Healthcare & Policy News
Reporting on health care policy, insurance coverage, and federal health programs. Includes news updates and conservative commentary from The Daily Signal.
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news
4 Takeaways From Senate Panel’s Hearing on Gain-of-Function Research, COVID-19
Congress held its first hearing Wednesday investigating whether gain-of-function research financed by U.S. taxpayers could have led to the spread of COVID-19. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., chaired the hearing held by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee on emerging threats and spending oversight. “Gain-of-function research has the potential to unleash a global pandemic… -
news
Biden Executive Order on Abortion Travel Funding Appears to Violate Hyde Amendment
President Joe Biden signed an executive order Wednesday to authorize taxpayer-financed transportation for women seeking an abortion. Biden’s order directs the Department of Health and Human Services to consider using Medicaid dollars to pay expenses for pregnant women who live in states with pro-life laws when they travel to other states for an abortion. However,… -
news
Counterfeit, Black Market Abortion Pills Flood Internet With Help of Corporate Media
Vendors have flooded the internet with illegal, unregulated chemical abortion pills, according to Politico, after corporate media outlets openly promoted do-it-yourself chemical abortions. Unregulated online vendors pose a threat to the health of women by illegally selling abortion pills which may be expired or counterfeit, according to a report in Politico. Several media outlets promoted the use… -
news
Poll Finds Americans Want Biden to Condemn Pro-Abortion Violence, Harassment of Justices
Most Americans want President Joe Biden and their other elected officials to condemn intimidation of Supreme Court justices and related violence and vandalism in the wake of their overturning of Roe v. Wade, a new poll finds. The poll, released Wednesday by the Judicial Crisis Network, a conservative advocacy group, found that 61% of… -
opinion
It’s Time to Set Record Straight on Ectopic Pregnancies and Abortion
The abortion lobby wants women to think that abortion is the best—or even only—option when it comes to lifesaving maternal care. To achieve that, the pro-abortion left continues to spread harmful lies and misleading talking points in public hearings and press releases. Under the guise of a fair and open debate, House Democrats held yet… -
opinion
FDA Slaps Warning on Puberty Blockers
Puberty blockers earned a warning label from the Food and Drug Administration earlier this month after six minors (ages 5-12) experienced severe symptoms. The puberty blockers in question are known scientifically as “gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) substances.” The minors, who were all biologically female, suffered from symptoms of “pseudotumor cerebri” (tumor-like masses in the brain), including visual disturbances… -
opinion
FDA Considers Over-the-Counter Birth Control. Here’s Why It Matters.
For the first time in history, women may soon be allowed to purchase birth control over-the-counter. The Food and Drug Administration first approved the pill in the 1960s, and since then, women have always needed a prescription for birth control pills. But that might be changing. The FDA is considering approving over-the-counter birth control. The… -
opinion
Will Lower Courts Duly Follow the Supreme Court’s Lead in Abortion Cases?
The general has sounded the retreat. Will the soldiers follow? That is the question raised by Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, where the Supreme Court declared that the federal courts should retreat from their invasion of the democratic provinces of legislatures on the issue of abortion. But will the lower courts obey? One appellate… -
news
New HHS Rule Would Force Insurers to Pay for Children’s Sex Changes
The Department of Health and Human Services announced a new rule Monday that would force insurance providers to pay for breast removal and other transgender surgeries, including for minors. The proposed rule change by the federal agency concerns Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, a section of the law… -
news
YouTube to Remove Content Promoting ‘Unsafe Abortion Methods’
YouTube announced Thursday it would begin removing content containing abortion misinformation and “unsafe abortion methods.” The move came nearly a month after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision on June 24. “Starting today and ramping up over the next few weeks, we will remove content that provides instructions for unsafe… -
opinion
Whither Future of Abortion Law
Hadley Arkes, a longtime commentator on abortion, natural law, and constitutional jurisprudence, joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss the arguments that should be made to defend unborn human life in America. Arkes notes that the term “value judgment … is a term that we began to use with Nietzsche. When people lost their confidence… -
opinion
Biden Gets COVID-19, Exposing Huge Double Standard
President Joe Biden has tested positive for COVID-19. We should all hope the president has an easy time. We should not ask for media nastiness and/or glee. But this presents an obvious occasion to remember just how the “objective” press made a frenetic, mean-spirited, and hyperbolic mess out of former President Donald Trump’s bout with… -
opinion
Biden’s Attempts at Abortion Workarounds Fueled by Midterm Dreams, Constitutional Nightmares
In the wake of Roe v. Wade’s demise, after originalism prevailed and the Supreme Court recognized in last month’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case that indeed the Constitution, American history, and tradition do not support a right to abortion, Washington’s party in power has advanced a flurry of pro-abortion initiatives. But in the… -
opinion
Pro-Abortion Extremist Democrats Push to Extend ‘Sanctuaries’ Nationwide
Pro-abortion activists are angry. They want Democrats in Washington to produce a cohesive plan to limit or overrule the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision that undid Roe v. Wade. Democrats, in turn, are scrambling to do anything they can to extend abortion on demand, which, for nearly 50 years, they could take for granted. Last… -
opinion
Dick Durbin Flip-Flops on Abortion
Dick Durbin was the man in charge. It was Jan. 17, 1982, when the Springfield Right to Life Committee held its annual gathering at the Illinois Capitol to protest the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade. As the master of ceremonies that day, Durbin presided over an event that opened with a prayer… -
opinion
The National Pro-Abortion Echo Chamber
When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, there was a shocking (if temporary) turn in the news coverage. The anti-abortion victory was so historic that journalists actually interviewed anti-abortion activists to get their reaction to this glorious news. It was different when some scabrous leaker gave Politico a copy of Justice Samuel Alito’s draft… -
news
Most Americans Support Transparency About Post-Abortion Complications, Poll Finds
A new poll revealed that most Americans agree on certain abortion policies. The abortion-related nationwide poll was commissioned from June 3-6 by The American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, an almost 50-year-old association with at least 7,000 members. The poll surveyed 1,600 registered voters. Here are three main takeaways from the poll results: Transparency… -
opinion
Don’t Count on Abortion Clinics to Help 10-Year-Old Sexual Abuse Victims
In recent remarks on abortion, President Joe Biden sought to pull on Americans’ heartstrings by telling the horrifying story of a pregnant 10-year-old. “Just last week, it was reported that a 10-year-old girl was a rape victim in Ohio—10 years old—and she was forced to have to travel out of the state, to Indiana, to… -
news
Cruz Demands Garland Explain Why He Hasn’t Stopped Illegal Protests Over Abortion Outside Justices’ Homes
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has demanded that Attorney General Merrick Garland attend a hearing Tuesday on abortion to explain why he refuses to enforce laws protecting Supreme Court justices from intimidation and to outline plans for protecting the justices in the future. Cruz sent a letter Thursday about Garland to Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chairman of the… -
news
Biden Considers Declaring Public Health Emergency to Help Secure Abortion Access
President Joe Biden is considering declaring a public health emergency to enshrine abortion rights, he told reporters Sunday. Biden has asked members of his administration to look into whether he has the authority to make such a declaration and what impact it may have, he said during a brief interview while pausing from a Sunday bike ride….