Health Care
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Health Care
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Iowa abortion ban takes effect
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A law that bans abortion before most women know they are pregnant took effect in Iowa on Monday. It will have a ripple effect across the Midwest, as people seeking abortions will need to travel greater distances and wait longer to obtain care.
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The law bans abortions after fetal “cardiac activity” can be detected — electrical activity that’s usually spotted by an ultrasound after about six weeks, which is before many women know they are pregnant.
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Illinois and Minnesota are the closest states to Iowa that allow abortion, though some women may be able to go to Nebraska, which bans abortion after 12 weeks.
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Democratic-led states that protect abortion have seen a surge in traffic since Roe v. Wade fell, but travel is a significant barrier for low-income women, who may wind up carrying their pregnancy to term regardless of complications.
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For example, the Chicago Abortion Fund said it has received more than 60 support requests from Iowans in just the first three weeks of July, a 165 percent increase from previous months, despite abortion still being legal in Iowa.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion rights research group, there were estimated 4,150 abortions in Iowa in 2023. But abortion care was still sparse, and Iowans drove an average of 53 minutes to their nearest clinic even prior to the 6-week ban. Now, people are going to have to go much farther.
Megan Jeyifo, executive director of the Chicago Abortion Fund, said she expects the full impact won’t be known until about 6 to 8 weeks after the law takes effect.
Iowa abortion clinics said they plan to continue operations to the extent they are legally allowed and will also help women travel out of the state. Officials from Planned Parenthood North Central States have estimated the number of procedures performed in the state could drop by at least 97 percent once the law is in effect.
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Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care newsletter, we’re Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.
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How policy will be impacting the health care sector this week and beyond:
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Loss of a loved one early in life may accelerate aging: Study
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The experience of losing a loved one early in life could make a person age faster, according to a new study published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study, from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and the Butler Columbia Aging Center, found those who lose a parent, partner, sibling or child showed signs of older biological age when compared to those who had not yet experienced …
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Strict mask, vaccine rules could have saved as many as 250K lives, says new study
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Stricter COVID-19 restrictions could have saved hundreds of thousands of lives in the states that refused to institute them, though efforts to close nursing homes and schools likely caused more harm than good, a new study has found. Between 118,000 and 248,000 more Americans would have survived the pandemic if all states had followed some restrictions practiced in Northeastern states, according to findings published …
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Hikers are infecting Virginia wildlife with COVID-19, study finds
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Six common wildlife species in Virginia have high rates of the virus that causes COVID-19 — a disease they likely caught from humans. The virus has been found in deer mice, Virginia opossum, raccoons, groundhogs, Eastern cottontails and Eastern red bats, according to findings in Nature. “I think the big take home message is the virus is pretty ubiquitous,” said Amanda Goldberg of the Virginia Tech Department of Biological Sciences. …
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Upcoming news themes and events we’re watching:
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The Senate HELP Committee will mark up the reauthorization of the Older Americans Act on Wednesday
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The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday will mark up legislation to fund the Department of Health and Human Services and other agencies
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Branch out with a different read from The Hill:
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Triathlon cancels Olympic swim training for the second day over poor water quality in the Seine
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PARIS (AP) — Concerns about the water quality in the Seine River led officials to call off the swimming portion of an Olympic triathlon training session for a second straight day Monday. Organizers overseeing the event at the Paris Games are optimistic that triathletes will be able to swim in the city’s famed waterway when the competition …
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Local and state headlines on health care:
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Texas sues Biden administration over confidential contraception for teens (Texas Tribune)
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Arkansas Secretary of State defends rejection of proposed abortion amendment (Arkansas Advocate)
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Minnesota prepares for Iowa’s abortion restrictions to take effect on Monday (Minnesota Public Radio)
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Health news we’ve flagged from other outlets:
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As a possible Harris VP pick, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s abortion record gets fresh scrutiny (NBC News)
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Sarepta demanded Duchenne patient advocacy group censor video critical of the company (Stat)
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Knockoff weight-loss drug dosing may harm patients: FDA (Bloomberg)
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Most read stories on The Hill right now:
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Biden’s former communications director: Trump wasn’t saying ‘there will be no more elections’
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President Biden’s former communications director poured water on some Democrat’s concerns Sunday that former President Trump implied there won’t be … Read more
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Harris vs. Trump: What the early post-Biden polls tell us
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President Biden’s historic announcement that he was dropping out of the 2024 race has shaken up a race that had mostly stayed static until the past … Read more
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Opinion related to health submitted to The Hill:
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How ‘overlapping’ surgery helps patients
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You’re all caught up. See you tomorrow!
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Check out The Hill’s Health Care page for the latest coverage.
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