Health
Politics aside, supporters pushing expansion of Georgia’s mental health services stay optimistic
A measure designed to expand access to behavioral health treatment in Georgia has been trimmed down but remains in play for this year, even if it may take some extraordinary maneuvering to push it through the Senate at this late stage. The House bill, which builds on last year’s major mental health bill, appears to […]
State Senate to consider reopening Georgia’s ‘flawed’ 2015 medical cannabis law
Georgia patients have been waiting for years to legally access medical cannabis products approved by the state Legislature years ago, and Thursday could be do or die for the latest bill aimed at fixing the process. In 2015, the Legislature voted to allow people suffering from serious illnesses like Alzeimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease or cancer […]
Georgia Legislature sends bill to limit transgender care for minors to governor
A bill limiting the care Georgia doctors could provide to transgender children awaits Gov. Brian Kemp’s signature after passing the state Senate for a second time Tuesday. Senate Bill 140, authored by Cordele Republican Sen. Carden Summers, would prohibit doctors from performing gender-affirming surgeries or prescribing hormone replacements to Georgians under 18. Children who are […]
What plaintiffs targeting abortion pill want might not even be possible
At the center of the federal anti-abortion lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is the abortion drug mifepristone and the regimen that reportedly accounts for the majority of abortions in post-Roe America. That’s why the whole country is bracing itself for a ruling from a notoriously anti-abortion judge in Amarillo, Texas. The attention […]
Ending a pregnancy in 14 states leaves few options. Some are looking to Europe and India for help.
The pills came in a dark salmon-colored envelope sealed with a plastic covering that traveled more than 7,000 miles, over a dozen time zones from Nagpur, India, in almost exactly one week. They were placed partially under the doormat of a home in a state with one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the […]
As opioids overdose deaths keep rising, report urges lawmakers to develop new approaches
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers should view America’s staggering opioid crisis, including the rise of illicit fentanyl, through an “ecosystems” approach, argues a massive RAND Corporation report published Thursday. That means they should examine the gaps and interconnections among emergency response, data collection, education, treatment, housing and law enforcement, the report advises. The 600-page volume — which the authors […]
Georgia House OKs bill to limit transgender care for minors as GOP prevails in party-line vote
Republican House lawmakers have approved a controversial measure limiting the care doctors can provide transgender patients under the age of 18. The bill was unexpectedly teed up for a vote early Thursday morning and put before lawmakers two hours later. Under it, doctors will be allowed to prescribe minors drugs that block the effects of […]
Firearm safety bill gets rare hearing in GOP-controlled Georgia Legislature
A Georgia House subcommittee heard testimony on a bill aimed at punishing gun owners who negligently allow firearms to fall into the hands of unsupervised children. The bill, authored by Johns Creek Democratic Rep. Michelle Au, is not moving forward this year, but Au said getting the Republican-led Georgia House Public Safety & Homeland Security […]
Emotions run high as Georgia House panel advances bill limiting transgender care for minors
A Georgia House committee gave its approval Tuesday to a Senate bill aimed at restricting the type of care doctors could provide to transgender minors. If signed into law, Cordele Republican Sen. Carden Summers’ Senate Bill 140 would prevent doctors from providing surgical or hormone treatments for gender dysphoria to people under 18. Minors already […]
Georgia House plan to expand mental health services hits turbulence in state Senate
This story was updated at 2 p.m. Friday, March 17, 2023. This year’s House plan to build on last session’s bipartisan mental health bill is receiving a cool reception in the state Senate, where lawmakers have raised concerns about the potential cost. Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, a Marietta Republican who is leading the review of the […]
This International Women’s Day, U.S. anti-abortion laws violate human rights, groups say
Ahead of International Women’s Day, hundreds of U.S. and global human rights groups, doctors, and attorneys have asked the United Nations to intervene on behalf of the millions of women in the U.S. who have been left without access to legal abortion and vital forms of reproductive health care in the wake of last summer’s […]
As COVID protections end, patients classified as ‘medically needy’ fear new barriers to care
Courtney Blake and her 10-year-old daughter live on their own in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Both of them struggle with chronic mental health issues and have been using Medicaid to help pay for their behavioral health care needs. But like millions of people across the country, Blake is worried that at the end of this health emergency […]