Tag: Guttmacher Institute

Harris or Trump? Health in the US election

Volume 404, Issue 10464
2 November 2024 
WORLD REPORT  Aside from abortion, health issues have largely been neglected in the run-up to the Nov 5 election. What have the candidates proposed to improve health? Susan Jaffe reports.

As election day approaches on Nov 5, the US presidential race remains a tense and close competition despite unprecedented events—the Democratic candidate was  replaced in August, and two attempts have been made to assassinate the Republican candidate. And despite the sharp contrast between former President Donald Trump, a Republican, and Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris, neither has so far managed to emerge as the frontrunner as The Lancet went to press. [Here‘s what the candidates say they would do on abortion, Affordable Care Act and other key health issues.]…

US Supreme Court protects access to abortion medication

Volume 403, Issue 10445
22 June 2024 

WORLD REPORT  Justices did not address claims that mifepristone endangered patients and that its approval by the FDA was flawed. Opponents vow to continue the legal fight. Susan Jaffe reports [continued here].

 

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Drug developers caution against US mifepristone ban

Volume 401, Issue 10385
22 April 2023 

 

WORLD REPORT     A lawsuit against the FDA embroils pharmaceutical companies in debates over access to
abortion. Susan Jaffe reports from Washington, DC.

Less than 1 year after the US Supreme Court ended its 1973 constitutional guarantee to an abortion and told state lawmakers that they could decide whether a person ends their pregnancy, abortion is now back before the court. But this fresh legal challenge has dragged the nation’s entire drug approval system along with it, rousing a powerful lobbying group and economic force that has mostly managed to avoid the fray—the pharmaceutical industry. [Continued here.]…

Modest health goals for new US Congress

Volume 400, Issue 10369
17 December 2022 

 

WORLD REPORT  With Congress almost evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, consensus on any major health legislation is unlikely.  Susan Jaffe reports. 

When a new US Congress convenes in January, 2023, the slim Republican majority in the House of Representatives and the Democrats’ even smaller margin in the Senate will not enable either party to make major changes in the health-care system. With President Joe Biden promising to use his veto power to defend his health-care agenda, no significant fixes are expected. But there appears to be bipartisan support for some less ambitious legislation on issues that will overcome congressional gridlock.[Continued here.]…

“Chaos” for patients and providers after US abortion ruling

Volume 400, Issue 10346
9 July 2022 

 

WORLD REPORT  A patchwork of state laws replace abortion rights once guaranteed by Roe v Wade. Susan Jaffe reports from Washington, DC.

The US Supreme Court’s bombshell decision overturning Roe v Wade on June 24, 2022, assures Americans that each state can choose whether and under what conditions its residents have a right to a safe and legal abortion. So far, the result is an incoherent and volatile jumble:16 states have severely restricted or banned the procedure and bans in ten more states are likely to take effect in a matter of weeks. [Continued here.]  

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Health organizations fear effects of US abortion ruling

Volume 399, Issue 10338
14 May 2022 

 

WORLD REPORT Health and human rights groups are concerned that many states would outlaw abortion if the Supreme Court topples Roe v Wade. Susan Jaffe reports. 

Protests and celebrations erupted across the USA following the unprecedented leak of a draft Supreme Court decision that would overturn the court’s 1973 landmark Roe v Wade ruling establishing a woman’s right to a safe and legal abortion. …“States are already working together to create enormous abortion deserts that many people will not be able to cross”, said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights. [Continued here.]

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Califf takes the helm at the US FDA, again

Volume 399, Issue 10330
19 March 2022 

WORLD REPORT   Robert Califf will have to face several controversial health issues in his second tenure as commissioner. Susan Jaffe reports from Washington, DC.  

Califf takes over amid a lull in the COVID-19 pandemic and an array of hotly debated issues 9 months before a congressional election. The
election results could shrink, if not eliminate, the Democratic majority President Joe Biden needs to propel his health agenda, including the relaunched cancer moonshot and the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health that would accelerate the development of medical treatments. [Plus new COVID-19 tests and treatments, opioid misuse, accelerated approval process, abortion pill conflict, continued here.] 
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US Supreme Court expected to weaken abortion rights

Volume 398, Issue 10317
11 December 2021

 

WORLD REPORT   The US Supreme Court, now dominated by conservatives, heard arguments last week on the legality of a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. However, the justices signalled that they are likely to do more than uphold the law. .[Continued here.]

 

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US Supreme Court upholds abortion rights, for now

Volume 396, Number 10244

11 July 2020

 

WORLD REPORT The court’s decision means that Louisiana’s three abortion clinics will remain open. Susan Jaffe reports.

The US Supreme Court delivered the Trump administration’s third defeat in as many weeks when it overturned a Louisiana law requiring physicians who provide abortions to have local hospital-admitting privileges.

In an opinion written by Justice Stephen Breyer, the court declared on June 29 that “enforcing the admitting privileges requirement would drastically reduce the number and geographic distribution of abortion providers, making it impossible for many women to obtain a safe, legal abortion in the State and imposing substantial obstacles on those who could”.  [Continued here.]…

Trump’s second Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh

Volume 392, Number 10144   

 28 July 2018

 

WORLD REPORT   If confirmed, Kavanaugh could tilt the court toward the president’s views on US public health policy. Susan Jaffe, The Lancet‘s Washington correspondent, reports.

Before Republicans chose Donald Trump as their party’s candidate for president in 
2016, some doubted whether the New York real-estate developer seeking political office for the first time was truly conservative. To shore up his conservative credentials, Trump produced a list of judges with help from the conservative Heritage Foundation and Federalist Society that he promised to choose from to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court should an opening occur during his presidency.... 
Health-care issues are expected to dominate the debate over [Judge Brett] Kavanaugh’s nomination in the US Senate, which will decide if he should join the court. Several cases involving the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and reproductive rights are working their way through the legal system. …If Kavanaugh, aged 53 years, is approved, his lifetime position on the court means his vote could be a deciding factor in cases for several decades. [Continued here.]

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