Abortion providers in West Virginia filed a lawsuit Wednesday to prevent the state's pre-Roe abortion ban from taking effect now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade.
Why it matters: While no state action has been taken to activate the ban, which has been dormant since 1973 when Roe was decided, West Virginia's only abortion clinic has suspended services in fear of being prosecuted.
Maternal mortality rates rose in the U.S. after COVID-19 took root, according toa new analysis, with deaths disproportionately impacting Hispanic and Black women.
Why it matters: COVID-19 itself, along with the way the pandemic delayed care for other conditions, likely contributed to the higher death toll during 2020, adding to the burden in a country that already had the highest maternal mortality rate among developed nations.
Abortion providers in Ohio filed a lawsuit Wednesday to challenge the state's six-week ban, which took effect shortly after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Driving the news: Ohio's six-week ban had been blocked since 2019, but it became active after a federal judge granted state officials' request to vacate a preliminary injunction following the high court's decision.
The COVID-19 vaccine strategy for the fall remains beset with unanswered questions after an FDA expert panel on Tuesday spent hours debating how and whether to update the shots.
Why it matters: Time is running short to develop a game plan with existing vaccines losing effectiveness against new variants and more than half of Americans still without a booster dose.
Why it matters: Yes, you read that right. Balance is a strong indicator of our overall health — and keeps us from falling and hurting ourselves, especially as we get older.
Federal officials on Tuesday urged anyone potentially exposed to a confirmed case of monkeypox in the last two weeks to get vaccinated, in hopes of slowing an outbreak that's grown to more than 300 confirmed cases in the United States.
Why it matters: Days after some local jurisdictions, like New York City, deployed their own vaccination strategies and ran out of shots, the federal government has committed to distributing 56,000 doses of the JYNNEOS vaccine immediately to jurisdictions where outbreaks are the most severe.
A key FDA advisory committee voted Tuesday to recommend an Omicron-specific update to COVID-19 booster vaccines expected to be rolled out within the next few months.
Why it matters: As the Omicron continues to circulate and mutate — and vaccine protection wanes in much of the population — experts worry about renewed surges of COVID-19 infections this fall.
Driving the news: Marshall used the U.S Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade to suggest that since the court rejected the idea that abortion cannot be protected under the 14th Amendment because it's not "deeply rooted" in the nation's history, the same could be said about access to gender-affirming care.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) on Tuesday filed a lawsuit challenging the state's 1849 pre-Roe abortion ban, asking a state court to declare the law unenforceable.
Driving the news: Evers had previously called a special session to try to repeal the law, but the effort failed after the state's Republican-controlled legislature gaveled in and out of the session refusing to take action.
A Harris County judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked a pre-Roe abortion ban in Texas that was being enforced while the state's "trigger" law is yet to take effect.
Driving the news: Abortion providers had sued state officials to stop the pre-Roe ban from taking effect, arguing it had previously been declared unconstitutional. With this temporary restraining order, abortions can continue in Texas up until the sixth week of pregnancy.
Insurers must cover at least one form of contraception within each FDA-approved category of birth control at no cost to members under the Affordable Care Act, top Biden administration officials wrote in a letter Monday.
Why it matters: Access to effective birth control has taken on new significance after the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Advocates say insurers are falling short of the law's requirement.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday sided with two doctors accused of running opioid "pill mills" in a case about whether they could be criminally prosecuted for distributing controlled substances if the prescription was thought to be for a legitimate medical reason.
Why it matters: The case came amid a crackdown on illegal prescribing during the opioid crisis and took up if doctors could be sent to prison for breaking medical norms.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Tuesday that there could be "dangerous ramifications" to providing abortions on federal lands in an effort to go around the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Why it matters: With Roe gone, states have the authority to regulate abortion at any point in a pregnancy. As a result, progressives have called on the Biden administration to consider building abortion facilities on federal lands located in red states.
While most state abortion bans include some sort of exception when the life of the mother is at risk, it will fall to doctors to prove whether a patient qualifies in an emergency, or possibly face charges.
Why it matters: Every case is unique — and the murky wording of some of the laws could create confusion and put pregnant women's lives at risk, experts say.
