Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Declaring Fetuses 'People' Threatens IVF; Ancient Greek Ideas Shouldn't Impact Reproductive Laws
Abortion opponents have so fetishized embryos and fetuses that even when they support the concept of IVF, they can鈥檛 let go of their quest for personhood laws that may end up not just prohibiting abortion but making infeasible the IVF procedure that has been such a lifeline for so many who cannot conceive on their own. (3/4)
A great deal of what we think we know about procreation owes more to ancient religion and philosophy than it does to modern science. The metaphor of the bun in the oven suggests that the pregnant body is passive. Even more troubling is the notion that the womb is a dangerous environment and that fetuses need to be protected from the women who carry them. This too has an ancient pedigree. Writing in the first century CE, the Roman physician Soranus claimed miscarriages were caused by strong emotions, vigorous motion (including jumping, dancing, having sex, coughing, and sneezing), and poor diet. In other words, miscarriages were almost always the fault of the pregnant woman. (Kathleen M. Crowther, 3/5)
As I was getting ready to perform a kidney transplant from a deceased donor on a recent Saturday afternoon, my phone rang. When I saw the ID for the organ allocation coordinator, I knew immediately what she would tell me: The other kidney from the same donor had been declined for transplant because the surgeon didn鈥檛 like how it flushed. At this point it had been out of the donor for 24 hours, and it was at a transplant center three hours away. If I wanted it, I could take it for anyone on my medical center鈥檚 wait list. (Joshua Mezrich, 3/2)
Lack of health data on LGBTQ+ people has real-world consequences. A participant in a 2020 report from the National LGBT Cancer Network said: 鈥淭here are no guidelines for cancers that are more prevalent among Trans women. I had to fight like hell to have an anoscopy, and sure enough we found [precancerous lesions]!鈥 (Paul Shay, 3/4)
Like most Americans, I often start my day on my phone, catching up on the major news of the day, reading newsletters, or listening to a podcast. As a psychiatrist and the CEO of Mindful Care, a multistate mental health provider, I pay particularly close attention to how mental health is being discussed among the general public and in media. Lately, I've noticed a new tone to mental health coverage. (Tamir Aldad, 3/1)
