Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Zika, Rubella And Abortion: How Health Crises Can Change Public Perception
The 23-year-old mother was pregnant with her fourth child when she contracted a dreaded disease. Thousands of women who had been similarly infected had gone on to have children with birth defects ranging from heart problems to blindness to microcephaly, an abnormally small head. Knowing that her baby was likely to suffer from severe disabilities, the young mother, the wife of a construction worker, decided to get an abortion. It was illegal where she lived, but her doctor agreed. ... This wasn鈥檛 a reaction to Zika virus, the mosquito borne illness that has rapidly escalated into a public health emergency. It was a reaction to German measles. In 1970. In Minnesota. (Johnson, 2/5)
A campaign against fetal alcohol syndrome by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has whipped up a viral storm. The problem is a poster. It warns that alcohol can cause miscarriages, stillbirths, sudden infant death syndrome and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. It also says that women who drink can face domestic violence, sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies. It's that last bit especially that has sparked outrage, with critics questioning whether the CDC is telling women not to drink. (Terry, 2/4)
New advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention aimed at preventing fetal alcohol syndrome has created quite a stir. The CDC estimates that about 3 million women "are at risk of exposing their developing baby to alcohol because they are drinking, sexually active and not using birth control to prevent pregnancy." So the CDC is now advising women to stop drinking if they are trying to get pregnant or not using birth control with sex. That's right, abstain from drinking. (Aubrey, 2/4)
Rep. Vicky Hartzler of Missouri has pushed back against calls from Democrats to end congressional investigations into abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood. Hartzler, a Republican, is on a special House panel investigating whether abortion providers are profiting from the sale of fetal tissue and whether they have violated any federal laws. The panel was formed in October after an anti-abortion group released undercover video of officials from Planned Parenthood discussing how they harvest fetal tissue for medical research. (Wise, 2/4)
