New York Doctor Indicted for Prescribing Abortion Pill in Louisiana
NBC News, January 31, 2025
New York doctor was indicted by a Louisiana grand jury on Friday for allegedly prescribing an abortion pill online in the Deep South state, which has one of the strictest near-total abortion bans in the country. Grand jurors at the District Court for the Parish of West Baton Rouge issued an indictment against Dr. Margaret Carpenter; her company, Nightingale Medical, PC; and a third person. All three were charged with criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs, a felony. The case appears to be the first instance of criminal charges against a doctor accused of sending abortion pills to another state, at least since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and opened the door for states to have strict anti-abortion laws. The indictment comes just months after Louisiana became the first state with a law to reclassify both mifepristone and misoprostol as “controlled dangerous substances.” The drugs are still allowed, but medical personnel have to go through extra steps to access them. Under the legislation, if someone knowingly possesses mifepristone or misoprostol without a valid prescription for any purpose, they could be fined up to $5,000 and sent to jail for one to five years. The law carves out protections for pregnant women who obtain the drug without a prescription to take on their own.
Pentagon Ends Paying for Travel for Abortion and Other Reproductive Care
NBC News, January 31, 2025
The Pentagon has rescinded a Biden administration policy that reimbursed service members and dependents for travel to states where abortion and other reproductive health procedures are legal. The Pentagon’s Defense Travel Management Office issued the memo on Wednesday, ending reimbursements immediately. The move, which is already drawing criticism from women in Congress, reverses a 2023 policy enacted under then-Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin after the repeal of Roe v. Wade. The policy provided paid leave and travel reimbursement for troops and their families who had to cross state lines because they were stationed in a state where abortion and other reproductive care, such as in vitro fertilization, was not offered by the military, was outlawed or was unavailable. The Pentagon memo includes an executive order signed by President Donald Trump last week about enforcing the Hyde Amendment, which seeks to prevent federal funds from being used to support abortion.
Multiple Health Agency Websites on HIV, Contraception Taken Down To Comply With Executive Orders
ABC News, February 1, 2025
Government agency webpages about HIV, LGBTQ+ people and multiple other public health topics were down as of Friday evening due to President Donald Trump’s executive orders aimed at gender ideology and diversity, equity and inclusion. Some of the terms being flagged for removal include pregnant people, chestfeeding, diversity, DEI and references to vaccines, health and gender equity, according to officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who spoke to ABC News on the condition of anonymity. Entire databases have also been temporarily removed. Researchers confirmed to ABC News they were scrambling to collect and archive as much data as possible from the sites before they were taken down. Some pages might be returned to public view after the language is reviewed and removed, officials at the Department of Health and Human Services and the CDC said, though it’s not clear which pages. Removed pages included key CDC information on the rate of HIV diagnoses, breakdowns of infections by race and gender and the probability of HIV transmission by various forms of sex. The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, a national survey system that collects various habits on teenagers as well as their gender identity, is also down. The CDC’s “HIV Risk Reduction Tool,” an interactive tool that allowed users to gauge the risk of certain sexual behaviors, has also been erased.
Three Months After Missouri Voted To Make Abortion Legal, Access Is Still Being Blocked
ProPublica, February 5, 2025
Three months after Missouri voters enshrined reproductive rights in the state constitution, abortion remains unavailable as the state’s main provider fights legal hurdles to resume offering the procedure. At the same time, opponents of abortion in the state Legislature, stung by the passage of Amendment 3 in November, have filed a raft of bills aimed at thwarting implementation of the measure or undercutting its goals while they try to find a unified strategy to prevent the return of abortion services. This week, state lawmakers held a hearing on a plan to put a new amendment on the ballot that would block most abortions. If passed by the General Assembly, the measure could go to voters as soon as this year. The proposed amendment would ban abortion except for in medical emergencies, when a fetus has abnormalities, or in cases of rape or incest, with rape or incest cases requiring a police report and subject to a 12-week limit. It would also prohibit public funding for abortions. What’s more, it would ban providing surgeries, hormones or drugs to assist a child with a gender transition, procedures that are already illegal in Missouri. At a hearing on the proposed amendment before the House Children and Families committee on Tuesday, its sponsor, state Rep. Melanie Stinnett, a Republican from Springfield, acknowledged that some might say she was trying to subvert the people’s will. But Stinnett said she’d heard concerns about the language in Amendment 3 and that this was an attempt to clarify the state’s abortion laws.
Most Insurance Covers IUDs. Hers Cost More Than $14,000.
KFF Health News, January 31, 2025
During her annual OB-GYN visit, Callie Anderson asked about getting off the birth control pill. “We decided the best option for me was an IUD,” she said, referring to an intrauterine device, a long-acting, reversible type of birth control. Anderson, 25, of Scranton, Pennsylvania, asked her doctor how much it might cost. At the time, she was working in a U.S. senator’s local office and was covered under her father’s insurance through a plan offered to retired state police. After waiting months for an appointment, Anderson had the insertion procedure last March. She paid $25, her copay for an office visit, and everything went well. Then the bill came. $14,658: $117 for a pregnancy test, $9,862 for a Skyla IUD, $4,057 for “clinic service,” plus $622 for the doctor’s services. Anderson got a rare glimpse of what can happen when insurance doesn’t cover contraception. The Affordable Care Act requires health plans to offer preventive care, including a variety of contraceptives, without cost to the patient. But Anderson’s plan doesn’t have to comply with the ACA. That’s because it’s considered a ‘grandfathered’ plan, meaning it existed before March 23, 2010, when President Barack Obama signed the ACA into law, and has not changed substantially since then. It’s unclear how many Americans have such coverage. In its 2020 Employer Health Benefits survey, KFF estimated that about 14% of covered workers were still on “grandfathered” plans.
ICYMI: In Case You Missed It
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Thank you to our fearless leaders for the reintroduction of the Right to Contraception Act today: @SenMarkey, @RepFletcher, @MazieHirono, @RepSaraJacobs, @SenDuckworth, @RepAngieCraig, @RepNikema @ReproCaucus pic.twitter.com/4Z7VUnl0Q9
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