What We’re Reading: Roe v Wade Challenge; New COVID-19 Funds Amid Delta Surge; Missouri Broadens Health Coverage

Push to Overturn Roe v Wade

Mississippi’s attorney general is urging the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, the ruling that secured a woman’s right to an abortion, The New York Times reports. Calling the decision “egregiously wrong,” Attorney General Lynn Fitch hopes to sustain a state law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The conservative-majority Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on the case in the fall, while lower courts have previously blocked the Mississippi statute. Fitch has argued the scope of abortion rights should be determined through the political process.

More Funds Released to Combat Delta Variant

Following increasing rates of COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths seen across the United States, the White House announced new funds for COVID-19 testing and vaccination will be released, according to The Hill. In particular, about $100 million in new funds will be directed at rural health clinics to aid in vaccine outreach, as these are often located in areas with low vaccination rates and may be more trusted among community members. An additional $1.6 billion will go toward testing in prisons and homeless and domestic violence shelters. The money will come out of the American Rescue Plan relief package.

Missouri to Broaden Health Care Access

The Missouri Supreme Court ruled an additional 270,000 low-income individuals will now be eligible for publicly funded health care, NPR reports. Although voters in the state had previously approved a constitutional amendment to adopt Medicaid expansion, the Republican-led legislature declined to implement it. Following this refusal, Governor Mike Parson (R) stopped the plans to bolster the state's health care system. But in an unanimous opinion, the state’s Supreme Court ruled new Medicaid recipients would join the existing pool of beneficiaries in the state.