in May 2016 that it would cut off its participation in Medicaid, the nonprofit group sued to block the move. So Kansas hired three high-powered East Coast law firms to defend it in a case that would slog on for nearly three years before Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s administration agreed to drop the termination effort in April. (Margolies, 5/21)

The New York Times: As Some States Limit Abortion, Others Move To Protect Abortion Rights
As conservatives in states like Alabama, Georgia, and Missouri race to pass some of the strictest limits on abortions in decades, a pushback is developing as well. In Democratic-held or Democratic-leaning states, abortion rights supporters who are alarmed by the new laws and by the threat represented by a more conservative Supreme Court are trying to repeal abortion restrictions or limit the government’s say over women’s reproductive decisions. (Taylor and Turkewitz, 5/21)

Kaiser Health News: Listen: Answering Questions About New Abortion Laws
Julie Rovner, Kaiser Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, joined WAMU’s Sasha-Ann Simons Tuesday on “1A” to answer listeners’ questions about the strict new abortion laws passed by Alabama, Missouri and other states and the future of Roe v. Wade, a 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion across the country. Also on the panel were NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg and Dr. Colleen McNicholas, an obstetrician/gynecologist and an associate professor at Washington University in St. Louis who also provides abortion services in Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas. You can listen to the hourlong discussion here. (5/21)

The Hill: 2020 Democratic Presidential Candidates Rally In Support Of Abortion Rights 
Democratic presidential candidates rallied on the steps of the Supreme Court Tuesday against a rash of state abortion bans they say have been encouraged by President Trump and his administration. ... A large crowd of abortion rights protestors held signs reading “abortion is a human right” and “protect safe, legal abortion" as attendees loudly cheered on Gillibrand and Cory Booker (D-N.J.). (Hellmann, 5/21)

The Hill: Biden Says Congress Must Move To Protect Abortion Rights
Former Vice President Joe Biden believes Congress must move to enshrine abortion rights into federal law following several controversial bills passed by state legislatures around the country, his presidential campaign team confirmed to The Hill on Tuesday. "Vice President Biden firmly believes that Roe v. Wade is the law of the land and should not be overturned," a campaign spokesperson said in a statement. "Georgia, Alabama, and Missouri are passing extreme laws in order to prevent a woman to be able to have an abortion under virtually any circumstance. Roe v. Wade lays out a constitutional guarantee that a woman can, in fact, make a choice between she and her doctor. Biden believes that codifying Roe through legislation must be pursued." (Conradis, 5/21)

The Hill: GOP Faces New Challenge In 2020 Abortion Fight
Republicans hoping to paint Democrats as extreme on abortion are facing a major obstacle in the wake of Alabama’s restrictive new law. Democratic presidential candidates are seizing on the state’s ban, which has no exemptions for rape and incest, arguing that it shows President Trump and Republicans are the ones who are out of step with average Americans, and that they want to make abortion illegal at all costs. (Hellmann, 5/22)

Arizona Republic: Arizona Groups Join Nationwide Protest Against Restrictive Abortion Laws
Dozens of abortion-rights activists gathered at the state Capitol in Phoenix Tuesday morning as part of a nationwide effort to protest laws placing extreme restrictions on abortion recently adopted in some states. Carrying signs and chanting, activists gathered on the lawn to listen to speakers and stand in opposition to the bans happening across the country. (Hudson, 5/21)

MPR: MN Capitol Rally Calls For Abortion Rights Protection
Hundreds of people gathered on and near the Capitol steps Tuesday to support abortion rights, part of a nationwide response to laws passed in other states recently that ban nearly all abortions, or severely restrict them. ... Other speakers urged the demonstrators to be politically active and to vote for candidates supporting abortion-rights and reject those who oppose them. (Williams and Nguyen, 5/21)

WBUR: Across The Country, Protesters Rally To Stop States' Abortion Bans
Abortion-rights advocates are holding rallies across the country Tuesday, protesting a wave of laws passed by states in recent weeks to severely restrict access to abortions. Organizers include the ACLU, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and NARAL Pro-Choice America. (Wamsley, 5/21)

The New York Times: Google Changes Abortion Ad Policy
Advertisers planning to run ads on Google referring to abortion services in the United States, Britain and Ireland must first get clearance from the search giant, the company said in an online post. After outrage over recent reports of misleading abortion-related ads, Google said it would require advertisers dealing with the topic to be certified as abortion providers or non-providers. Starting in June, abortion ads will include disclosures that identify whether or not the advertiser provides abortions. Companies and organizations can apply for certification starting now. (Hsu, 5/21)

The Hill: Google Cracks Down On Misleading Anti-Abortion Ads In Policy Update
Advertisers will need to apply for certification, and Google will review and verify organizations’ information once it’s submitted, the announcement says. It adds that in some cases, Google may automatically generate in-ad disclosures for a company’s ads that says “provides abortions” or “does not provide abortions.” (Campisi, 5/21)

CQ: Alexander To Release Draft Health Costs Bill Thursday
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Lamar Alexander said he expects to release a draft bill with proposals to lower health care costs on Thursday. “There could be as many as two dozen proposals in it, including surprise billing, rebates, a variety of areas that focus on transparency,” the Tennessee Republican told reporters. “If the proposals are not bipartisan, they won’t be in the draft.” (McIntire, 5/21)

The Hill: Senate Chairman Says Bipartisan Health Care Package Coming Thursday
After the failure of the Alexander-Murray bill to shore up ObamaCare last year, the new package is steering clear of the controversial health care law to focus on other areas where Alexander thinks there is more of a chance of passing bipartisan legislation. Those areas include protecting patients from getting massive “surprise” medical bills when they get care from a doctor outside of their insurance network during emergencies. Alexander said Tuesday the package would address discounts that drug companies give on their drugs, known as rebates, and “transparency.” (Sullivan, 5/21)

In other news from Capitol Hill —

The Associated Press: Harris' Bill Seeks To Address Racial Bias In Maternal Care
U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris is offering a new bill to address racial disparities in maternal health care, one of several plans by 2020 Democratic presidential candidates on the issue. Harris' bill, first introduced in 2018, would create some $150 million in grant programs to medical schools and states to fight implicit racial bias in health care for women. The legislation, co-sponsored in the House by Rep. Alma Adams, D-N.C., is aimed at improving medical care for groups of women who, research suggests, might be denied first rate care because of their race. (5/22)

CQ: House Panel Joins Debate On Surprise Medical Bills
The Ways and Means Health Subcommittee on Tuesday was debating ways to prevent patients from receiving surprise medical bills, an issue that has picked up steam across the Capitol over the past two weeks. The hearing comes as efforts on Capitol Hill to stop patients from receiving surprise medical bills are ramping up after President Donald Trump called on lawmakers to pass legislation earlier this month. Several lawmakers have proposed different ways to prohibit so-called “surprise bills,” and more could be released in the next few weeks. (McIntire, 5/21)

Modern Healthcare: 5 Things To Look For In Second House Medicare For All Hearing
Medicare for All is back in Congress for a second committee hearing just two weeks after lawmakers on the House Rules Committee broke new ground with theirs. But on Wednesday, the House Budget Committee will take its own approach to the issue that has gained huge momentum in the last few months, focusing on recent Congressional Budget Office analysis for how a single payer design could look in the U.S. (Luthi, 5/21)

Bloomberg: Medicare For All Push By Progressive Democrats Hits New Hurdles 
The “Medicare for All” push is hitting serious obstacles in the U.S. House in the face of resistance from Democratic leaders concerned that replacing the private insurance system would generate backlash from voters who like their coverage. The House Budget Committee is holding a hearing on Wednesday to explore “design components and considerations for establishing a single-payer health care system,” which could serve as a preliminary step toward overhauling how Americans get health insurance coverage. (Kapur, 5/22)

Meanwhile, voters continue to say health care is top of mind for them —

The Hill: Health Care Tops List Of Americans' Top Issues In New Poll 
Health care is the top issue for Americans, according to a new poll from RealClear Opinion Research. The importance of the issue crossed gender, age and party lines, results show. Forty-five percent of Democrats, 30 percent of Republicans and 31 percent of independents chose health care as their top issue from six options, including the economy, education, environment, foreign policy and immigration. Sixty-two percent of respondents ranked health care as either their top or number two issue. (Budryk, 5/21)

The Associated Press: US Closes Facility That Detained Migrant Who Later Died
U.S. border agents have temporarily closed their primary facility for processing migrants in South Texas one day after authorities say a 16-year-old died after being diagnosed with the flu at the facility. In a statement released late Tuesday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it would stop detaining migrants at its processing center in McAllen, Texas. CBP says “a large number” of people in custody were found Tuesday to have high fevers. The agency says it is working to provide medical treatment to all those with fevers. (5/22)

The Washington Post: McAllen Detainee Center Closed For Flu Outbreak After 16-Year-Old Migrant Dies In Custody
A spokesman in the Rio Grande Valley Sector did not say how many migrants were affected by the illness. The McAllen processing center, a crowded warehouse-like building where detainees are held behind fencing and sleep on mats, is among the busiest facilities along the southern border. The outbreak comes amid severe overcrowding problems at migrant detention facilities in South Texas and heightened scrutiny of the conditions within them, as five child migrants have died in U.S. custody since December. The ballooning volume of people crossing the southern border to claim asylum in recent months has overwhelmed numerous facets of the immigration system, from the border stations to the courts, and has led CBP to take drastic measures to process all of them. (Flynn, 5/22)

Modern Healthcare: Blue Cross Joins The Doctors Practice Party
If you can't beat 'em, buy 'em: It's a mantra health insurance giants like UnitedHealth Group and Humana have embraced for years as they've snapped up doctors practices to curb the cost of medical care. Now the parent of Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Illinois is getting into the game. Health Care Service Corp., which owns Blue Cross plans in five states, is following its rivals' lead, opening 10 primary care clinics in Texas next year and, in Pullman, launching a neighborhood center that offers everything from workshops on managing heart disease to yoga and meditation classes. (Goldberg, 5/21)

Modern Healthcare: Physician Groups Slowly Taking On More Risk
Physician groups derived a larger share of revenue from payment models requiring them to take on risk in 2018 than in previous years, according to a survey by the AMGA. The survey of 75 multispecialty medical groups, integrated delivery systems and independent physician associations showed that 56% of respondents' federal program revenue came from value-based payment models in 2018. That's up from 45% in 2015. (Livingston, 5/21)

Bloomberg: Johnson & Johnson Loses $25 Million New York Talc Verdict 
Johnson & Johnson was ordered to pay at least $25 million to a woman who said she contracted a rare asbestos-related cancer through decades of daily use of J&J’s Baby Powder or its other talc product, Shower to Shower. The New York verdict for plaintiff Donna Olson, 66, and her husband against J&J and its consumer-products unit only reflects the award of compensatory damages. Jurors will return next week to consider assessing punitive damages against the companies over their mishandling of the talc products. (Fisk and Feeley, 5/21)

Stat: MIT Professor Accused Of Claiming Others’ Scientific Discoveries As His Own
MIT professor Ram Sasisekharan made his name on the idea that algorithms and computer models could lead to better and more potent therapies, a promise that launched three biotech companies and attracted hundreds of millions of dollars. But two treatments purportedly discovered with Sasisekharan’s computational approach are almost identical to compounds that had previously been described by other labs, according to a new paper by outside researchers. The finding casts serious doubts on the integrity of Sasisekharan’s research, the authors claim. (Garde, 5/21)

USA Today: Episiotomies Are Painful, Risky And Not Routinely Recommended. Dozens Of Hospitals Are Doing Too Many.
It’s a surgical cut made during childbirth that doctors have been officially warned for more than a decade does more harm to women than good. Mothers who receive episiotomies – an incision at the vaginal opening to create more room as a baby’s head appears – are more likely to suffer severe complications than if they had been allowed to tear naturally. (Young and Kelly, 5/21)

NPR: CRISPR Used To Modify Viruses And Create New Weapon Against Superbugs
Alphonso Evans rolls his wheelchair into a weight machine in the gym at the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center in Augusta, Ga. "I'm not so much worried about dying from a heart attack or diabetes, because I'm active. I know what to do to work against it: watch what I eat, exercise," Evans says. "But what do I do about an infection? Or fighting off a bacteria — something inside me that I don't see until it's too late?" (Stein, 5/22)

NPR: Mitosis Model Shows Inner Workings Of Cell Division
How do we grow from a single fertilized egg into a fully grown person with trillions of cells? Our cells divide, of course! And it's no mean feat. Each time a cell divides, it must duplicate our 23 pairs of chromosomes and make sure each "daughter" cell ends up with a complete set of genes. Errors are potentially fatal to the cell. Runaway cell division, which is the hallmark of cancer, is also serious business. (Harris, 5/22)

Stat: ‘What’s My Real Identity?’: As DNA Ancestry Sites Gather More Data, The Answer For Consumers Often Changes
To the companies selling tests, the ever-evolving DNA ancestry reports are more of a feature than a bug. Each website is upfront about the fact that a given test result is only as accurate as the data behind it. With more data come more granular conclusions that almost inevitably tweak ancestry results. And because genetic datasets have long been overwhelmingly white, even an incremental update can lead to pendular shifts for customers of color. The same phenomenon holds true for genetic tests offering information on health or disease risk. (Garde, 5/22)

Stat: Breaking The 'Cold Chain' For Delivering Vaccines, Inspired By Breath Strips
One of the many challenges in developing and delivering vaccines where they are needed is keeping them at the right temperature at the right price. Most vaccines, especially ones made from weakened forms of living viruses, must be kept cold to be effective. Scientists have tried many strategies to get around the need for a “cold chain” from supplier to patient, but their workarounds don’t fit the often hot climates in developing countries where threats like Ebola have emerged. (Cooney, 5/21)

Sacramento Bee: NIH Gives UC Davis $9 Million To Test Gene Editing Tools’ Safety
Primate researchers at the University of California, Davis, will be testing the safety and efficacy of gene editing tools that they expect will have future applications in humans, work that the university said Monday is being financed by $9 million from the National Institutes of Health. While discoveries in genome editing, such as the well-known CRISPR/Cas9 system, now make it possible to change DNA code inside living cells, challenges still remain before such techniques can be widely used in patient care to treat genetic diseases, UC Davis researchers said. (Anderson, 5/21)

The New York Times: Dog Person? It May Be In Your Genes
If you like dogs, it may be in your genes. Swedish researchers used a database of 35,035 identical and fraternal twins born between 1926 and 1996. They gathered information on their dog ownership from government and kennel club registries. Identical twins, who share 100 percent of their genes, are genetically more like each other than fraternal twins, who share only 50 percent. Twins share the same environment, so if a trait is genetic, identical twins will look more like each other in that trait than fraternal twins do. (Bakalar, 5/21)

Kaiser Health News: ‘Stonewall Generation’ Confronts Old Age, Sickness — And Discrimination
Two years ago, nursing professor Kim Acquaviva asked a group of home care nurses whether they thought she was going to hell for being a lesbian. It’s OK if you do, Acquaviva said, but is the afterlife within your scope of practice? After Acquaviva’s talk, an older nurse announced she would change how she treats LGBTQ people under her care. “I still think you’re going to hell, but I’m going to stop telling patients that,” the nurse told Acquaviva. (Aleccia and Bailey, 5/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Five Innovative Ways Cities Are Improving Life For Seniors
Cities are trying to make life better for their older residents. In many ways, cities have little choice, since people over 65 are the fastest-growing age group in the U.S. By 2030, about 20% of the U.S. population will be over age 65, according to the Census Bureau, up from 15% in 2016. By 2035 older adults will outnumber children for the first time in U.S. history. (Oliver, 5/21)

NPR: Meet The Mites That Live On Your Face
It might give you the creepy-crawlies, but you almost certainly have tiny mites living in the pores of your face right now. They're known as Demodex or eyelash mites, and just about every adult human alive has a population living on them. The mostly transparent critters are too small to see with the naked eye. At about 0.3 millimeters long, it would would take about five adult face mites laid end to end to stretch across the head of a pin. (Cassidy, 5/21)

The Associated Press: Cholesterol Improves In US Kids Despite High Obesity Rates
Cholesterol levels in children and teens improved in the latest analysis of U.S. health surveys, yet only half of them had readings considered ideal. Overall, 7% of kids had high cholesterol in surveys from 2009 to 2016. That was down from 10% a decade earlier. In children, high levels mean 200 or above and ideal measures are below 170. The results were published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. (Tanner, 5/21)

The New York Times: Eggs Not Tied To Higher Stroke Risk
Neither egg consumption nor dietary cholesterol are associated with an increased risk for stroke, researchers report. Their analysis, in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, used health and diet data on 1,950 Finnish men ages 42 to 60. Over 21 years of follow-up, there were 217 strokes. On average, the men ate about four and a half eggs a week and consumed 408 milligrams of cholesterol a day. (Bakalar, 5/22)

The New York Times: A Possible Weight Loss Strategy: Skip Breakfast Before Exercise
Skipping breakfast before exercise might reduce how much we eat during the remainder of the day, according to a small but intriguing new study of fit young men. The study finds that the choice to eat or omit a meal before an early workout could affect our relationship to food for the rest of the day, in complicated and sometimes unexpected ways. (Reynolds, 5/22)

The Associated Press: Mississippi Spent $1.5M On Weight Watchers For Teachers
Mississippi lawmakers were giving Weight Watchers $1.5 million for a program that never appeared in any education funding bills or state contracts, just one example of how state legislators have been funneling education funding to favored vendors. The Clarion Ledger reports that since 2016, top lawmakers have mandated that the Mississippi Department of Education spend up to $45 million on specific programs. Of that, nearly $10 million was earmarked not just for programs but for 13 select vendors. (5/21)

The New York Times: They Grow The Nation’s Food, But They Can’t Drink The Water
Water is a currency in California, and the low-income farmworkers who pick the Central Valley’s crops know it better than anyone. They labor in the region’s endless orchards, made possible by sophisticated irrigation systems, but at home their faucets spew toxic water tainted by arsenic and fertilizer chemicals.“ Clean water flows toward power and money,” said Susana De Anda, a longtime water-rights organizer in the region. She is the daughter of lechugueros who worked in lettuce fields and helped make California one of the agricultural capitals of the world. “Homes, schools and clinics are supposed to be the safest places to go. But not in our world.” (del Real, 5/21)

KCUR: Revised Worker Protection Standard Still Leaves Field Crews Vulnerable To Pesticides 
More than 2 million people in the U.S. work in or near agriculture fields that are treated with pesticides. The Environmental Protection Agency has strict policies about what those workers need to know about pesticide risks, when they can be in those fields and what they should do if they come into contact with chemicals. ...Yet even with recent updates to the decades-old Agricultural Worker Protection Standard (WPS), the EPA has little ability to monitor how well regulations are working, and no way to determine how frequently agricultural pesticides drift onto, or otherwise make contact with, workers. (Mayer, 5/21)

The Associated Press: Research On Children's Health Risks In Doubt Over EPA Funds
Long-running research projects credited with pivotal discoveries about the harm that pesticides, air pollution and other hazards pose to children are in jeopardy or shutting down because the Environmental Protection Agency will not commit to their continued funding, researchers say. The projects being targeted make up a more than $300 million, federally funded program that over the past two decades has exposed dangers to fetuses and children. (Knickmeyer, 5/21)

NPR: New Asthma Cases Fell When LA's Smog Declined
Children who live in areas with bad air pollution are more likely to develop asthma, which is the most common chronic illness among young people. But when you clean up the air does that actually protect the health of kids? A study published Tuesday in JAMA, the journal of the American Medical Association, looked to answer that question. (Harris, 5/21)

MPR: 3M, Lake Elmo Settle For $2.7M, Land Transfer In Drinking Water Lawsuit
The city of Lake Elmo and 3M have reached an agreement to settle a lawsuit over drinking water contamination. Lake Elmo City Council unanimously approved the resolution at its meeting Tuesday night.The settlement stipulates that 3M will pay $2.7 million into the city's water account, which pays for maintaining its water system. (Marohn and Sepic, 5/21)

CNN: Study Finds CBD Effective In Treating Heroin Addiction
Cannabidiol, the non-psychoactive ingredient in hemp and marijuana, could treat opioid addiction, a new study says. Given to patients with heroin addiction, cannabidiol, also known as CBD, reduced their cravings for the illicit drug as well as their levels of anxiety. "The intense craving is what drives the drug use," said Yasmin Hurd, the lead researcher on the study and director of the Addiction Institute of Mount Sinai. "If we can have the medications that can dampen that [craving], that can greatly reduce the chance of relapse and overdose risk." (Kounang, 5/21)

The Hill: Study Finds CBD Can Help Treat Opioid Addiction
The study's lead researcher told CNN that the results indicate that CBD could serve as an effective over-the-counter method of treatment for people experiencing opioid withdrawal symptoms, leading to lower levels of people returning to drug use. "The intense craving is what drives the drug use," said Yasmin Hurd, director of the Addiction Institute of Mount Sinai, according to CNN. "If we can have the medications that can dampen that [craving], that can greatly reduce the chance of relapse and overdose risk." (Bowden, 5/21)

In other news on the crisis —

The Associated Press: Vermont Attorney General Sues Owners Of Opioid Manufacturer
Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan says he's filed suit against eight members of the family that owns the drug company that manufactures OxyContin, one of the drugs believed to be partly responsible for the opioid crisis. Donovan alleged Tuesday that for over two decades the Sackler family, the owners of Purdue Pharma, minimized the health risks of opioids, claiming the prescription drugs were rarely the cause of abuse, addiction or death. (5/21)

KQED: Newsom's Sweeping Plan To Reduce Inmate Drug Overdoses Faces Pushback
Gov. Gavin Newsom's proposal to spend close to $400 million over three years to battle substance abuse in California's prisons is hitting a roadblock, after legislative staffers raised serious concerns about the sweeping plan. The governor's updated May budget includes a plan to drastically change how the state fights drug abuse in its roughly three dozen prisons, where an increasing number of inmates have overdosed in recent years. (Goldberg, 5/21)

The Associated Press: Texas House Advances School Security Bill After Shooting
Texas lawmakers are gearing up to pass new measures aimed at increasing campus security, adding more armed personnel and boosting student mental health resources a year after a mass shooting at a high school near Houston killed eight students and two substitute teachers. The move marks the first major action by state lawmakers since the May 2018 shooting at Santa Fe High School. (Silber, 5/21)

Austin American-Statesman: One Year After Santa Fe Shooting, Texas Lawmakers Poised To Approve Sweeping Changes
Senate Bill 11 also would require school districts to better identify students who are at risk of hurting themselves and others and would require more emergency response training for school employees. The bill “improves school safety at each campus in the State of Texas. This legislation is inspired by the students, the faculty and the staff at Santa Fe High School, and I’d like to thank them,” said Rep. Greg Bonnen, R-Friendswood, who presented the bill on the House floor Tuesday. The bill would give school districts about $50 more per student, for a total cost to the state of $531 million over the next two years, for improving school infrastructures, purchasing security cameras and hiring peace officers and mental health personnel, among other expenses. (Chang, 5/21)

Texas Tribune: Texas Mental Health Bill Killed Over Technicality Is Resurrected
A major mental health bill prioritized by the state's top leaders as a way to help prevent school shootings was partially revived late Tuesday night hours after it appeared to have been abruptly killed on a technicality during a dramatic night in the Texas House. State Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, raised a "point of order" on Senate Bill 10, which created a Texas Mental Health Consortium aimed at bringing together psychiatric professionals from Texas medical schools and other health care providers to connect children to mental health services. (Pollock, Walters and Byrne, 5/21)

Austin American-Statesman: Abbott's Priority Mental Health Bill Resurrected After Being Abruptly Killed By Fellow Republican In House
At the eleventh hour for its consideration of Senate bills, the Texas House late Tuesday resurrected Gov. Greg Abbott’s priority mental health bill that had been killed earlier in the day on a technicality. The move came over protests from the representative responsible for Senate Bill 10′s demise, leading to a heated exchange at the House speaker’s desk. (Chang and Downey, 5/21)

Columbus Dispatch: Bill Would Expand Food Stamp Work Requirements For Ohioans
House Bill 200, sponsored by Rep. Scott Wiggam, R-Wooster, would require able-bodied food stamp recipients between 18 and 60 without children younger than 6 to work at least 20 hours a week or attend school or job training. The requirement currently applies only to those up to 49 years old without dependent children younger than 18. The proposal would require those 16 to 59 years old to accept a job offer, and would prohibit them from voluntarily quitting a job or reducing their hours, and would prohibit state officials from seeking a federal waiver of work requirements in Ohio counties with higher unemployment rates. (Candisky, 5/21)

Concord Monitor: Sununu Signs Bipartisan Mental Health Bill To Address ER Boarding Crisis 
A sweeping bill to address New Hampshire’s emergency department boarding crisis became law Tuesday, after Gov. Chris Sununu signed a measure advocates hope could turn the crisis around. Senate Bill 11 attempts to address a decade-long problem for the state: the dozens of mental health patients trapped in emergency departments and awaiting care. As of Sunday, 34 were housed in emergency departments, part of a backlog brought on by a severe shortage of beds, according to Sen. Tom Sherman, the bill’s prime sponsor. (DeWitt, 5/21)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Atlanta To Take Aim At E-Cigarettes, Smoking In Public Places
Whether it’s cigarette smoke or e-cigarette vapors, the majority of the states in the U.S. have banned it in public, passing smoke-free air laws. Georgia lags behind. But the City of Atlanta is considering doing its part by banning smoking and vaping in the public places where it’s still allowed. (Stevens, 5/21)

Los Angeles Times: Beverly Hills Votes To Ban Tobacco Sales, But Exempts Schwarzenegger’s Favorite Cigar Club
The city of Beverly Hills cleared the last hurdle to enact what officials say is the most stringent tobacco ban in the country Tuesday night, eliminating the sale of virtually all recreational nicotine products — with one very Beverly Hills exception. For an elite group of aficionados, hundreds of whom swamped committee meetings and wrote the city in protest, cigars will be spared — as long as they’re smoked inside one of three dedicated lounges. (Sharp, 5/21)

NPR: Doctor Shortages Leave Some Rural Americans Without Access To Health Care
Taylor Walker is wiping down tables after the lunch rush at the Bunkhouse Bar and Grill in remote Arthur, Nebraska, a tiny dot of a town ringed by cattle ranches. The 25-year-old has her young son in tow, and she is expecting another baby in August. "I was just having some terrible pain with this pregnancy and I couldn't get in with my doctor," she says. (Siegler, 5/21)

Seattle Times: Seventh Person Confirmed To Have Measles In Puget Sound Outbreak 
The number of measles cases in King County continues to grow. A woman in her 30s is the seventh recently confirmed measles case in the Puget Sound region and the fourth person in the county to contract the virus this month. She likely came in contact with the virus at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, according to Public Health – Seattle & King County. Before the woman knew she was sick, she was at the Hudson Alki Bakery Store outside of security checkpoints on the ticketing level near the B gate exit on May 10, 11, 12 and 13. (Blethen, 5/21)

The Associated Press: Hospital That Treated Baby Cut From Womb Investigated
The agency that licenses and inspects health care facilities in Illinois has started an investigation of a suburban Chicago hospital where doctors treated a baby brought in by a woman claiming to be his mother, a spokeswoman for the agency said Tuesday. The woman was charged weeks later with killing the actual mother and cutting the child from her womb. (Babwin, 5/21)

The Associated Press: Attorneys: Ohio State Needs To Reveal Who Knew About Abuse
Administrators at Ohio State University should release the names of all coaches, trainers and personnel who knew of but failed to act on complaints about a now-dead team doctor who sexually abused male students for nearly two decades, said attorneys for some of the victims. They also are calling on the university to give them a specific plan by June that shows how Ohio State will deal with future sexual abuse allegations and how it will make sure this never happens again. (Seewer, 5/21)

The Washington Post: Frederick Doctor Arrested On 65 Sexual Offense And Assault Charges Involving Patients
A Frederick, Md., doctor, who this month was charged with raping an 18-year-old woman during an examination, was arrested Monday after a grand jury indicted him on 65 sexual offense and assault counts against 11 more victims, including many juvenile girls, Frederick police and the State’s Attorney’s Office said in a joint statement. (Williams, 5/21)

The Star Tribune: Allina Health Income Drops 42% As Legal, Consulting Costs Climb 
More expense for malpractice litigation and increased consulting fees cut into operating income last year at Allina Health System, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit group that's one of the state's largest operators of hospitals and clinics. Analysts with S&P Global Ratings cited the financial results as well as increased competition as they lowered the outlook at Allina from "stable" to "negative." (Snowbeck, 5/21)

KQED: Depending On Family For Basic Care
Seniors will make up one-in-five Californians by 2030, and experts say there won’t be enough caregivers to help. As part of our series, Graying California, CALmatters Elizabeth Aguilera met a senior being cared for by his daughter. (Aguilera, 5/21)

KQED: With Growing Reports Of Sexual Violence, Santa Clara County Weighs $5 Million Fund To Help Survivors
The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors is weighing whether to create a $5 million reserve fund to prevent gender-based violence in the community and to help survivors, with law enforcement and local leaders saying reports of such attacks are on the rise. (Leitsinger and Shuler, 5/21)

CALmatters: "If You Think The System Works, You’re Dead Wrong:" A Discussion On California's Mental Health System
A physician, an advocate, a public health specialist, a suicide-attempt survivor and a California state lawmaker gathered in downtown Sacramento today to offer their diagnosis of the state’s mental health system. The consensus was summed up by Sen. Jim Beall: “We need to start from scratch.” “I haven’t heard a lot of cheerleaders for the status quo,” said Beall, a Democrat from San Jose and the author of several bills that would expand access to mental health treatment. “If you think the system works, you’re dead wrong.” The panel discussion, hosted by CALmatters and the California Health Care Foundation, builds off an ongoing CALmatters reporting project by Jocelyn Wiener and Byrhonda Lyons on the state’s fragmented, sometimes fatally dysfunctional mental health system. (Christopher, 5/20)

Sacramento Bee: Workers Hit Kaiser Roseville In First Of 3 Local Protests
Hundreds of union-represented workers at Kaiser Permanente’s Roseville Medical Center used their lunch breaks to picket the health care giant, part of rallies organized at Kaiser facilities around California through June. Kaiser recently kicked off contract talks with Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, and the union says it is using the protests to send a message that it wants the company to respect how its members have partnered with management and physicians to solve problems and enhance quality and service in the nonprofit’s hospitals. (Anderson, 5/21)

Tampa Bay Times: Moffitt To Open Outpatient Cancer Center At AdventHealth Wesley Chapel
AdventHealth and the Moffitt Cancer Center are teaming up to build a new outpatient center for cancer patients in Pasco County. The two hospital systems broke ground Tuesday on a 100,000-square-foot, three-story medical office complex on the AdventHealth Wesley Chapel hospital campus that is scheduled to open late next year. (Griffin, 5/21)

Sacramento Bee: Marshall Miles’ Family Sues Sacramento County For Wrongful Death
Marshall Miles’ family has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging the deputies who subdued the Sacramento man inside the county’s jail last October ignored his cries that he could not breathe, suffocated Miles until he lost consciousness then left him to lay face down and alone in his cell before seeking help. Three days later, on Nov. 1, Miles was pronounced dead at a Sacramento hospital. He was 36. (Smith and Sullivan, 5/21)

NPR: Justice Department Forces Alabama To Address Deadly Prison Conditions
Alabama must rectify the dangerous conditions this week or face a Justice Department lawsuit. Critics say plans to build new prisons won't solve issues that have been found to be unconstitutional. (5/20)

FierceHealthcare: Industry Experts Weigh In On Slew Of Bills Aimed At Drug Price Transparency At Hearing 
Experts from across the healthcare system weighed in on several House bills aimed at increasing transparency in the pharmaceutical supply chain at a hearing Tuesday. Seven pieces of legislation, all of which are bipartisan, were on the slate for discussion at the House Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Health hearing. Amid the political fervor over rising drug prices, shining a light on how prices are determined has been a key focus for policymakers. However, some in the industry warn that there may be too much of a good thing and that making all data public could undermine the goal of bringing down costs. Kristin Bass, chief policy and external affairs officer for the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA), said the group backs releasing data on rebates and negotiations in “aggregate.” (Minemyer, 5/21)

CQ: House Democrats Face Questions On Drug Price Transparency Bills
Partisan tensions over measures that would require more transparency in the prescription drug supply chain emerged Tuesday as a House panel considered seven bipartisan bills. At an Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee hearing, some witnesses and panel Republicans expressed concerns to Democratic sponsors that the bills could reduce investment in drug development, hinder insurers’ efforts to secure lower drug prices, and be detrimental to patients who benefit from free samples given to their doctors. (Siddons, 5/21)

Stat: Four Of The World’s Largest Drug Companies Are Teaming With Verily. Here Is What They Get
On Tuesday morning, Verily, Alphabet’s unit focused on life sciences, announced that it had formed alliances with Novartis, Sanofi, Otsuka, and Pfizer to work on clinical trials. What are those drug giants getting out of the deal? STAT sat down with Scarlet Shore, who leads Verily’s project Baseline, to learn about the company’s vision for the clinical trial of the future. The conversation took place at CNBC’s “Healthy Returns” conference, where the partnerships were unveiled.Clinical trials have always been an obvious target for Verily as it tries to find a way to use technology to change health care. New devices can take years to develop. But right now, the process of conducting clinical trials is pockmarked with inefficiencies, requiring pharmaceutical companies and medical researchers to work with dozens of vendors while often keeping records in efficient ways — sometimes even using that least digital of formats, pen and paper. (Herper, 5/21)

The Economist: The Global Battle Over High Drug Prices
These days it is hard to find a government that is not struggling with the high price of medicines. In England, the government is fighting Vertex, a drug company, over the cost of a drug for cystic fibrosis, Orkambi. In America, diabetics have died because of the high cost of insulin. In the Netherlands, the government for a time stopped buying the immuno-oncology drug, Keytruda, because it was too expensive—even though it had helped to develop it. The list price of Orkambi is about $23,000 a month in America, and Keytruda is about $13,600 month (for as long as treatment continues). It has taken such rich-world dramas to force the unaffordability of medicines to the top of the agenda, even though poorer countries have complained about it for decades. (5/21)

Stat: Baltimore Sues J&J Unit Over 'Sham' Litigation To Extend Xtandi Patent
Angry over the high price of a prostate cancer drug, Baltimore officials have filed a lawsuit accusing a Johnson & Johnson unit of using “sham” patent litigation to delay the availability of lower-cost generics, forcing the city to spend millions of dollars unnecessarily. The lawsuit alleges that Janssen Biotech and its partner, British Technology Group, undertook a “ruse” when seeking a patent for its Xtandi medicine by failing to disclose certain information to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. And the move made it possible for the drug maker to deflect generic rivals longer than it might have otherwise. (Silverman, 5/21)

Stat: Mallinckrodt Sues CMS Over Medicaid Rebates For Acthar Gel 
In an unexpected development, Mallinckrodt (MNK) filed a lawsuit accusing the federal government of illegally resetting a benchmark used for calculating rebates the company must pay to Medicaid for its most important drug, a move that could cost it hundreds of millions of dollars and hobble its R&D efforts going forward. At issue is the amount of money the company owes the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for its controversial Acthar Gel treatment, which is used primarily to treat infantile spasms and has been a poster child for the high cost of medicines. Over the past five years, the wholesale price rose 20% and a vial now costs around $39,000, making the drug an expensive proposition for public and private payers. (Silverman, 5/21)

Houston Chronicle: Unique Initiative To Lower Drug Prices Signs Manufacturer 
A pharmaceutical company working with several Houston hospitals to help supply scarce drugs has partnered with a Danish company to manufacture generic antibiotics for severe infections. Utah-based Civica announced a contract with Xellia Pharmaceutical, a Copenhagen drug company with manufacturing plants in the United States, to produce Vancomycin and Daptomycin used in the intravenous treatment of antibiotic-resistant infections. (Deam, 5/20)

Stat: Kendall Square Lab Buildings Change Hands For Reported $1.1 Billion
A trio of Kendall Square buildings that are home to big-name drug companies just traded hands for one of the steepest prices ever seen in Boston’s office market. Chicago-based investment firm Harrison Street Real Estate and Boston-based developer Bulfinch  agreed to pay the investment arm of Massachusetts Institute of Technology $1.1 billion for a long-term lease on the three buildings — 610 Main Street, 700 Main, and One Portland Street in Cambridge. (Logan, 5/20)

KSNT: High Generic Drug Prices Affecting Kansans
Generic drugs are supposed to be a cheaper alternative to name brand ones, but there has been concern some drug makers have been raising prices just to make an extra buck. Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced the state is suing 20 drug manufacturers for purposely keeping the price of drugs high.Kansas joined 42 other states in claiming generic drug makers manipulated prices on more than 100 products. (Gartner, 5/21)

Bloomberg: Gilead’s $21,000 Drug Is Being Blamed For A Plateau In HIV Prevention
In 2012, Gilead Sciences Inc.’s Truvada became the first drug ever approved to prevent HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. It was a public health triumph that was spurred by years of government-funded research. Seven years later, efforts to prevent HIV in the U.S. have stalled. Only a fraction of U.S. patients who could benefit from the treatment -- known as PrEP -- are getting it. (Langreth and Brown, 5/17)

New Hampshire Union Leader: NH Likely To Join Lawsuit Accusing Drugmakers Of Collusion, Price-Fixing 
New Hampshire officials expect to join a multistate lawsuit against 20 drug companies, alleging that they conspired to fix prices on generic prescription drugs. The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Connecticut, alleges that Teva Pharmaceuticals and 19 of its competitors “embarked on one of the most egregious and damaging price-fixing conspiracies in the history of the United States.” (Wickham, 5/18)

South Florida Sun-Sentinel: An America First Drug Pricing Plan
Let’s think about this for a second. Pharmaceutical companies charge low prices for prescription drugs in Canada, Europe, and Japan. At the same time, they charge American consumers significantly more. Why? Because politicians have let them for far too long. I recently met Sheldon Armus, who has Type-2 Diabetes. The price of his insulin went from $60 a month to more than $300 a month in a short period of time. (Sen. Rick Scott, 5/21)

Bloomberg: Trump Pulls His Punch On Drug Prices
The Trump administration makes a lot of noise about drug pricing. Its actions so far aren’t as resounding. This dynamic was on display Thursday, when the administration moved forward with a regulation that will help privately run Medicare Advantage plans that cover about 20 million seniors negotiate prices on some medicines. But at the same time, it decided not to go ahead with a planned change that could have cut costs in a larger program. The net result is that the overall impact is dulled. (Max Nisen, 5/17)

USA Today: Trump Prescription For Drug Prices Transparency Could Aid Health Care
When it comes to the prescription drugs America use, too often money is the last thing consumers think about. Formulaic prescription drug ads are part of the reason why. Suffer from blood clotting or find yourself at an elevated risk of stroke due to an irregular heartbeat? Then Eliquis is your answer. Got moderate to severe ulcerative colitis, psoriatic arthritis or Crohn’s disease? Then talk to your doctor about Humira. (5/16)

The Hill: Truvada: A Spotlight On Pharma's Greed
The House Oversight Committee just held a hearing to examine Gilead Sciences’ pricing on Truvada for PrEP — an HIV prevention drug that was funded almost entirely by the U.S. taxpayer and private charities, not the pharmaceutical industry. Not since the 1989 hearing over AZT has the House held a hearing on HIV drug pricing. (Christian Urrutia and Nicholas Faust, 5/21)

The Hill: Louisiana Is Creating A Drug-Price Revolution
Louisiana is putting the final touches on a revolutionary deal that promises to simultaneously control health care costs and increase access to a drug that actually cures Hepatitis C, an infectious disease that kills more Americans than any other, including HIV/AIDS. The idea is remarkably simple: The state would pay a flat fee over a set number of years — in effect, a subscription — and in return, the drug company provides the drug to every sick patient covered by the state, without limit. (Ike Brannon, 5/20)

The (Everett, Wash.) Herald: Drug Price Information Should Help Control Costs
The pharmaceutical industry can be selective when it wants to talk about the role of “market forces” regarding the price of medications. Drug makers are quick to explain that price increases are helping to continue the work of research and development that can lead to new and better medications, for example. Fair enough. But when it comes to the most basic of market forces — knowing what patients are paying for a particular medication and why the price keeps going up — there’s less interest in providing the transparency most of us expect for the goods and services we purchase. (5/21)

Forbes: Price Transparency: Why Are Drug Prices Such A Bitter Pill To Swallow?
When you leave the doctor’s office to pick up a new prescription, do you know how much you’ll pay out-of-pocket to fill it? If you’re like the vast majority of Americans, probably not.Think about that for a second. In what other industry would you agree to purchase an item or service without knowing the cost? We’re so used to sticker shock at the pharmacy that it has taken over a decade of rising drug prices for the issue to make it under the national spotlight. (Joe Harpaz, 5/17)

Los Angeles Times: There's A Middle Ground On Abortion. Really
As a practical matter, [the Roe v Wade decision legalizing abortion] made it necessary for the pro-life movement to embrace an incremental strategy, working to change attitudes, chip away at Roe at the margins and work to reduce the abortion rate (with considerable success). But now that some think the brass ring is in sight, the movement has split between incrementalists and those — like the sponsors of the Alabama bill — who think it’s worth going for broke (I think they’re wrong). The underlying political reality is that most Americans want a compromise, but the parties are more responsive to the activists and donors. As a result, Democrats have abandoned their “safe, legal and rare” rhetoric while Republicans are downplaying a “culture of life.” Instead each seeks to cast the other party as extreme. (Jonah Goldberg, 5/21)

The New York Times: Pregnancy Kills. Abortion Saves Lives.
Pregnancy is a life-threatening condition. Women die from being pregnant. We have known that for thousands of years. They die from hemorrhage, infection, pre-eclampsia (which can lead to fatal seizures), obstructed labor, amniotic fluid embolism, thromboembolism, a ruptured uterus, retained placenta, hydatidiform mole, choriocarcinoma and many other causes that fill the obstetrics textbooks. Modern medicine can prevent and treat many, but not all, of these conditions. Some potentially fatal problems cannot be foreseen or prevented. Pregnancy always comes with some irreducible risk of death. (Warren M. Hern, 5/21)

USA Today: Democrats Must Acknowledge Abortion Rights, Restrictions In Roe Ruling
I’m a liberal Democrat, and I’m a strong supporter of abortion rights. But I also support restrictions on the procedure. You know, like the ones allowed by Roe v. Wade. If you listened to our Republican opponents during the past few weeks, when Alabama all but prohibited abortion and several other states banned it after aheartbeat is detected, you might think that we Democrats want it to be entirely unregulated. We’re allegedly “the party of death,” ready and eager to protect “infanticide” at all costs. (Jonathan Zimmerman, 5/21)

The Washington Post: Billboards Are The Wrong Place To Fight Over Abortion
Driving along Colorado’s scenic byways, one might be distracted these days by billboards promoting safe abortions or, depending upon one’s route, alternatives to abortion, as well as assorted child-rearing recommendations. They make one wistful for the old crazy preacher shouting the Gospel from an overturned fruit crate. (Kathleen Parker, 5/21)

Austin American-Statesman: State Level Stirrings Provoke Overdue Reckoning About Abortion
Whatever happens, these stirrings at the state level may provoke an overdue reckoning about the truth of abortion. It isn’t rare. It is usually performed on perfectly healthy mothers and babies. And it isn’t the only alternative for women unable to raise a child. There are 36 couples waiting for an adoptive child for every one placed. Why is that humane solution so commonly overlooked? (Mona Charen, 5/20)

The New York Times: Infecting People Isn’t A Religious Right
It’s no coincidence that measles is spreading across the United States after a decade in which the number of parents claiming exemption for their children from vaccination has grown. The outbreak has been most intense in New York, particularly in deeply insular ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities in Brooklyn and upstate that have been vulnerable to misinformation and resistant to vaccination. (5/21)

Stat: Vaccinations Will Take A Hit If The Trump Administration Topples The Affordable Care Act
In the midst of the country’s worst measles outbreak in 25 years, President Trump made an abrupt about-face on vaccinations. Before becoming president, he had spread vaccination fears by peddling anti-vaccine tropes on Twitter and meeting with anti-vaccine conspiracists. When faced with the growing measles outbreak, the president seems to have changed his tune and now urges Americans to “get their shots.” Behind the scenes, though, his administration’s efforts could undermine public health efforts to ensure that children and adults get the vaccinations they need to prevent illness. (John Aloysius Cogan Jr., 5/22)

The Hill: Ending AIDS Requires US Investment
A new study reinforces the opportunity at hand to end the AIDS epidemic. The study found that of 1,000 couples with one partner receiving treatment to suppress HIV, there were zero cases of transmission to the HIV-negative partner. These findings offer new proof that, if appropriate resources and implementation of treatment combined with intensive primary prevention can be scaled up, we can defeat this devastating virus. (Drs. Mark Dybul and former Sen. William Frist, 5/21)

Boston Globe: Getting People The Behavioral Health Care They Need
One in 5 American adults struggles with a mental health condition, but less than half of the 46.6 million who require treatment actually get it. Experts point to a number of reasons to explain why people don’t get the treatment they need, including the unfounded, outdated stigma around seeking help. But many Americans simply can’t afford or access treatment. (Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Joe Kennedy III, 5/20)

The Washington Post: Technology Like CRISPR Can Be Used To Customize Our Babies. It Needs Regulation.
When Chinese scientist He Jiankui announced last November his experiments making heritable genetic changes in human embryos followed by live births of twins, alarms went off. What shocked many scientists and others was how Mr. He used new technology for gene editing without serious oversight or transparency, amid grave questions about the medical rationale and potential future damage. One good thing came out of this: Mr. He spurred a more deliberate, international effort to answer the hard questions. Now that effort must lead to stricter regulation. (5/21)

The Hill: Nursing Home Care: A Growing Crisis For An Aging America
America is about to be overrun. Not by new immigrants or millennials, but by nonagenarians and other seniors who will soon dominate the landscape demographically. We already are older than we have ever been as a country but, for all of the hype and hoopla surrounding the new generations, the older generations will need more post-retirement, nursing home and in-home care than ever before. (Andrew Stein and Mark Penn, 5/21)

Miami Herald: We Must Attack Opioid Overdoses With The Same Aggressiveness That We Did With HIV
Congress should pass the CARE Act to deliver funding and infrastructure proportionate to the size and scale of our nation’s addiction crisis. If we truly want to stop the overdose epidemic, then let’s treat addiction like the national public health emergency it is. (Yngvild Olsen, 5/20)

Sacramento Bee: Trump Is Aiming To Hit California Where Hurts – Again
Get out your rakes. President Trump is attacking California’s forest fire management again. Wildfire season is almost here and, in an ongoing effort to make sure California is punished each and every day for not being a handmaiden to the daily calamity in Washington, Trump’s Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Forest Service are playing games with California’s firefighting budget. They’re trying to violate the California Fire Assistance Agreement, known as the CFAA, which doesn’t expire until 2020, according to a story by McClatchy DC’s Emily Cadei. (5/21)