Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Senator Says Company Tracked, Sold Data On Planned Parenthood Visits For Anti-Abortion Ads
A company allegedly tracked people鈥檚 visits to nearly 600 Planned Parenthood locations across 48 states and provided that data for one of the largest anti-abortion ad campaigns in the nation, according to an investigation by Sen. Ron Wyden, a scope that far exceeds what was previously known. The details in Wyden (D-Ore.)鈥檚 letter, sent Tuesday morning, reveal what鈥檚 believed to be the largest publicly known location-driven anti-abortion ad campaign. Abortion rights supporters have feared this type of data could also be used by certain state governments to prosecute women who get the procedure after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled there is no constitutional right to an abortion. (Ng, 2/13)
Tennessee state legislators moved on Tuesday to advance a bill that would ban people from taking minors for an abortion without parental permission 鈥 an act that the bill has dubbed 鈥渁bortion trafficking鈥. If someone illegally 鈥渞ecruits, harbors, or transports a pregnant unemancipated minor鈥 for an abortion, they could face three to 15 years in prison under the proposed bill, which has now advanced out of a state house subcommittee after a hearing. (Sherman, 2/13)
As advocates push this year for ballot measure initiatives aiming to protect abortion rights, key differences have emerged in the language of proposed measures. Among them is the inclusion of mental health exceptions. A Missouri proposal would allow lawmakers to restrict abortions after a fetus is considered viable, except if an abortion 鈥渋s needed to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant person.鈥 A similar measure has been proposed in Arizona. In 2022, Michigan voters passed an abortion rights amendment with a mental health exception for viability limits. (Fernando, 2/13)
In related news about transgender health 鈥
When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with their now infamous ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women鈥檚 Health Organization, the adverse disruptions to both the legal landscape of abortion and the quality of life of both abortion seekers and pregnant patients across the country were nearly immediate. But, the dystopia of Dobbs holding isn鈥檛 limited to reproductive freedoms鈥攊t has also endangered other constitutional privacy matters that determine the right to purchase and use contraception, the right of same-sex intimacy and marriage, and the right to marry across racial lines. 聽However, what鈥檚 become clear is that the far right intends to test the judicial system for future breaches by first targeting transgender people鈥檚 access to gender-affirming care. (McNeill, 2/14)
More than half of Black transgender and nonbinary young people reported having seriously considered suicide in the past year, and more than 20 percent said they had attempted suicide, according to聽data released Tuesday聽by The Trevor Project, an LGBTQ youth suicide prevention organization. Black LGBTQ young people experience elevated rates of discrimination related to both their race and ethnicity and their LGBTQ identities, according to Tuesday鈥檚 report, which analyzed survey responses from over 28,000 LGBTQ teens and young adults in the U.S. (Migdon, 2/13)
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