Idaho's legislature is pushing forward a bill that would make it a felony for adults to help minors obtain an abortion without parental consent even if the procedure is legal in another state. This bill was championed by State Rep. Barbara Ehardt (R) as a “parental rights” bill would also establish the crime of “abortion trafficking” and allow family members of the minor or the person who impregnated them to sue doctors who helped facilitate the procedure for at least $20,000. The bill has passed in the Idaho House and is expected to pass in the State Senate after some amendments are made. In opposition to the bill, state Senate minority leader Melissa Wintrow (D) stated that it “cheaps the term ‘human trafficking’ and that is shameful.” The bill comes after a rural Idaho hospital announced that it would stop delivering babies or providing other obstetric care due in part to the “legal and political climate” surrounding abortion in the state. Idaho is among the states with the strictest abortion laws in the nation, banning abortions except in cases involving rape or incest or when a woman’s life is in danger and does not contain an exception for when a pregnant person’s health is at risk.
In response to Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade says the Women's Health Center of West Virginia, the state's first abortion provider since 1976, will open the Women's Health Center of Maryland in June. The clinic will offer both medication and surgical abortions and is located five miles from the West Virginia border. Other abortion providers have moved or opened new locations in states with strong abortion protections like Minnesota, Illinois and New Mexico.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) recently returned home after a two-week stay in inpatient physical therapy and a fall that left him with a concussion and broken rib. Meanwhile, Ariana Eunjung Cha published a deep dive into one family’s struggle to pay for Novo Nordisk ’s new weight loss drug Ozempic after their insurer refused to pay for the $1,331-per-month treatment.
The Red River Women’s Clinic recently moved a five-minute drive from Fargo, ND, to Moorhead, MN, and the Choices Center for Reproductive Health has opened a new location in Carbondale, IL, roughly three hours from both Memphis and Nashville.
The House select subcommittee on the coronavirus pandemic will examine the consequences of school closures during the pandemic, a House Oversight and Accountability subcommittee will hold its first in a series of hearings about the FDA’s role in the infant formula shortage and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra will testify before the House Appropriations Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee. A Senate Finance health subcommittee will hold a hearing on oral health, a House Natural Resources subcommittee will examine how to improve health-care delivery in tribal communities, and the Senate Finance Committee will examine the Pharmacy Benefit Managers and the Prescription Drug Supply Chain.
A Washington Post and Kaiser Family Foundation survey of trans-U.S. Trans adults using random sampling methods found that most trans adults say that transitioning made their lives more satisfying.
The recent events across the country demonstrate the ongoing fight for access to reproductive health care as states push forward bills criminalizing abortion and providers move to states that protect access to the procedure. The survey indicates that access to safe and legal abortion is more than a legal right – it is a matter of life and death for many people.