Women who need abortion care come to Michigan from surrounding states that already have banned the procedure. A clinic in suburban Detroit allowed a reporter to interview patients, doctors, and nurses to understand what is at stake as voters decide whether to guarantee abortion access in the Michigan Constitution.
Science Friday and KHN ran the numbers on birth control failure. Depending on the contraception method, typical-use error rates can add up to hundreds of thousands of unplanned pregnancies each year.
The abortion issue looms large over the midterm elections, and some in the Republican Party, long associated with efforts to restrict access, are looking to reassure voters they have women’s health in mind.
Federal officials have ordered the probe after reports that a woman whose water broke at 18 weeks could not get medical care recommended by her doctors to end the pregnancy because hospital officials were concerned about Missouri’s strict abortion law.
When Katie Couric announced she had breast cancer, she urged women to get a mammogram — and, if they have dense breasts, to get supplemental screening by ultrasound. But medical experts point out that ultrasound and other auxiliary screenings haven’t been proven to do more than regular mammography in reducing mortality.
Abortion isn’t the only health issue voters will be asked to decide in state ballot questions next month. Proposals about medical debt, Medicaid expansion, and whether health care should be a right are on ballots in various states. Meanwhile, the latest lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act has expanded to cover all preventive care. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, and Victoria Knight of Axios join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these topics and more.
California voters will decide in November whether to amend the state constitution to explicitly protect abortion rights. But there is disagreement over whether the proposal, Proposition 1, would merely enshrine existing rights or expand them.
As Michigan and several other states await voters’ verdicts on ballot measures about abortion, the providers, patients, and activists on both sides strategize their next steps.
With the midterm elections rapidly approaching, President Joe Biden has taken to the road to convince voters that he and congressional Democrats have delivered for them during two years in power. Among the health issues highlighted by the administration this week are pandemic preparedness and the availability of over-the-counter hearing aids. The president also promised to sign a bill codifying the abortion protections of Roe v. Wade if Democrats maintain control of the House and Senate — even though it’s a long shot that there will be enough votes for that. Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Mary Agnes Carey of KHN join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these topics and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.
A ballot measure that seeks to protect infants following failed abortions would impose stiff penalties on health care providers in Montana.
