Meanwhile, in Indiana, the state high court said it would not immediately consider a religious freedom challenge to the state’s abortion ban, leaving the matter to an appellate court. And in Vermont, AP reports that lawmakers are considering bills to protect abortion and gender-affirming health care workers.
Minnesota Public Radio: Walz Signs Bill Granting Abortion Access Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on Tuesday signed a bill into state law that guarantees abortion rights and other reproductive health care options into state law. (Ferguson, 1/31)
AP: Indiana judges won’t hear second abortion case for now Indiana high court said it won’t immediately consider a challenge to the state’s abortion ban which is based on arguments that the law violates the religious freedoms of some people, leaving that decision to a court of appeal, at least for now. The state Supreme Court on Monday issued an order that the state appeals court would hear the case first, after a lower court judge in December sided with residents who said the state ban on abortion violates their religious beliefs. (Rodgers, 1/31)
AP: Vermont lawmakers mulling bills to protect abortion providers Vermont lawmakers are testifying on a pair of bills that aim to protect health care workers who provide abortions and gender-affirming health care in Vermont from legal and disciplinary actions by states that restrict or prohibit those practices. The bills were introduced seven months after the US Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade and because states have restricted or taken steps to protect access to such care. (Rathke, 1/31)
In related news —
The Colorado Sun: Another Colorado hospital stops letting women have their tubes tied When the only hospital in Durango with a maternity ward decided it would no longer allow women to have their tubes tied, there was no no public announcement. The Mercy Hospital website doesn’t explain it either. Instead, an interleaved statement added to the Centura Health hospital website in September found that Mercy is “responsible for conducting themselves in a manner consistent with the ethical principles of Catholic church ministry.” (Brown, 1/31)
Kansas City star: Missouri woman files federal lawsuit against hospitals she says they denied emergency abortion The National Women’s Law Center on Monday filed federal civil rights lawsuit against hospitals in Missouri, Del Kansas and Illinois for last denying a life-saving abortion to a Joplin woman a year after her waters broke at 18 weeks pregnant. (Bayless, 1/31)
AP: Anti-abortion activists aim to sway GOP White House hopes Emboldened anti-abortion activists are looking to the 2024 presidential election as an opportunity to solidify their influence on the Republican Party. Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, the most influential group in the anti-abortion movement, is telling every potential GOP presidential hopeful that in order to win her support—or avoid being a target of her opposition—they must support the national restrictions on the procedure. Exceptions in cases of rape, incest or to save the mother’s life are acceptable, activists say, but leaving the matter to the states to decide is not. (Burnett and Colvin, 2/1)
CNN: Survey Finds Widespread Confusion About Medical Abortion in Post-Roe US Nearly half of adults in the US — including 2 in 5 women of childbearing age — aren’t sure whether medical abortion is legal in their state, according to a survey released Wednesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The poll was conducted in mid-January, more than six months after the U.S. Supreme Court handed down the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade and revoked the federal right to abortion. (McPhillips, 1/12)
This is part of the KHN Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
