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
Democrats Quietly Scrub Abortion Bill Language Saying Men Can Get Pregnant
The latest version of the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would effectively make abortion a statutory right, scrubbed references to transgender and nonbinary people’s pregnancies as well as language related to “reproductive justice.” Earlier versions of the bill used language tying race and transgenderism to the issue of abortion in its nonbinding “Findings” section. Sen. Richard Blumenthal,… -
opinion
Woman Who Survived 2 Abortion Attempts Shares Her Message to Pro-Choice Activists
Denisha Workizer was in her 40s when she learned her mother had tried to abort her not once, but twice. With the Supreme Court apparently set to overturn its 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, Workizer says, she wants pro-abortion activists to consider that we “empower women by empowering life.” “It’s not empowering for a… -
news
Adoption Provides Actual ‘Choice’ in Abortion Debate, Advocate Says
If you visited the Supreme Court in the days following the leak Monday night of a draft majority opinion in the abortion case known as Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, you would have seen many signs saying, “My body, my choice.” Choice means options, and it implies empowerment. But that isn’t the message of… -
opinion
I Had an Abortion. Here’s Why I Want Roe Reversed.
The recent leak of a draft opinion from the Supreme Court potentially striking down Roe v. Wade is as shocking as it is gratifying. Shocking because, if adopted by the court, the opinion would reverse a horrendous decision America has been suffering under for nearly 50 years. And gratifying because, even though I myself had… -
opinion
Leftists See Much More Than Abortion at Stake in Dobbs Decision
This week, an anonymous leaker violated generations of Supreme Court norms by passing on to Politico a draft decision by Justice Samuel Alito in Dobbs v. Mississippi, the case considering overturning Roe v. Wade (1973). That draft decision, reportedly supported by a majority of the court, including Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and… -
news
‘They’re Protesting Our Lives’: Abortion Survivor Speaks Out on Roe v. Wade Debate
The debate over whether Roe v. Wade is about to be reversed is personal for abortion survivor Melissa Ohden. After what is said to be a draft of the Supreme Court’s majority opinion in the pending abortion-related case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was leaked Monday night—indicating that the court is poised to… -
news
Democrats Seize on Roe v. Wade Reports to Call for Court-Packing, Federal Abortion Laws
Top Democrat lawmakers called for Congress to enact pro-abortion legislation as well as pack the Supreme Court after a Monday evening leak reportedly revealed that the court will likely overturn Roe v. Wade. Following a report from Politico that a majority of justices had reportedly voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, Democrats called for court-packing and for the codification… -
news
Amazon to Foot the Bill for Employees’ Abortion Tourism
Amazon will fund up to $4,000 in annual travel expenses for employees seeking abortions, according to a company spokesman, joining several other large corporations with similar policies. The company announced in an internal message that it will cover travel expenses for abortions when an employee cannot obtain one within 100 miles of their home and… -
news
Critics Challenge HHS Chief Becerra’s Claim Agency Has No ‘Anti-Racism’ Rule
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, testifying Wednesday before a House Energy and Commerce Committee panel, claimed his agency doesn’t have any policies explicitly “anti-racist” in nature, but the health policy group Do No Harm contends Becerra is either lying or uninformed. Do No Harm, launched April 19, bills itself as a nonprofit dedicated to protecting patients and physicians… -
opinion
How Safe Haven Laws Help Make Abortion Unnecessary
A “distressful life and future” threatens women unless they have the ability to avoid the burden of unwanted parenthood via abortion. So reasoned Justice Harry Blackmun in his 1973 Roe v. Wade majority opinion, which deemed elective abortion a newfound constitutional right. Yet, decades after the Supreme Court’s grim assessment of the options available for… -
opinion
What Will It Take for Prosecutors and Politicians to Treat Abortion Crimes Seriously?
Photographs of the dead bodies of five very large and significantly developed fetuses—which had been found in a “medical waste” container outside a Washington, D.C., abortion center in late March—seem to indicate that some of the children may have died in illegal “live-birth” or “partial-birth” abortions. The discovery prompted pro-life groups and legislators to call… -
news
Cracks Form in Xi’s Armor Amid China’s COVID-19 Lockdown of Shanghai
Shanghai’s ongoing COVID-19 lockdown poses an existential threat to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s continued tenure, a leading expert on China says. “Because [Xi] is considered to be the author of the zero-COVID policy, he can’t deviate from it, even though it’s not working out,” Gordon G. Chang, author of “The Coming Collapse of China,” told… -
opinion
Mainstream Media Cheer When a ‘Fetus’ Dies in Abortion Darkness
Abortions are violent acts ending in death. The badly named “mainstream media” loves them. The Washington Post, which claims to hate things “dying in darkness,” boasted April 10 of a new pro-abortion law passed in Maryland over the veto of Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican. Reporters Erin Cox and Ovetta Wiggins gushed, “The new law… -
news
HHS Secretary Dodges Lawmaker’s Questions on Requiring Toddlers to Wear Masks
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra evaded Rep. Elise Stefanik’s questions on why the agency still requires toddlers to wear masks in its Head Start program during a Wednesday hearing. “Mr. Secretary, I wanted to raise what I’m hearing from thousands of constituents who are very concerned about the mandate requiring masks for young… -
news
States Move to Limit Abortion Ahead of High Court Ruling in Pivotal Dobbs Case
A recent Wall Street Journal poll found that more American voters support a ban on abortion after 15 weeks than oppose it. “With lawmakers in several states pushing forward with bills that would ban abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, 48% of voters said they would strongly or somewhat favor such restrictions, with exemptions to… -
news
3 States Sue Biden Administration Over Ending COVID-19 Restrictions at Border
Attorneys general for Arizona, Missouri, and Louisiana announced Monday they were suing the Biden administration over the decision to end Title 42, urging that the order be reinstated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday that Title 42, the Trump-era policy that allows border authorities to quickly return migrants and has resulted in over 1.7 million… -
opinion
What Educating Our Kids Looks Like After COVID-19
This Saturday edition of “The Daily Signal Podcast” features a discussion with Andy Smarick, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, on how education is evolving after the COVID-19 pandemic. School lockdowns, masking, and other restrictions have affected how parents across America think about their children’s education. COVID-19 accelerated certain trends that already were afoot, such… -
opinion
Ending CDC Order That Expelled Illegal Border Crossers to Prevent COVID-19 Spread Will Create Massive New Influx
Even as our country tries to return to a post-pandemic “normal,” the Biden administration is about to make it harder—by unleashing a tidal wave of increased risk and exposure from COVID-19 from outside our borders. Over the past two years, we have made enormous sacrifices; experienced loss; and accepted government mandates affecting every aspect of… -
news
Homeland Security 20th Agency to Track Religious Vaccine Objectors
The Department of Homeland Security is at least the 20th federal agency to have created or proposed tracking lists for employees requesting religious accommodations from the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. A rule placed in the Federal Register on Friday allows the DHS “to collect and maintain records on employees and applicants for employment” that are seeking… -
opinion
At UN Commission on Status of Women, Far Left Ties Gender Ideology, Abortion to Climate Change
The United Nations’ annual Commission on the Status of Women concluded last week in New York. Delegates and activists from around the world met to discuss climate change, the environment, and reducing the risk of disaster with “gender equality at the [center] of solutions.” In other words, it was business as usual. Whatever its stated…