Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
A Spotlight On Republican Policies As Abortion Controversies Swirl
Republican presidential candidate and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum said Thursday that while he backed a strict abortion ban in his own state, he would not support a similar, nationwide law if he is elected to the White House. "I think the decision that was made returning the power to the states was the right one. And I think we're going to have -- we have a lot of division on this issue in America. And what's right for North Dakota may not be right for another state ... the best decisions are made locally," Burgum said on "CNN This Morning." (Walsh and Oppenheim, 6/8)
As conservatives continue to snarl the House floor in protest, centrists are taking their turn to squeeze Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Behind closed doors on Wednesday, McCarthy鈥檚 No. 2 and No. 3 briefed about a dozen Republicans 鈥 mostly battleground-seat members 鈥 on their plan to take up two bills next week: Rep. Andrew Clyde鈥檚 (R-Ga.) bid to nix a Biden administration gun regulation and a separate proposal bill to strengthen limits on taxpayer funding for abortion. The meeting didn鈥檛 go smoothly. (Beavers and Ferris, 6/8)
More abortion news from New York, Indiana, and Illinois 鈥
New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit Thursday against an anti-abortion group, Red Rose Rescue, alleging its members have repeatedly blocked entrances to health clinics and have 鈥渕ade it their mission to terrorize reproductive health care providers and the patients they serve.鈥 (Fortinsky, 6/8)
An Indiana judge has now granted class action for a religious freedom-based lawsuit that seeks to strike down a near-total abortion ban in the Hoosier state. On Tuesday, a Marion County Superior Court judge certified a lawsuit being brought against the state by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana as a class action. (Schroeder, 6/7)
On May 20, an Illinois man drove his car into the clinic and has been charged with attempted arson by federal authorities. Abortion is still legal in the state. 鈥淎ttacks like this are designed to intimidate and terrorize us out of providing abortion care to Illinois women and pregnant people from across the South and the Midwest, who face bans in their own home states,鈥 said property owner LaDonna Prince in a statement. (Anderson, 6/8)