Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Court Upholds Kentucky Law Requiring Doctors To Show Fetal Ultrasounds Before Abortions
A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld a Kentucky law requiring doctors to show and describe a fetal ultrasound to patients before performing an abortion. In a 2-1 decision, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the law does not infringe on the First Amendment rights of physicians. (Weixel, 4/4)
Kansas lawmakers want physicians to face criminal penalties if they don’t repeatedly tell women seeking drug-induced abortions that they may be able to interrupt the process partway through. That comes despite a lack of rigorous research that what’s being called “abortion reversal� works and amid concerns from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists that the research supporting the treatment is unethical. (Llopis-Jepsen, 4/4)
Republican state Rep. John Becker has introduced legislation that would ban insurance companies from covering most types of abortions. Here are three takeaways:- House Bill 182 would prohibit health insurers and public employee benefit plans from covering abortions except to replant a fertilized ovum or to save a pregnant woman’s life. (Pelzer, 4/4)
Massachusetts has become the first state to approve money to offset the potential loss of federal funding to women’s reproductive health organizations since the Trump administration adopted a new rule meant to ban federally funded family planning clinics from making abortion referrals. Massachusetts follows Maryland, which in 2017 passed a similar law meant to protect funding for Planned Parenthood. (Leblanc, 4/4)