Category: Louisiana

KFF Health News’ ‘What the Health?’: Anti-Abortion Hard-Liners Speak Up

While Republican candidates in many states downplay their opposition to abortion, the most vehement wing of the movement, which helped overturn Roe v. Wade — those who advocate prosecuting patients, outlawing contraception, and banning IVF — are increasingly outspoken. Meanwhile, some state legislatures continue to advance new restrictions, like a proposal moving in Louisiana to include abortion medications mifepristone and misoprostol on the list of the most dangerous drugs. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins schools of public health and nursing and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Shefali Luthra of The 19th about her new book on abortion in post-Roe America, “Undue Burden.”

A New Orleans Neighborhood Confronts the Racist Legacy of a Toxic Stretch of Highway

New federal funds aim to address an array of problems created by highway construction in minority neighborhoods. These are economic, social, and, perhaps above all, public health problems. In New Orleans’ Treme neighborhood, competing plans for how to deal with harm done by the Claiborne Expressway reveal the challenge of how to mitigate them meaningfully.

Death and Redemption in an American Prison

More than a quarter century after an inmate helped start a hospice program in one of the nation’s most notorious prisons, he is trying to spread the idea.

Using Opioid Settlement Cash for Police Gear Like Squad Cars and Scanners Sparks Debate

State and local governments will receive a windfall of more than $50 billion over 18 years from settlements with companies that made, sold, or distributed opioid painkillers. Using the funds for law enforcement has triggered important questions about what the money was meant for.

As Many American Cities Get Hotter, Health Systems Face Off Against Heatstroke

With millions of Americans suffering under relentless heat waves this summer, more people are seeking medical attention for heat-related illnesses. As temperatures get more extreme, hospitals, fire departments, and ambulance crews are preparing to treat more patients for heat exhaustion and heatstroke.

The Gun Violence Epidemic Is ‘Locking Us Back in Our Room’

As the leading cause of death for teens, firearm injuries are detrimental to more than just physical health. It takes a major toll on young people’s mental health.

Bleeding and in Pain, a Pregnant Woman in Louisiana Couldn’t Get Answers

How one Louisiana woman experiencing a miscarriage sought care amid a climate of fear and confusion among doctors fueled by that state’s restrictive abortion law.

Centene Showers Politicians With Millions as It Courts Contracts and Settles Overbilling Allegations

Centene, the largest Medicaid managed-care company in the U.S., has thrown more than $26.9 million at political campaigns across the country since 2015, especially focused on states where it is wooing Medicaid contracts and settling accusations that it overbilled taxpayers. Among its tactics: Centene is skirting contribution limits by giving to candidates through its many subsidiaries.

‘American Diagnosis’: As Climate Crises Batter the Bayou, Houma People Are Being Displaced

Rising sea levels and severe hurricanes are displacing Indigenous people in Southern Louisiana and harming health. Episode 11 explores the United Houma Nation’s push for federal tribal recognition and the climate-change help that could come with it.

School or ‘Russian Roulette’? Amid Delta Variant and Lax Mask Rules, Some Parents See No Difference

Students in many places are starting the new school year with their masks off — even in one Colorado county that was one of the nation’s first delta variant hot spots.