Disappearing Options: Tracking the Story on Reproductive Health Care
The news cycle for U.S. reproductive health care has been relentless this year. Louisiana passed a bill to criminalize possession of abortion pills without a prescription. An Alabama Supreme Court ruling that embryos created through IVF are legally children prompted clinics there to halt services, raising legal and political questions that continue to reverberate, despite a subsequent state law intended to protect IVF procedures. In a case recently dismissed by the U.S. Supreme Court, Idaho sought to block access to emergency abortions when a woman's health is at risk, even as SCOTUS declined to restrict abortion-pill access in another case. And birth control, experts warn, could be the next target in a country that has sharply diverged from other industrialized nations on reproductive care rights. Many of these policy changes have outsized impacts on people of color and low-income Americans. Amid this mounting uncertainty, what do journalists need to know to smartly inform their audience? Join our expert panel in this webinar to discuss the latest developments, analyze their impacts on care, and uncover timely stories waiting to be told.
This webinar is free and made possible by The Commonwealth Fund and The California Endowment.
Panelists
Shefali Luthra covers the intersection of gender and health care for The 19th. Her work has appeared in news outlets ranging from The Washington Post to NPR. Before joining The 19th, she was a correspondent for Kaiser Health News, where she covered national health care and policy. Her book “Undue Burden,” published in May, shows the effects of the post-Roe world on pregnant Americans. She has a bachelor’s degree in English from Brown University.
Maya Manian, J.D., is a law professor and faculty director of the Health Law and Policy Program at American University Washington College of Law. A nationally recognized expert on reproductive rights, she investigates the relationship between constitutional, family and health care law, with a focus on access to reproductive health care. She publishes and presents widely on abortion rights. Earlier, she was a professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law and a litigation fellow at the Center for Reproductive Rights in New York. Manian earned her juris doctorate magna cum laude from Harvard Law School and her bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan. She is currently a PhD candidate in medical sociology at the University of California San Francisco.
Eleanor Klibanoff is the women’s health reporter at The Texas Tribune. Her beat coverage has run the gamut from abortion and maternal health care to gender-based violence and LGBTQ issues. Previously a journalist with the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting, she reported, produced and hosted the Peabody-nominated podcast “Dig.” Klibanoff has worked at public radio stations in Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Missouri, as well as at NPR, and her stories have aired on “All Things Considered,” “Morning Edition” and “Here & Now.” She has a bachelor’s degree in political communication from the George Washington University.
Suggested Reading
“Five abortions a month: How Dobbs changed Texas,” by Eleanor Klibanoff, The Texas Tribune
“Two years after Roe’s overturn, there are more abortions in America — but they’re harder to get,” by Shefali Luthra, The 19th
“How a Kamala Harris candidacy could supercharge Democrats’ message on abortion,” by Shefali Luthra, The 19th
“RNC approves platform that would give rights to fetuses, endangering abortion, IVF,” by Shefali Luthra, The 19th
“U.S. Supreme Court takes up Texas case challenging abortion pill access,” by Eleanor Klibanoff, The Texas Tribune
“Conservative attacks on birth control could threaten access,” by Lauren Weber, The Washington Post
“Louisiana Legislature approves bill classifying abortion pills as controlled dangerous substances,” by Sara Cline, The Associated Press
“Republicans try to soften stance on abortion as 'abolitionists' go farther,” by Sarah McCammon, NPR
“After Alabama’s IVF turmoil, patients in other states are making contingency plans,” by Shefali Luthra, The 19th
“How American Women Could Lose the Right to Birth Control,” by Jill Filipovic, Time magazine
“Anti-abortion doctor appointed to Texas maternal death review committee,” by Eleanor Klibanoff, The Texas Tribune
“How a Denton divorce could imperil IVF access in Texas,” by Eleanor Klibanoff, The Texas Tribune
“Alabama’s War on Women,” by Tessa Stuart, Rolling Stone magazine
“What are the Implications of the Dobbs Ruling for Racial Disparities?” by Latoya Hill, Samantha Artiga, Usha Ranji, Ivette Gomez, and Nambi Ndugga, KFF
“How Texas teens lost the one program that allowed birth control without parental consent,” by Eleanor Klibanoff, The Texas Tribune
“How fertility coverage mandates could clash with IVF restrictions,” by Tina Reed, Axios
“IVF patients started moving their embryos out of states with abortion bans when Roe fell,” by Chabeli Carrazana and Jennifer Gerson, The 19th
“Many low-income people are already shut out of IVF. Could abortion bans make it even more expensive?” by Chabeli Carrazana, The 19th
2024 State Scorecard on Women’s Health and Reproductive Care, The Commonwealth Fund