Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Mifepristone Maker To Seek FDA OK For Use Of Drug To Treat Miscarriages
The drugmaker responsible for bringing the controversial abortion pill to the U.S. is now pursuing a new use that could widen women鈥檚 access: treating miscarriages. Danco Laboratories is preparing scientific data and taking other steps to ask the Food and Drug Administration to approve use of the abortion pill regimen Mifeprex for management of miscarriages, according to people familiar with the matter. (Essley Whyte, 10/8)
Texas鈥 new abortion laws are stressing the state鈥檚 already beleaguered OB/GYN workforce, and threatening the pipeline of new doctors that would help provide relief, a new survey shows. More than 70% of practicing OB/GYNs in Texas feel the near-total ban has negatively impacted their work, prohibiting them from providing high quality, evidence-based care for their patients, according to survey results released Tuesday. (Klibanoff, 10/8)
In election updates about abortion 鈥
Two court rulings this week have delivered major blows to reproductive rights in Texas and Georgia but, during a crucial time in the election cycle, Democrats are seizing on them in an attempt to energize voters who support abortion access. Advocates hope the rulings will serve as reminders about what鈥檚 at stake in a post-Roe America just weeks before a presidential election that has been partly defined by competing visions of abortion rights and the sometimes harrowing consequences for women living in states with abortion bans. (Fernando, 10/8)
Former President Trump鈥檚 softening stance on reproductive health has raised questions about his standing with white evangelical voters, a key part of his coalition dating back to 2016.聽Last week, the former president said he would veto a national abortion ban if elected, while his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), said the GOP needed to regain voters鈥 trust on the issue. Former first lady Melania Trump went even further, emphatically voicing her support for abortion rights.聽(Manchester, 10/8)
Gov. Ron DeSantis鈥 administration is threatening to criminally prosecute Florida television stations if they do not stop running a political advertisement featuring a brain cancer patient who supports a November ballot measure that would broaden access to abortion in Florida. But nearly a week after the state warned TV stations to pull the ad, the commercial is still running, and attorneys representing a political committee sponsoring the abortion ballot measure have issued a defiant legal letter in which they call the administration鈥檚 effort an 鈥渦nconstitutional state action.鈥 (Healy and Ceballos, 10/8)
Montana GOP Senate nominee Tim Sheehy said young women are 鈥渟ingle-issue voters鈥 on abortion and young voters are 鈥渋ndoctrinated鈥 to support liberal causes, according to audio of the candidate speaking at campaign events last year.聽... These newly reported comments concern abortion, which has been a rallying issue for supporters of abortion rights and a potential vulnerability for Republicans following the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade. (Gans, 10/8)
In LGBTQ+ news 鈥
A leading national survey finds that 22% of LGBTQ+ women respondents have attempted suicide, and 66% reported seeking treatment for trauma. 鈥淭he trauma burden in this community is enormous,鈥 said Jaime Grant, one of the researchers who conducted the survey. (Roldan, 10/8)
About 3.3 percent of high school students identify as transgender and another 2.2 percent are questioning their gender identity, according to the first nationally representative survey on these groups, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday. Transgender and gender-questioning teenagers reported alarmingly higher rates of bullying at school, persistent sadness and suicidal thoughts and behaviors, according to the survey, which was carried out in 2023. (Ghorayshi, 10/8)