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Wednesday, February 8, 2023
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 Jonathan Lambert
Public Health Reporter
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Welcome to Grid Health, bringing you stories on the intersections of health and politics, technology, climate change, misinformation and more. In this week’s issue:
👋 I want to hear from you: If you’ve got thoughts about what else we should be covering, or questions about health in the news, send me your questions. 📩
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A legal fight over abortion pills in Texas could spell trouble for access nationwide.
In November, abortion opponents sued the Food and Drug Administration in a federal district court in northern Texas, claiming the agency botched its approval of mifepristone — one of two drugs used in medication abortions — in 2000. Experts dismiss that claim as ridiculous and wholly unfounded, and note that the drug has a strong safety record. But the plaintiffs chose to file their suit in Amarillo, where they knew the case would be decided by an ultraconservative judge appointed by Donald Trump with longstanding ties to the religious right.
As early as this week, the judge may revoke FDA approval, a move that could cut off access nationwide to a medication used in over half of U.S. abortions.
Reproductive rights advocates have urged the Biden administration to take this fringe legal threat seriously and consider legal avenues to protect access if FDA approval gets compromised, including declaring a public health emergency for abortion. That represents something of a nuclear option for the administration, one with profound benefits and risks, as I covered yesterday for Grid. Biden made no mention of such plans in his State of the Union address last night, but Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra has said the move is still under "evaluation.”
With emergency powers, Biden could shield providers of abortion medication, from doctors to pharmacists, from legal liability. Right now, that would allow providers in Texas or Louisiana to dispense the pills, despite their state’s abortion restrictions. A public health emergency could even protect access if FDA approval gets revoked in Texas.
But that strategy could backfire. Such powers historically are used only for infectious disease outbreaks, natural disasters, or chemical, biological or nuclear attacks. Abortion opponents could reasonably challenge the declaration on numerous grounds and file the case in a district with a sympathetic judge. Within weeks, such a judge could end the protections conferred by the public health emergency, but the real trouble could come months to years later, at the Supreme Court.
If that happens, “One fear is that the court interprets the [Prep] Act very narrowly,” Rachel Rebouché, a law professor at Temple University told me. “If the court says the Biden administration does not have power to declare a public health emergency except for these very narrow circumstances defining what an epidemic is and what it is not, that could have broad-reaching effects for the next public health emergency.”
Emergency powers proved crucial during the early days of the covid-19 pandemic, allowing FDA leeway to make vaccines and tests available faster. They’ll likely prove crucial when the country faces its next unknown threat. So far, the administration hasn’t risked those powers to protect access to medication abortion in states with bans. But the calculus might change if suddenly abortion pills become illegal in all 50 states.
🩺 Read my full story here.
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Before President Joe Biden delivered his second State of the Union address last night, Grid’s journalists examined the president’s track record over the last year on abortion, border policy, China, Ukraine and many more topics.
⏩ Read our full 360 special report here, or check out some health-related highlights:
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💠 Just say no: Just over 57 percent American adults support a blanket ban on sales of tobacco products, with even stronger support – 62 percent – for a ban on menthol cigarettes, according to a survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The data from the poll conducted in 2021 is the latest evidence of smoking’s declining social acceptability, Climate Reporter Dave Levitan writes. It offers new support for the Biden administration’s proposals to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars and to reduce nicotine levels in cigarettes.
💠 Solving police brutality – before hiring: In the wake of Tyre Nichols’ death, the Memphis police officers who repeatedly punched and kicked him, sprayed him with pepper spray and tasered him have been charged with murder, kidnapping and assault. How could people who would do something like this become police officers? Research has shown policing may attract applicants with propensities for violence, Investigative Reporter Steve Reilly writes. Experts say most jurisdictions have failed to implement reforms that could help screen them out before they’re hired.
💠 ... And after: State lawmakers in Tennessee have responded to the brutal killing of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols at the hands of police by proposing new training to help police officers de-escalate situations and check implicit biases. Such trainings broadly seek to change how police relate to the public and often use principles from psychological science to alter officer behavior, I report. But scientists have only started studying in earnest within the last decade or so whether these trainings meaningfully reduce excessive force and conflict for police on the job — and so far, the results are lackluster.
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U.S. birth rates have ticked upward again after a drop-off early in the pandemic, although it’s not enough to reverse the long-term decline in the number of babies born each year.
From 2019 to 2020, the rate of births fell from 58.3 to 55.7 births per 1,000 women ages 15-44, according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics. A new working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests that covid-related restrictions on travel to the U.S. helped drive the trend. In 2019, 23 percent of U.S. births were to mothers born outside of the country; that fell by 5.2. percent in 2020 compared to the projected trendline, Data Visualization Reporter Anna Deen writes.
But something changed partway through 2021: Births began to recover. The fertility rate increased to 56.3 births, up by 1 percent from the previous year. The study’s authors suggest that this increase is from the “baby boom” from U.S.-born mothers, boosting overall numbers. Their reasoning? Homeowners saw housing prices skyrocket, workers could log on remotely and access to reproductive care was disrupted, which can mean more unintended pregnancies.
🩺 Read the full story.
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👋 Thanks for reading. Until next week, take care. –Jon
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