This Week in Abortion: Good News in Maternal Mortality and an IVF Call to Action
This Week in Abortion: Good News in Maternal Mortality and an IVF Call to Action
A collection of good reads, events from the week, and policy insights.
Welcome back to This Week in Abortion - Your weekly roundup of good reads, news updates, and policy insights on abortion.
This week I’ve got some interesting articles from the wider world of reproductive health, including one study that changes what we know about maternal health in the United States. And, the IVF ripples continue to unfold - scroll down for ways to take action.
Oh, I also made some punny funnies. Yep, feeling good this week.
Good Reads and Media
STAT’s Saima May Sidik worries that even among medical professionals there isn’t a shared understanding of when a procedure is an “abortion.” (12 min)
Stateline News (Anna Claire Vollers) and Bloomberg News (Danielle Kaye) report on the backlash against healthcare consolidation led by concerns over the quality and availability of care. Catholic systems are among the biggest players in the hospital game, and when they come to town it can seriously impact access to abortion. (4 min each)
Neelam Bohra (7 min) covers the fight for more resources in Texas, where a post-Dobbs increase in births is potentially a big problem. According to a report by ANCOR, Texas is already one of the hardest places to access disability services, now families are worried about what will happen if the number of children needing assistance increases.
Good Data Matters! A new study by K.S. Joseph and others (25 min) suggests the US maternal health crisis is not as dire as we thought. Although serious racial disparities remain, their study of the CDC’s data finds that rising mortality rates have more to do with changes in how patient deaths were recorded than actual healthcare declines. So, still work to do, but if this study holds up it’s great news. It’s also going to be the featured cautionary tail in every stats course until the end of time. Listen to NPR’s segment on the study.
IVF Update
Last week, I highlighted the potential rift that IVF access could create between the anti-access movement and the GOP. This week, Megan Messerly and Alice Miranda Ollstein explain how groups like Live Action are ramping up political pressure on pro-IVF Republicans on the state level, and Jacqueline Alemany covers the same efforts in DC. Meanwhile, Elaine Godfrey interviews leaders in the anti-access community who “see the Alabama ruling as a chance to start a national conversation about the morality of IVF - even if, at first, Americans don’t want to listen.”
IVF Call to Action
So far only one Republican has signed on to federal IVF protections - Marcus J. Molinaro, a New York Republican from a pro-Biden district.
So, if this is an issue that has you sitting up straight, now would be a great time to contact your Republican officials- federal and state. You can find background info through the National Infertility Association. You can also look up the contact info for your legislators here.
Top Abortion Updates
👍 Sad the Oscars are over? How about a Hyde Amendment watch party!? The Hyde Amendment prevents the federal government from spending money on abortion services, including through Medicaid. Biden’s recently proposed budget does not include the amendment, which is good. But, it’s unlikely Republicans will roll out the red carpet for this change. So, let’s hold the thank-you speeches for now.
Drop your entertainment award puns in the comments or send them to Shut.Up.Rachel@Enough.Already.com.
👍 The Texas Medical Board is set to review potential medical exemptions under the state's strict abortion laws. After the hearing, the Board will likely publish proposed rules and allow 30 days for the public to submit comments. More from Madaleine Rubin.
👎 An appeals court upheld Texas’s law requiring parental consent for minors to get birth control. According to Neelam Bohras’s reporting, it is unlikely that the case will be appealed further.
👎 A bomb threat, later found to be a hoax, targeted two Maine legislators associated with a proposed shield law. The proposed law would protect providers of abortion and gender-affirming care. Republican State Rep Kenneth Davis spoke against violence, telling Annmaire Hilton, “When it comes to family and people’s safety, that letter after your name doesn’t mean a person is bad.”
👍 A South Carolina man was found guilty of obstructing access to a reproductive health facility. This comes after a jury found six others in Tennessee guilty of similar violations last month. Federal law - the FACE Act - prevents people from blocking access to healthcare facilities, providing an important level of protection for clinics. The Biden administration says, “The number of FACE Act violations remains relatively low.” Still, the National Review Ed Board and other anti-access advocates say it’s used to target free speech.
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