What We’re Reading: Expanding Care Access for DACA Recipients; North Dakota Bans Almost All Abortions; China’s Interference in COVID-19 Probe

HHS Proposes Rule to Expand Health Care Access for DACA Recipients in the United States

HHS has released a notice of proposed rulemaking that could provide access to health care for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. The proposed change applies to the health insurance marketplaces, the Basic Health Program, and some Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs (CHIP). If the rule is finalized, it could lead to 129,000 previously uninsured DACA recipients receiving health care coverage.

North Dakota Enacts Near-Total Abortion Ban

North Dakota has become the latest state to ban most abortions, only allowing abortion up to 6 weeks’ gestation in cases of rape, incest, or medical emergency, after Republican Governor Doug Burgum signed the bill into law, according to the Associated Press. The state’s only remaining abortion clinic, the Red River Women’s Clinic in Fargo, closed last year and moved across the border to Moorhead, Minnesota. The ban is expected to be challenged in court, with critics saying it will force women to seek unsafe and illegal abortions.

Representatives Accuse China of Interfering in COVID-19 Origin Probe

House legislators investigating the origins of COVID-19 have called on the Chinese government to make available Chinese scientists and military officials for testimony in Washington, according to The Hill. This comes in response to what lawmakers said were Chinese embassy efforts to interfere in the probe. The committee has requested that China make available at least 5 officials linked to the state’s health administration, the military, and the Wuhan Institute of Virology.