Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
WIC Program Might Get Funding Boost As GOP Reels From IVF Controversy
The Alabama Supreme Court鈥檚 IVF decision upped the pressure on House Republicans to back a funding increase for nutrition aid to low-income moms and babies in the spending deal Congress is poised to pass this week. Some GOP lawmakers facing tough reelections in more moderate districts had been pushing Speaker Mike Johnson to keep a dispute over the funding from becoming a major fight in the spending talks. (Hill, 3/5)
Alabama lawmakers facing public pressure to restart in vitro fertilization services in the state advanced legislation to shield providers from the fallout of a court ruling that equated frozen embryos to children. Committees in the state Senate and House on Tuesday approved identical bills that would protect providers from lawsuits and criminal prosecution for the 鈥渄amage or death of an embryo鈥 during IVF services. The state鈥檚 three major IVF providers paused services after the Alabama Supreme Court鈥檚 ruling last month because of the sweeping liability concerns it raised. (Chandler, 3/6)
After the Alabama Supreme Court ruled last month that pre-embryos created through in vitro fertilization are 鈥渆xtrauterine鈥 unborn children, some IVF providers in that state suspended services. A cascade of news coverage followed the decision, stoking fears about the legal status and availability of IVF in other states, including Missouri. (Pfeil, 3/5)
When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, decisions about abortion regulation reverted to individual states. But Ziegler said if states can continually make laws that give rights to fetuses and that makes it to the highest court, it could potentially cut off access to abortion nationwide. (McCarthy, 3/5)
South Carolina cannot cut off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday, finding that doing so would deprive Medicaid patients of their right to choose their provider. The order marks the third time that a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has stopped the state from defunding the reproductive health organization on the grounds that it provides abortions. (Pierson, 3/5)
