Part I: The State of the Abortion Debate 50 Years After ‘Roe’
By Terry Byrne
January 26, 2023
Podcast
In Part I of this special two-part episode, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Sarah Varney of KHN join KHN chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss how the abortion debate has evolved since the Supreme Court overturned the nationwide right to abortion in 2022, and what might be the flashpoints for 2023. Also in this episode, Rovner interviews Elizabeth Nash of the Guttmacher Institute, about changing reproductive policies in the states.
Journalists Discuss How Legislation Affects Mental Health Care and Abortion Training
April 2, 2022
KFF Health News Original
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Judge Signals He Could Rule to Halt Sales of Common Abortion Pill
By Sarah Varney
March 20, 2023
KFF Health News Original
A U.S. District Court case is being widely followed because the judge’s decision could overturn the FDA’s approval of mifepristone two decades ago. With abortion rights polling well even in red states, anti-abortion activists are increasingly turning to the courts to achieve their aims.
Estados Unidos sigue siendo uno de los países con más partos prematuros. ¿Se puede solucionar?
By Sarah Varney
March 16, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Aproximadamente uno de cada 10 nacimientos vivos en 2021 ocurrió antes de las 37 semanas de gestación, según un informe de March of Dimes publicado en 2022. En comparación, investigaciones recientes citan tasas de nacimientos prematuros del 7,4% en Inglaterra y Gales, del 6% en Francia y del 5,8% en Suecia.
The US Remains a Grim Leader in Preterm Births. Why? And Can We Fix It?
By Sarah Varney
March 16, 2023
KFF Health News Original
American women are more likely to deliver their babies prematurely than women in most developed countries. It’s a distinction that coincides with high rates of maternal and infant death, billions of dollars in costs, and even lifelong disabilities for the children who survive.
Adolescentes en Texas podían obtener control de la natalidad en clínicas federales, hasta que un padre cristiano lo objetó
By Sarah Varney
March 9, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Una sorprendente decisión judicial emitida en diciembre, un juez federal dictaminó que estas clínicas violan la ley estatal de Texas y los derechos constitucionales federales, cortando de raíz una fuente vital de atención médica para mujeres jóvenes en el estado.
Girls in Texas Could Get Birth Control at Federal Clinics, Until a Christian Father Objected
By Sarah Varney
March 8, 2023
KFF Health News Original
A Donald Trump-appointed federal judge agreed that even the possibility that the father’s daughters might access contraception without his permission violated the tenants of his Christian faith.
One Texas Judge Will Decide Fate of Abortion Pill Used by Millions of American Women
By Sarah Varney
February 24, 2023
KFF Health News Original
“What happens in Texas doesn’t stay in Texas,” warns an abortion rights advocate bracing for a district judge’s ruling on whether the abortion pill mifepristone was properly authorized by the FDA. His decision could force the medication off the U.S. market.
Abortion Bans Skirt a Medical Reality: For Many Teens, Childbirth Is a Dangerous Undertaking
By Sarah Varney
October 7, 2022
KFF Health News Original
The laws criminalizing abortion in many conservative U.S. states are expected to boost birth rates among teens, whose bodies often aren’t built for safe childbirth. For adolescents, the emotional and physical challenges of carrying a pregnancy to term can be daunting.
Watch: One City’s Effort to Raise Vaccination Rates Among Black Residents
By Sarah Varney and Jason Kane, PBS NewsHour
December 23, 2021
KFF Health News Original
In Hartford, Connecticut, public health leaders engage barbers and faith leaders to combat vaccine skepticism in the Black community.
When Does Life Begin? As State Laws Define It, Science, Politics, and Religion Clash
By Sarah Varney
September 6, 2022
KFF Health News Original
For decades, the U.S. medical establishment has adhered to a legally recognized standard for brain death, one embraced by most states. Why is a uniform clinical standard for the inception of human life proving so elusive?
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Judge Takes Aim at the Affordable Care Act’s Preventive Care Benefits
September 8, 2022
KFF Health News Original
A federal judge in Texas — the same one who tried to strike down the Affordable Care Act as unconstitutional in 2018 — has ruled against some of the ACA’s preventive benefits, including the requirement that employers cover medication to prevent HIV. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs tries to make abortions slightly more available to veterans and their dependents. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KHN’s Lauren Sausser, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” installment.
Watch: No Extra Resources for Children Orphaned by Covid
By Sarah Varney and Jason Kane, PBS NewsHour
December 1, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Grieving children face grave risks to their well-being, both in the short and long term. But there is no concerted government effort to help the estimated 140,000 children who have lost a parent in the pandemic.
Misinformation Clouds America’s Most Popular Emergency Contraception
By Sarah Varney
June 7, 2022
KFF Health News Original
At a moment when half of U.S. states stand poised to outlaw or sharply curtail abortion services, the nation’s most popular emergency contraception brand rests in the unlikely stewardship of two private equity firms.
What’s Next if ‘Roe v. Wade’ Falls? More Than Half of States Expected to Ban or Restrict Abortion
By Sarah Varney
May 3, 2022
KFF Health News Original
If the Supreme Court affirms the leaked draft decision and overturns abortion rights, the effects would be sweeping in states where Republican-led legislatures have been eagerly awaiting the repudiation of a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy.
Emergency Contraception Marks a New Battle Line in Texas
By Sarah Varney
April 28, 2022
KFF Health News Original
In the shadow of Texas’ austere abortion regulations, grassroots organizers employ stealth tactics to help young women get emergency contraception.
Watch: More Long-Covid Cases Seen in Kids
By Sarah Varney
July 26, 2021
KFF Health News Original
While covid is generally mild in children, doctors report a growing number of long-haul covid symptoms and MIS-C cases, particularly among Black and Latino children.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Taking a Shot at Gun Control
June 9, 2022
KFF Health News Original
The U.S. House passed a package of bills seeking to keep some guns out of the hands of children and teenagers, but its fate in the Senate remains a big question mark. Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission takes on drug and hospital prices. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Cori Uccello of the American Academy of Actuaries about the most recent report from Medicare’s trustees board.
As States Impose Abortion Bans, Young Doctors Struggle — And Travel Far — To Learn the Procedure
By Sarah Varney
March 23, 2022
KFF Health News Original
The number of medical schools and residency programs where aspiring physicians can learn to perform abortion procedures continues to shrink, a byproduct of the anti-abortion legislation being enacted in multiple states.
Which Companies Aren’t Exiting Russia? Big Pharma
By Sarah Varney
March 10, 2022
KFF Health News Original
U.S. and global drug manufacturers invested in Russia’s sizable pharmaceutical industry contend international humanitarian law requires they continue manufacturing and selling their products there, even while condemning the Ukraine invasion. Not everyone agrees.