Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Florida Supreme Court Upholds State's 15-Week Abortion Ban
The Florida Supreme Court on Monday rejected requests to halt a law that prevents abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Justices, in a 4-1 decision, turned down a motion by seven abortion clinics and a doctor for a stay of a ruling by the 1st District Court of Appeal that kept the law in place. The one-paragraph decision did not detail the Supreme Court鈥檚 reasoning. (Saunders, 1/24)
The next decision will be with voters on whether New York will enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution. The state Assembly and state Senate voted Tuesday afternoon on the second passage of a resolution first passed last July that would protect abortion rights in the state constitution, giving it additional strength in the wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade last June by the U.S. Supreme Court. It passed both chambers by an overwhelming majority. (Spector, 1/24)
Democrats filed identical bills in each chamber of the General Assembly that seek to repeal Georgia鈥檚 2019 abortion law and add the right to the procedure to the state code. Georgia law prohibits most abortions once a doctor can detect fetal cardiac activity, which is typically about six weeks into a pregnancy and before many know they are pregnant. Previously, Georgia allowed most abortions up until about 22 weeks of pregnancy. This proposal would not put any restrictions on when the procedure could be performed. (Prabhu, 1/24)
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, along with the state鈥檚 Republican attorney general, said Tuesday the state will prosecute pharmacists who dispense abortion-inducing pills following a recent Food and Drug Administration rule change that broadens access to the pills. The Republican governor and South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley released a letter to South Dakota pharmacists saying they are 鈥渟ubject to felony prosecution鈥 if they procure or dispense abortion-inducing drugs. The state bans all abortions except to save the life of the pregnant person. (1/24)
Two people were charged on Tuesday with threatening reproductive health service facilities clinics in Florida, the Justice Department announced. Caleb Freestone, 27, and Amber Smith-Stewart, 23, were indicted by a federal grand jury for being "engaged in a conspiracy to prevent employees of reproductive health service facilities from providing those services." (Barr, 1/25)
