Los Angeles Times: An Uncertain Future For Abortion A Year After Roe's Overturn
A year after the Supreme Court struck down Roe vs. Wade — upending half a century of precedent on the constitutional right to an abortion — more than a quarter of U.S. women of reproductive age live in a state where the procedure is banned, severely limited or unavailable. Since the high court’s Dobbs vs. Jackson ruling that left abortion decisions up to the states, conservative lawmakers have introduced nearly 400 bills to restrict access — even as as polling has found that 61% of Americans think abortion should be legal in all or most cases. (Jarvie, 6/22)

USA Today: 'Incalculable' Impact: Three Ways The Supreme Court Abortion Decision Changed The USA
When the Supreme Court handed down its watershed abortion decision last year to overturn Roe v. Wade, the five conservative justices in the majority were not blind to the upheaval the ruling might spark across the nation. But back then, no one knew exactly what the response might look like. “We do not pretend to know how our political system or society will respond to today’s decision,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the majority. “And even if we could foresee what will happen, we would have no authority to let that knowledge influence our decision.” (Fritze, 6/22)

The 19th: Even In States Where It Is Legal, Abortion Isn’t As Accessible As It Seems
The landscape of legal abortion has shifted sharply in the first year since Roe v. Wade was overturned, with some states banning the procedure almost entirely and others passing new, stricter limits. Now, 13 states have near-total abortion bans in place; additionally, in Wisconsin, the procedure is also unavailable due to uncertainty about whether a law passed in 1849 still applies. (Luthra and Mithani, 6/22)

Politico: 10 Things We’ve Learned About Abortion In The Year Since Roe Fell
Several developments defied predictions: Conservative lawmakers at the state and federal levels have struggled to agree on the parameters of abortion bans, while progressive groups have clashed over how far to go in expanding access. Doctors in states with bans have reported hesitancy around providing even legal care because of vague new policies and the fear of prosecution. Voters in Kansas, Kentucky and Montana rejected attempts to curtail access, and Democrats held the Senate in part because of their promise to protect abortion rights. With the legal and political landscape still roiling, here are 10 surprises from the past year. (Ollstein and Messerly, 6/22)

Variety: Paramount, NBCUniversal Lead Studios In Abortion Safety Protocols: Report 
With the one-year anniversary of Dobbs v. Jackson approaching on June 24, the Showrunners for Abortion Rights — the coalition of showrunners, TV creators and directors that formed in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn of Roe v. Wade — has reemerged with a report card that gives an update on their work with the studios. The chart reveals how the 10 major Hollywood studios have responded to the group’s demands for abortion safety protocols for productions in states where abortion has been banned and criminalized. A second slide evaluates the effectiveness of the reproductive health and safety hotlines that was one of the group’s suggestions. (Aurthur, 6/22)

Axios: Exclusive: House Conservatives Challenge Their Leaders On Abortion
The Republican Study Committee is pushing House GOP leadership for a vote on the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act (H.R. 7), Axios has learned. Moderates and some members of GOP leadership are worried the bill could hurt members in swing districts. Frontliners have said they feel bringing H.R. 7 to the floor could hurt their ability to keep their seats, with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) recently telling ABC News she believes the party will "lose huge" if they don't find a "middle ground" on abortion. (Brufke, 6/23)

AP: Evangelical Leader Hopes Conference Is 'Testosterone Booster Shot' For Anti-Abortion 2024 Candidates
A year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, some of the Republican Party’s most powerful evangelical Christian voices are gathering to celebrate a ruling that sent shockwaves through American politics and stripped away a constitutional protection that stood for almost a half century. At the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s annual conference in Washington, GOP presidential candidates will be urged to keep pushing for stronger abortion restrictions, even as Democrats insist the issue will buoy them ahead of the 2024 election. Former President Donald Trump, whose three nominees to the high court allowed for the reversal of nationwide abortion rights, will give the keynote address Saturday night, the anniversary of the court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. (Weissert and Price, 6/23)

AP: Where Abortion Laws Stand In Every State A Year After The Supreme Court Overturned Roe 
A state-by-state breakdown of where things stand. (6/23)

The Guardian: Increase In Americans Planning To Vote For Candidate Who Shares Abortion View 
More than a quarter of registered US voters say they will only vote for candidates who share their beliefs on abortion, according to a poll released on Wednesday, a total (28%) one point higher than last year. The survey, from Gallup, was released before the first anniversary of Dobbs v Jackson, by which conservatives on the supreme court removed the right to abortion that had been safeguarded since Roe v Wade in 1973. A majority of Americans think abortion should be legal at least in some form. Since Dobbs, abortion rights has been seen as a vital motivating factor in a succession of Democratic successes. (Salam, 6/21)

The Hill: Major Reproductive Rights Groups To Back Biden For Reelection 
Three major reproductive rights groups are expected to back President Biden’s reelection bid during a Friday rally to mark one year since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Planned Parenthood Action Fund, NARAL Pro-Choice America and EMILY’s List are each slated to endorse Biden and Vice President Harris during the Friday event in Washington, D.C., which Biden and Harris are both scheduled to attend. While it is not a surprise for abortion-rights groups to support Biden and Harris, the early endorsements underscore how the issue is likely to be central to the president’s campaign heading into 2024. (Samuels, 6/22)

FiveThirtyEight: Dobbs Turned Abortion Into A Huge Liability For Republicans 
When the Supreme Court overturned the federal right to abortion, between 50 and 60 percent of Americans wanted the right to stay in place. But while abortion was legal throughout the country up to a certain point in pregnancy, Americans had the luxury of not having strong or cohesive views on the topic, or thinking much about abortion at all. Their views were messy and sometimes contradictory, and there was little evidence suggesting that the issue was a political priority for anyone except Christian conservatives. In the fall of 2021, with the Dobbs case looming on the horizon, many Americans thought that Roe wasn’t in real danger. Now, a FiveThirtyEight analysis finds that after one of the most disruptive Supreme Court decisions in generations, many Americans — including women, young people, and Democrats — are reporting more liberal views on abortion than major pollsters have seen in years. Even conservatives, although the changes are slight, are increasingly supportive of abortion rights. (Thomson-DeVeaux, 6/22)

The Guardian: These 1,572 US Politicians Have Helped Ban Abortion Since Roe Fell. They’re Mostly Men
The Guardian has created a visual directory of state legislators who embraced the opportunity to restrict abortion access. These are the faces of lawmakers and governors whose votes helped pass bans on abortion at conception or after six weeks, before most women know they are pregnant. (Sasani and Witherspoon, 6/22)

Fresno Bee: US News Ranks Sacramento, Madera Children's Hospitals In Top 10 For California, Pacific Coast
US News and World Report recognized two Central Valley health care teams – Sacramento’s UC Davis Children’s Hospital and Madera’s Valley Children’s Healthcare and Hospital – in its 2023-24 rankings of the nation’s best pediatric hospitals. (Anderon, 6/22)

San Francisco Chronicle: Study Suggests Emergency Room Demand Is Outpacing Hospital Capacity
If you’ve wondered why wait times for emergency rooms in California seem longer than they used to be, it could be more than a hunch. A new UCSF study has found that the number of emergency departments in California fell between 2011 and 2021 while the number of ER visits grew, suggesting that hospitals’ capacity to provide emergency care cannot keep up with demand. (Ho, 6/22)

The Mercury News: Stanford Health Care Ultrasound Technician Arrested On Suspicion Of Sexually Assaulting Patients, Palo Alto Police Say
A Stanford Health Care ultrasound technician arrested Wednesday stands accused of fondling two patients, according to Palo Alto police. Mitchell Van Vu, 56, was arrested at his Bay Point home on suspicion of six counts of sexual battery after two male victims alleged he touched their genitals during ultrasound procedures, police said. (Turner, 6/22)

Stat: Medicare Drops New Coverage Details For Alzheimer’s Drug Leqembi
The health care system is on the precipice of broad access to a treatment for Alzheimer’s for the first time — and it’s scrambling to figure out how to handle it. Right now, most people with mild cognitive impairment who would qualify for Eisai and Biogen’s drug Leqembi are in the Medicare program, which has restricted which patients can receive the medication to those who are enrolled in clinical trials. But the floodgates could open if the Food and Drug Administration grants the drug full, traditional approval in the coming weeks. (Cohrs, 6/22)

Stat: U.S. Seeks A New Trial Over Royalties On Gilead HIV Prevention Pills
The U.S. government asked a federal judge to overturn a recent case in which a jury decided that Gilead Sciences did not infringe on patents held by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for a pair of groundbreaking HIV pills. (Silverman, 6/22)

San Francisco Chronicle: Long COVID: 9 Mental Health Red Flags Highlighted In A New Advisory
Long COVID can affect the mind as much as it does the body, according to a new warning from federal officials. While many persistent symptoms of the illness caused by the novel coronavirus take a physical toll on patients, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services on Wednesday issued an advisory to assist health care professionals in recognizing the mental health symptoms and conditions most commonly associated with long COVID. (Vaziri, 6/22)

The Hill: Moderna Requests FDA Authorization For Updated COVID Shot 
Moderna announced Thursday it has submitted an application to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for authorization of its updated COVID-19 vaccine for this year’s inoculation campaign, meant to target the current dominant strain in the U.S. This latest version of the coronavirus vaccine, the second update to the original that was first authorized at the end of 2020, will have proteins designed to confer protection against the XBB.1.5 subvariant. Unlike the bivalent vaccine that was made available last year, this shot does not include protection against the ancestral Wuhan strain. (Choi, 6/22)

CIDRAP: FDA Fast-Tracks Experimental Drug For Preventing Flu
Cidara Therapeutics, of San Diego, announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted fast-track designation for CD388, the company's novel drug for preventing influenza A and B in adults at high risk for severe influenza, including those for whom vaccines are either ineffective or not indicated. ... Cidara is developing CD388, a drug-Fc conjugate candidate, in collaboration with Janssen Pharmaceuticals. (Wappes, 6/22)

CIDRAP: New Data: Vaccinated Mpox Patients Have Less Severe Illness 
A study today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report looked at a recent cluster of 40 mpox cases in Chicago and suggests that vaccine protection may wane over time, but vaccinated patients do well recovering at home, and vaccination protects against severe mpox. ... Patients who received only one dose of Jynneos or no vaccines had a higher prevalence of lesions affecting the genital (43% versus 6%) or ocular (29% versus none) mucosa, the authors said. (Soucheray, 6/22)

Los Angeles Times: California Senate Bill Calls For Violence Prevention Plan, Security
So much blood was strewn across the Santa Clara Valley light rail work yard in San Jose that state Sen. Dave Cortese placed booties over his work shoes to inspect the scene. Concerns churned in Cortese’s mind hours after the May 26, 2021, mass shooting — the Bay Area’s most violent in a generation: Could this have been prevented? What were the protocols for dealing with this type of emergency and how could workers have been better protected? ... Cortese says he’s still working to protect employees against workplace violence with his latest legislation, SB 553. Critics, however, say the bill goes too far. (Campa, 6/22)

Los Angeles Times: More Youths Overdose In L.A. Juvenile Halls
Less than two months after a teenager fatally overdosed inside one of Los Angeles County’s troubled juvenile halls, four youths were hospitalized after ingesting substances in the span of a few days — a grim sign that the Probation Department’s pledged contraband crackdown has gaping holes. (Ellis, 6/22)

The Washington Post: Biden Administration Extends Campaign Targeting Fentanyl Trafficking 
Department of Homeland Security officials said Thursday they will expand a campaign targeting fentanyl by sending more teams of agents and investigators to interdict drug shipments and break up smuggling networks. Record amounts of the deadly opioid have been seized along the U.S. southern border this year, and President Biden is facing scathing criticism from Republican lawmakers and candidates who say the administration isn’t doing enough to stop the drugs. (Miroff, 6/22)

AP: Animal Sedative Adds New Suffering To Opioid Drug Crisis, But Is It Driving Up Deaths? 
A powerful animal sedative in the illicit drug supply is complicating the U.S. response to the opioid crisis, scrambling longstanding methods for reversing overdoses and treating addiction. Xylazine can cause severe skin wounds, but whether it is leading to more deaths — as suggested by officials in Washington — is not yet clear, according to health and law enforcement professionals on the front lines of efforts in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. In fact, early data suggests the drug may inadvertently be diluting the effects of fentanyl, the synthetic opioid behind most overdose deaths. (Perrone, 6/23)

Fox News: Addiction Complicates Pain Management, But New Guidelines Offer Help For 'Complex Patients' 
Opioids are often prescribed for pain management after surgery — but for the 19 million people in the U.S. with a history of substance abuse, that option may not be safe or desired. Until now, there hasn’t been a cohesive set of guidelines for managing surgical pain in patients with a history of addiction and/or opioid tolerance. (Rudy, 6/22)

Sacramento Bee: Protesters At Capitol Urge California To Ban Child Marriage
Protesters wore wedding gowns, duct-taped their mouths and chained their wrists on the steps of the California state Capitol on Thursday morning to call on lawmakers to set the minimum age of marriage in California to 18. “Mouths taped, trapped and silenced. This is what life looks like for individuals right here in California who are forced to marry,” said Fraidy Reiss, founder and executive director of Unchained at Last, a nonprofit advocacy group working to end forced and child marriage in the United States. (Scullion, 6/22)

San Francisco Chronicle: Patrick Arbore, S.F. Man Who Created A Hotline For The Lonely And Isolated, Dead At 75
When Patrick Arbore first volunteered to work at the San Francisco Suicide Prevention hotline in 1973, he noticed that many of the callers were not suicidal. They were just older people who were lonely, isolated and in need of somebody to talk to. Arbore was that person, and though just 26 years old he took the hotline model and started his own call-in center he named the Friendship Line. That was 50 years ago, and the phone is still ringing, with volunteers trained in Arbore’s technique of offering an ear for as long as it takes, while also offering callers medication reminders, well-being checks and even in-person visits. (Whiting, 6/22)

The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: Cooking With A Gas Stove May Be As Bad As Breathing Secondhand Cigarette Smoke, Study Finds
Researchers from Stanford University and nonprofit PSE Healthy Energy tested gas and propane stoves in 87 homes across California and Colorado and found that every appliance produced a detectable amount of cancer-causing benzene — a chemical with no safe level of exposure. (Briscoe, 6/22)

The Washington Post: Hispanics, Asians Drove Post-Pandemic U.S. Population Growth, Data Shows 
The U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday released Vintage 2022 Population Estimates, which include updated population estimates by age, race and Hispanic origin. An analysis by William Frey, a senior demographer at the Brookings Institution, showed the White population declining by 668,418 people, compared with a record decline of 809,784 people the previous year. The Hispanic population grew by 1.04 million, compared with 786,622 the year before. Asians and Pacific Islanders increased by 475,679, compared with 240,191 the previous year, and Black people increased by 211,193 compared with 121,787 the year before. (Bahrampour, 6/22)

The Washington Post: Medical Care At U.S. Border Facilities Is Unsafe For Migrants, DHS Memo Says 
A Department of Homeland Security medical team investigating the recent death of an 8-year-old girl in South Texas told U.S. border officials that their system of care for migrants is unsafe and needs a major overhaul, according to an internal memo obtained by The Washington Post. The June 8 memo from DHS acting chief medical officer Herbert O. Wolfe said the Border Patrol station where Anadith Reyes Álvarez and her family were held “lacked sufficient medical engagement and accountability to ensure safe, effective, humane and well-documented medical care.” (Miroff, 6/22)

Bloomberg: Over 1.3 Billion Globally Will Have Diabetes By 2050, Study Finds
Global aging and rising body weight will more than double the number of people with diabetes by 2050, researchers predicted, putting millions more people at risk of a variety of dangerous disorders. (Griffin, 6/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Sweet And Fruity E-Cigarettes Thrive Despite Teen-Vaping Crackdown 
Sweet and fruity e-cigarette flavors that are popular with teenagers have proliferated in the U.S. market in the three years since a federal crackdown on those flavors, according to a federal government analysis of e-cigarette sales data released Thursday. The reason: While the big brands like Juul and Vuse were reined in, a flurry of upstarts selling disposable e-cigarettes have succeeded in sidestepping enforcement.  (Maloney, 6/22)

The Guardian: Celebrities Are Smoking Again: ‘Things Are Grungier, Edgier, Sleazier’
Not long ago, stars showed off their green juice and yoga mats. Now they’re showing off an old-fashioned vice. (Demopoulos, 6/20)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Wants To Force Drug Users Into Treatment That Doesn’t Exist
A new bill, SB43, authored by state Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman, D-Stockton, seeks to expand the power of California’s conservatorship law, the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act of 1967. It would do so in part by amending California’s definition of a “gravely disabled” person eligible for conservatorship to include those with substance use disorder. (6/17)

East Bay Times: Cannabis Industry Is Poisoning Our Kids Just Like Tobacco Has
When California voters in 2016 supported the legalization and decriminalization of cannabis, we did not anticipate children would become collateral damage from an improperly regulated industry that prioritizes profit over children’s health. (Dr. Natalie Laub, 6/17)

CalMatters: Study Reveals Root Causes Of California Homelessness
A massive UC San Francisco study of California’s worst-in-the-nation homelessness crisis was released Tuesday as Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders were negotiating details of a new state budget, with homelessness spending as one of the knottiest issues. (Dan Walters, 6/21)

Los Angeles Daily News: Los Angeles Fire Department Employees Are Overworked. Is The Homeless Crisis Responsible?
The city of Los Angeles has a fire problem. Fire department employees are overworked. While they might appreciate the overtime pay, it’s a dangerous situation. (Susan Shelley, 6/21)

Los Angeles Times: Why You Should Worry About The Toxic Pollution Coming Out Of Your Gas Stove
As a pediatrician, a big part of my work is to advise families on nutrition and healthy eating. These days, I find myself talking with parents and patients more often about how they prepare their food — as in what appliances they are using to cook. A number of studies in recent years have examined the dangers of having a gas stove in the home. They have addressed questions such as how common gas leaks from stoves really are (very common); what’s in natural gas besides methane (21 hazardous air pollutants); do these pollutants leak into our homes (they do); and do gas stoves really cause asthma (yes, about 12.7% of childhood asthma is attributed to them). (Lisa Patel, 6/21)

San Francisco Chronicle: America Is Failing Its Moms. Fathers Can Help Change That
As the recent death of U.S. track and field star Torie Bowie from childbirth complications devastatingly highlights, American moms are dying — and it only seems to be getting worse. (Maneesh Jain, 6/18)