Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Republicans Weigh Different Abortion Approach In Wake Of Midterms
Former President Donald Trump advised Republicans that if they want to win elections, they must support three exceptions to abortion bans. According to Trump, Republicans should support abortion in cases of rape, incest or to protect the life of the mother. If they don't, he said, they were likely to lose their elections. (Skinner, 12/29)
The blaming of the "abortion issue" by former President Donald Trump as the reason Republicans underperformed in the 2022 midterm elections is receiving pushback from at least one conservative anti-abortion group. (Mordowanec, 1/2)
Republicans are recalibrating their messaging on abortion after Democrats successfully used the issue to galvanize their base and win over swing voters in 2022. (Manchester, 12/29)
In legal developments related to abortion matters —
An Arizona court has ruled that abortion doctors cannot be prosecuted under a pre-statehood law that criminalizes nearly all abortions yet was barred from being enforced for decades. (Billeaud, 12/31)
The Biden administration is proposing to largely undo a Trump-era rule that boosted the rights of medical workers to refuse to perform abortions or other services that conflicted with their religious or moral beliefs. (Weixel, 12/29)
Meanwhile, in California —
One woman had never flown on a plane before and was petrified to make the journey from Texas to California. Another drove all night from El Paso to make her appointment because she couldn’t miss work. A third was so worried about getting in trouble that she asked the staff at Planned Parenthood if they could wipe her phone and destroy all evidence of her abortion. (Kendall, 12/2)
