Selena Simmons-Duffin

Author's posts

A Good Friday funeral in Texas. Baby Halo’s parents had few choices in post-Roe Texas

When she gave birth to her baby with a fatal condition two months early, Samantha Casiano scrambled to raise funds for the funeral. Anti-abortion advocates say Texas laws are “working as designed.”

Maternal deaths in the U.S. spiked in 2021, CDC reports

After years of high rates, the country hit a new high during the pandemic, far exceeding rates in other developed nations. Black women are at especially high risk.

To safeguard healthy twin, she had to ‘escape’ Texas for abortion procedure

When Lauren Miller found out one of her twins had a fatal condition, she discovered her doctors in Texas would only say: You need to leave the state. She went to Colorado for a selective reduction.

More people than ever buy insurance on Healthcare.gov

It’s the last weekend for Obamacare open enrollment, and nearly 16 million Americans have signed up for a health insurance plan.

Her miscarriage left her bleeding profusely. An Ohio ER sent her home to wait

State law at the time prohibited abortion after around 6 weeks. Legal experts say this kind of law leaves doctors uncertain of what’s legal and can put patients in dangerous situations.

Congress is about to act on drug price reform. Here’s what you need to know

A deal on the table in Congress would help deliver on a long-time promise: to make prescription drugs more affordable. It includes a $2,000 cap on out-of-pocket expenses for Medicare patients.

Doctors weren’t considered in Dobbs, but now they’re on abortion’s legal front lines

In a departure from earlier Supreme Court decisions on abortion, Justice Alito’s abortion opinion barely mentions medicine. This creates a perilous new legal reality for doctors, legal analysts say.

For doctors, abortion restrictions create an ‘impossible choice’ when providing care

Physicians must treat in line with patients’ wishes and standards of care. Some medical ethicists say that abortion bans will force doctors to disregard these obligations in order to follow the law.

COVID vaccines are finally here for young kids. But the logistics aren’t easy

NPR talks to Claire Hannan, who has helped navigate vaccine rollouts in all 50 states, about some of the challenges involved in quickly getting shots out to millions of young kids.

If Roe v. Wade is overturned, what happens next? Your questions answered

After the leak of the draft opinion in which the Supreme Court appears ready to overturn Roe, we asked for your questions about the future of abortion care in the U.S. Here’s what our experts said.