Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'Judge Shopping' Could Become Harder After Move By Federal Courts
Federal courts moved Tuesday to make it harder to file lawsuits in front of judges seen as friendly to a point of view, a practice known as judge shopping that gained national attention in a major abortion medication case. The new policy covers civil suits that would affect an entire state or the whole country. It would require a judge to be randomly assigned, even in areas where locally filed cases have gone before a single judge. (Whitehurst, 3/12)
Federally funded family planning centers in Texas must receive parental consent before prescribing birth control to teenagers, an appeals court ruled Tuesday, partially upholding a decision from a lower court. (Luthra, 3/12)
More on maternal health and children's health 鈥
Hundreds of women in the United States die from complications related to pregnancy, childbirth and the time after giving birth聽each year, and the country鈥檚 high maternal death rate makes it an outlier among developed nations. But a new study suggests that maternal mortality rates in the US may be lower and more stable than federal data suggests 鈥 though still very high. (McPhillips and Howard, 3/13)
A new Mississippi law will allow earlier Medicaid coverage for pregnant women in an effort to improve health outcomes for mothers and babies in a poor state with the nation鈥檚 worst rate of infant mortality. The 鈥減resumptive eligility鈥 legislation signed Tuesday by Republican Gov. Tate Reeves will become law July 1. It says Medicaid will pay for a pregnant woman鈥檚 outpatient medical care for up to 60 days while her application for the government-funded insurance program is being considered. (Pettus, 3/13)
The number of children globally who died before their fifth birthday dropped to a record low of 4.9 million in 2022, but that still represents one death every six seconds, according to new United Nations estimates. While the mortality rate for under-5s has roughly halved since 2000, the world is still behind in the goal of reducing preventable deaths in that age group by 2030, and progress has slowed since 2015, the report, released on Wednesday, found. (3/12)
