What We’re Reading: House Introduces Abortion Rights Bill; Dems to Pare Down Health Legislation; Vaccine Resistance of New Variant

Abortion Access Bill to Receive Vote in House

A bill that would restore and guarantee abortion access to all women nationwide will face a vote in the House today. This is the first attempt House Democrats have made to respond with legislation since the overturning of Roe v Wade. However, the bill does not stand a chance of being approved with a split Senate, making the vote more symbolic. Democrats are also bringing a bill to the House that would protect the right to travel to other states for abortions and would prevent doctors from punishment for providing reproductive care outside of their home state.

Manchin Refuses to Approve Expansive Health Care Bill

Senator Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, announced that he would not vote for a health-focused bill proposed by Senate Democrats, claiming that he would only approve drug price reduction efforts and a 2-year extension to Affordable Care Act subsidies and not the climate and energy investments that were also slated to be included. The bill will now only cover narrow health care coverage after weeks of discussions around a larger legislative package. Democrats will likely make these concessions in order to pass the bill with 50 Senate votes.

BA.5 Variant Is More Vaccine Resistant

The most prevalent strain of COVID-19 in the United States, BA.5, has proven to be 4 times more resistant to current vaccinations compared with earlier Omicron strains, according to new study findings. The new variant, which represented 65% of US cases from July 3 to July 9, is more resistant against messenger RNA vaccines such as Moderna’s and Pfizer’s. However, the study also said that vaccinated people are still better protected than unvaccinated people, with unvaccinated people having a 5 times higher risk of catching the virus, their risk of hospitalization is 7.5 times higher, and their chance of death is 14 to 15 times higher compared with people who are vaccinated and boosted. The CDC still recommends getting tested for COVID-19 if experiencing symptoms and wearing masks as much as possible.