When Does Life Begin? As State Laws Define It, Science, Politics, and Religion Clash
By Sarah Varney
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?
Journalists Discuss How Legislation Affects Mental Health Care and Abortion Training
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.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Judge Takes Aim at the Affordable Care Act’s Preventive Care Benefits
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.
Misinformation Clouds America’s Most Popular Emergency Contraception
By Sarah Varney
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.
Emergency Contraception Marks a New Battle Line in Texas
By Sarah Varney
In the shadow of Texas’ austere abortion regulations, grassroots organizers employ stealth tactics to help young women get emergency contraception.
As States Impose Abortion Bans, Young Doctors Struggle — And Travel Far — To Learn the Procedure
By Sarah Varney
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
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.
HIV Preventive Care Is Supposed to Be Free in the US. So, Why Are Some Patients Still Paying?
By Sarah Varney
The Department of Labor issued rules in July clarifying that health plans need to cover the costs of prescription drugs proven to prevent HIV infection, along with related lab tests and medical appointments, at no cost to patients. More than half a year later, the erroneous billing continues.
Watch: One City’s Effort to Raise Vaccination Rates Among Black Residents
By Sarah Varney and Jason Kane, PBS NewsHour
In Hartford, Connecticut, public health leaders engage barbers and faith leaders to combat vaccine skepticism in the Black community.
In Super-Vaxxed Vermont, Covid Strikes — But Packs Far Less Punch
By Sarah Varney
With its highest-in-the-nation vaccination rates, Vermont offers a glimpse of what’s possible as the U.S. learns to live with coronavirus.
