Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Amid Infighting, Indiana Senate Clears Abortion Ban With Rape Exception
Indiana state senators narrowly passed a near-total abortion ban Saturday during a rare weekend session, sending the bill to the House after a contentious week of arguments over whether to allow exceptions for rape and incest. (Rodgers and Callahan, 7/30)
Between 462 to 530 trans and nonbinary individuals received abortions in 2017, according to data from the Guttmacher Institute. Around 1.2 million adults identify as nonbinary as of 2021, which includes people who are transgender, as reported by UCLA's Williams Institute. The same source states that in 2022, more than 1.6 million individuals aged 13 and up identify as transgender. (Kane, 8/1)
Regarding bans in West Virginia, Florida, and Ohio 鈥
West Virginia lawmakers passed up the chance Friday to become the first state to approve new legislation restricting access to abortions since the U.S. Supreme Court鈥檚 ruling last month removing its protected status as a constitutional right. (Raby, 7/29)
In nearby Tampa, Dr. Rachel Rapkin, a board-certified OBGYN, said she feels patients in Florida are getting "substandard care" because of the new abortion restrictions. "After seeing what's happened to doctors like Caitlin Bernard in Indiana who are being so intensely scrutinized ... doctors are really scared to provide what should be standard of care to our patients," Rapkin told ABC News. "And patients are getting substandard care now." (Kindelan, 8/1)
Low-income women with less education are significantly more likely to discover their pregnancies after six weeks, too late now for an abortion in Ohio, new research from Ohio State University suggests. (Washington, 8/1)
On abortion and contraceptive access 鈥
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough on Sunday said his department is examining how to best protect abortion access to veterans after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, but he declined to provide a specific path forward. CNN 鈥淪tate of the Union鈥 co-anchor Jake Tapper asked McDonough to respond to a letter from 24 Senate Democrats calling on the department to allow abortion services at veteran hospitals. (Schonfeld, 7/31)
Governor Charlie Baker on Friday signed a bill that broadens access to abortion in Massachusetts and helps shield providers from out-of-state prosecution, putting on the books an expansion of the state鈥檚 already extensive reproductive rights statute. (Stout, 7/29)
Students at New England universities are organizing to install emergency contraceptive vending machines on their campuses to increase access to sexual health resources following the overturn of Roe v. Wade. Although abortion remains legal in the region, many university students are concerned about access to contraceptives because they come from states where abortion has been banned or threatened in the wake of the Supreme Court decision in June. (Mogg, 7/31)
Planned Parenthood Northern California created a new position this month 鈥 a patient navigator whose role is to help out-of-state abortion seekers navigate reproductive health care services in the Golden State. The organization said it saw a 10% increase in monthly callers after the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women鈥檚 Health Organization. (Pak, 7/31)
Also 鈥
According to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health policy research organization, there were 4,460 pregnancies among people ages 14 and younger in 2017. The institute estimates that around half of those pregnancies, 1,960, ended in abortion. (El-Bawab and DiMartino, 7/31)
KHN: Journalists Detail The Scope Of The Abortion Ruling, Monkeypox, And Public Health Powers聽
KHN chief Washington correspondent聽Julie Rovner discussed the impact of the Supreme Court decision on abortion on SiriusXM鈥檚 鈥淭he Briefing With Steve Scully鈥 on July 28. ... KHN Midwest correspondent Lauren Weber discussed monkeypox on Newsy鈥檚 鈥淓vening Brief鈥 and on C-SPAN鈥檚 鈥淲ashington Today鈥 on July 25. She also discussed monkeypox and public health litigation on WAMU鈥檚 鈥1A鈥 on July 22. (7/30)