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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- Opinion
Renewed US Leadership Blocks Abortion Agenda at the UN
For the third time in the past four years, the United Nations Commission on Population and Development has ended in failure—good news for defenders of national sovereignty in the face of hegemonic U.N. pressures. Negotiations concluded last Friday without producing an outcome document, which is the whole purpose of the two-week process. The outcome document would set forth political recommendations for governments to…Elyssa Koren -
- News
Daily Signal Exclusive: HHS Secretary Alex Azar on 3 Steps to Combating the Opioid Crisis
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar spoke to The Daily Signal’s Rob Bluey about the Trump administration’s response to the opioid crisis. Azar spoke Thursday at Generation Next, a White House forum for millennials. An edited transcript of his Daily Signal interview is below. Rob Bluey: You were with President Trump earlier this week in…Robert B. Bluey -
- Opinion
7 Key Exchanges as Supreme Court Hears Case of Pregnancy Centers Forced to Promote Abortion
How far can a state go to promote its views on abortion? Can it force crisis pregnancy centers that support women who face a difficult or unplanned pregnancy to advertise the state’s free abortion program? Can it mandate resource centers that provide counseling, education, and baby supplies to include in their ads a lengthy disclaimer…Elizabeth Slattery -
- News
CDC Warns the Opioid Crisis Is ‘Accelerating’ as Deaths Surge 30% Nationally
Opioid overdoses experienced another dramatic spike over the past year across every region of the country, according to a report from federal health officials. Data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Tuesday show emergency room hospitalizations for opioid overdoses increased by 30 percent between the third quarters of 2016 and 2017 as opioid addiction…Steve Birr -
- News
Young Woman Says Her Immigration Lawyers Pressured Her to Get an Abortion
An illegal immigrant held under federal protection has indicated that lawyers representing her have pressured her to abort the child she is carrying. The illegal immigrant charged that her guardians and legal attorneys, Rochelle Garza and Myles Garza, gave her documents Feb. 6 with information about seeking an abortion, according to recently court papers. The unnamed…Grace Carr -
- News
We Asked Women’s March Attendees If They Support Any Limits on Abortion. Here’s What They Said.
At the second Women’s March held in the nation’s capital on Saturday, The Daily Signal asked attendees about their views on abortion. Do they support any restrictions? Are they in favor of laws that allow for abortion solely based on an unborn baby’s diagnosis of Down syndrome? Watch the video to hear their responses, and…Kelsey Bolar -
- News
In March for Life Address, Trump Prods Senate to Pass Late-Term Abortion Ban
President Donald Trump called on the Senate to vote on banning late-term abortions when delivering livestreamed remarks to the 45th March for Life in Washington. “I strongly supported the House of Representatives’ pain-capable bill, which would end painful late-term abortions nationwide, and I call upon the Senate to pass this important law and send it…Fred Lucas -
- News
More Than 3 in 4 Americans Support Limits on Abortion, Poll Finds
About 76 percent of Americans support stricter laws on abortion, according to a new Marist Poll, a finding that is part of a consistent trend in data the company has collected in the past decade. While 51 percent of respondents identified as pro-choice, 60 percent of them said they support limitations on abortions, such as…Kyle Perisic -
- News
Why This Survivor of Saline Abortion Wants Congress to Pass ‘Born Alive’ Bill
As House lawmakers plan to vote on a bill to protect survivors of abortion the same week as the March for Life, one abortion survivor says she hopes Congress passes the measure to save babies who are left to die. “I survived my birth mother’s saline infusion abortion 40 years ago at St. Luke’s Hospital…Rachel del Guidice -
- Opinion
Podcast: What Planned Parenthood’s New Report Shows About Abortion Giant
A new report from Planned Parenthood shows profits are up, and the number of abortions far outpace the number of prenatal services given. We discuss with The Heritage Foundation’s Melanie Israel, an expert in the pro-life area. Plus: France threatens to crack down on “fake news.”Katrina Trinko -
- Opinion
Media Smears Official Who Tried to Protect Immigrant Minor, Prevent Abortion
The radical pro-abortion lobby and its allies in the media are out to vilify and destroy Scott Lloyd. The New York Times calls him an “anti-abortion crusader.” A Washington Post columnist calls him an “anti-abortion zealot.” Meanwhile, in its news section, the Post underscores that Lloyd, who serves in the Trump administration as director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, has six children. The National Abortion Rights Action League calls him…Billy Valentine -
- News
McConnell Says 20-Week Abortion Ban Has Full Backing of the Senate
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that the 20-week abortion ban has the Senate’s full support following Monday’s presser on tax reform. “It’s supported by virtually all of my members and we expect to have a vote on it at some point,” said McConnell, R-Ky. The bill, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, states that…Grace Carr -
- Opinion
To Prevent Painful Suffering for Children, Late-Term Abortion Should Be Banned
Five-year-old Micah Pickering made an appearance on Capitol Hill on Sept. 26 to put a face to the proposed Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. The youngster came dressed for the occasion in a suit, vest, and tie. He held hands with his parents, Danielle and Clayton Pickering, from Iowa City, Iowa, as House Majority…Monica Burke -
- News
Tom Price Resigns as HHS Secretary
President Donald Trump accepted the resignation of Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price on Friday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced late Friday afternoon. Price had been under fire for his use of private charter flights. “Secretary of Health and Human Services Thomas Price offered his resignation earlier today and the…Fred Lucas -
- Opinion
California’s Assault on Abortion Pill Reversal Is an Assault on Women’s Choice
If there was any doubt about California’s status as the nation’s standard-bearer for abortion, a recent letter sent by the state’s Board of Registered Nursing should clear that up in a jiffy. Acting at the behest of abortion activists in the state Legislature and online media, the board—which is overseen by California’s Department of Consumer…Jay Hobbs -
- Opinion
Down Syndrome in Iceland Is ‘Disappearing’ Because of Abortion
The headline is shocking: Down syndrome is virtually disappearing in Iceland. More accurately, people with Down syndrome are being eliminated in Iceland through abortion. As prenatal testing becomes more and more widespread across the world, the number of babies born with Down syndrome and other conditions has decreased because when parents opt for screening that…Melanie Israel -
- News
Sanders Casts Lone Vote Against FDA Bill
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., cast the only vote against a Food and Drug Administration user fee reauthorization bill that passed the Senate Thursday in an overwhelming majority of 94 to 1. Sanders voted against the bill, which facilitates the collection of fees from drug and medical device companies, because it “does nothing to lower drug…Jack Crowe -
- Opinion
Why Is HHS Contraception Order Still Standing?
After meeting with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on May 4, I sat in the Rose Garden and listened as the president promised the Little Sisters of the Poor that their “long ordeal” with the government’s contraceptive mandate “would soon be over.” Yet here we are, nearly three months later, and the Health and Human…Cardinal Daniel DiNardo -
- Opinion
FDA Gets It Right by Embracing Tobacco Harm Reduction
In an apparent philosophical shift, the Food and Drug Administration is taking a new tack when it comes to tobacco regulation: It is embracing the strategy of tobacco harm reduction. New and innovative products, such as e-cigarettes, can deliver nicotine at far lower risk than combustible cigarettes. But these products had been threatened by FDA…Daren Bakst -
- News
In Video, Planned Parenthood Medical Chief Tells How to Get Around Ban on Partial-Birth Abortion
A new undercover video shows a top physician at a Planned Parenthood affiliate discussing how her organization routinely circumvents federal law regulating certain late-term abortions. In the latest hidden-camera video from the Center for Medical Progress, Dr. Suzie Prabhakaran, vice president of medical affairs for Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, talks about using…Christine Roe