| Happy Monday morning, where we're mulling over March Madness picks. Send us news, tips and bracketology at rachel.roubein@washpost.com. Today's edition: U.N. agencies call for attacks on Ukraine's health-care facilities to stop. Pfizer eyes a second booster shot for the general public. But first … the latest interview in our semiregular series of conversations with power players in the midterm elections. | Emily's List has two goals: keep congressional Democratic majorities and elect state abortion rights-supporters |  Abortion rights advocates rally in front of the Supreme Court as the justices hear oral arguments in a Mississippi case that could undermine Roe v. Wade. (Andrew Harnik/AP) | | | Fundraising powerhouse Emily's List is gearing up to support Democratic women up and down the ballot during one of the most pivotal election cycles for abortion access. Democrats are expected to face a rough election year. And the moment is even more fraught for abortion rights supporters as the Supreme Court appears likely to undermine Roe v. Wade's nearly half-century-old protections. Such a decision would trigger a wave of Republican states curtailing the procedure. | - That potentially seismic shift in abortion access has left both sides working to frame the other as out of touch with what the broad swath of voters wants.
| | The Health 202 talked to Laphonza Butler, the president of Emily's List, which has helped elect hundreds of women who support abortion rights. We discussed November's midterm elections, how abortion politics could play into the races and how the group decides who to endorse. | | When it comes to the midterms, Butler described two primary focuses: Maintaining Democratic majorities in Congress, while electing abortion rights supporters in state-level positions, such as governors and attorneys general. | - "We feel like this is surely a cycle that is going to be competitive for Democrats," said Butler, who took the helm of the organization in September. "Emily's List is going to be ready to engage to ensure victory all over the country and up and down the ballot."
| | Butler declined to discuss the organization's budget for the 2022 election cycle and its specific strategy. Over the organization's 37-year history, it has raised more than $700 million to elect Democratic women who support abortion rights. And in the last election cycle, Emily's List spent a record of nearly $50 million in independent expenditures, almost half of which went to supporting women of color, according to the group's website. | - Meanwhile, one prominent antiabortion group has keyed in on a slate of battleground states. Susan B. Anthony List's overall budget is $72 million for the 2021-2022 cycle, which is nearly $20 million more than last cycle.
| | So far, Emily's List has endorsed more than 50 candidates. The list includes senators, such as incumbents Patty Murray (Wash.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.); House candidates such as Jessica Cisneros (Texas) and Heather Mizeur (Md.); and gubernatorial contenders such as Stacey Abrams (Ga.) and Nan Whaley (Ohio). Endorsements from Emily's Lists are coveted. But how does the group decide who to throw its muscle behind, particularly if there are two women in the race who both support abortion rights? | - The group takes a look at the strength of the campaigns and the coalitions each is building, Butler said. She added: "Sometimes it requires hard decisions."
| | The Supreme Court seems inclined to uphold a Mississippi law barring most abortions after 15 weeks. A decision is expected this summer, just a few months before the midterms. Could a decision from the high court change Emily's List message to voters? "We have consistently been talking about the threat of the undermining of Roe or even the eventual overturning of Roe … so I don't think there is a change that you will see from us on the horizon," Butler said. | - In the interim … "we are going to continue to engage and amplify the real threat that is being posed by the court."
- Meanwhile, SBA List believes a ruling for Mississippi would be the "culmination of decades of work," and the group now wants Congress to enact a 15-week ban on abortion.
| | At the federal level, Democrats didn't succeed in their efforts to circumvent such a Supreme Court decision. | - Last year, the House passed the Women's Health Protection Act, which would have codified Roe v. Wade.
- But late last month, the Senate failed to advance the measure, since it needed at least 10 Republican votes. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) was the only Democrat to oppose the measure.
- Meanwhile, the Senate blocked a 20-week abortion ban when Republicans controlled the chamber back in 2018, highlighting how tall an order passing abortion measures can be.
| | |  | Global health | | U.N. groups urge attacks on Ukraine's health-care facilities to stop |  Vilaty Makukh is being treated for covid-19 in a makeshift underground hospital in Zhytomyr, Ukraine. (Miguel A Lopes/Shutterstock) | | | Leaders of UNICEF, the U.N. Population Fund and the World Health Organization called for "an immediate cessation of all attacks on health care in Ukraine," in a joint statement issued Sunday. Since the start of the Russian invasion: | - At least 24 health-care facilities and five ambulances have been damaged or destroyed, which have led to at least 12 deaths and 34 injuries, according to the WHO's Surveillance System for Attacks on Health Care.
- "The health care system in Ukraine is clearly under significant strain, and its collapse would be a catastrophe. … International humanitarian and human rights law must be upheld," the statement said.
- A pregnant woman and her baby died after the attack at a maternity hospital, the Associated Press reported today. A photo of her being rushed to an ambulance had circled the world after last week's attack, encapsulating the toll Russia's invasion has had on civilians.
| - In the next three months, 80,000 Ukrainian women are expected to give birth, according to the statement, as oxygen and medical supplies including those for pregnancy complications run "dangerously low."
- The global health leaders also reiterated calls for safe corridors to both provide relief personnel access to civilians displaced throughout the country and aid the transportation of lifesaving medical equipment, drugs and vaccines over the border as Ukraine's health-care system buckles under the weight of the attacks.
| | Catherine Russell, executive director of UNICEF: |  | | | | | |  | Coronavirus | | Pfizer eyes a second booster shot for healthy individuals |  Albert Bourla, chief executive officer of Pfizer. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP) | | | The company's chief executive, Albert Bourla, said a fourth shot of its coronavirus vaccine would be "necessary," as the third dose wanes in protection. Key Context: A fourth dose is already recommended for some immunocompromised individuals, but the Food and Drug Administration hasn't greenlit another shot for the general population. | - But Bourla said on CBS' "Face the Nation" that the company is close to submitting data to the FDA about the need for a second booster.
- Staying ahead of the virus: "What we are trying to do … is to make not only a vaccine that will protect against all variants, including omicron, but also something that can protect for at least a year," Bourla said. Then, the CEO said, individuals could receive a booster dose annually, similar to a flu shot.
| | More funds are needed. Administration officials told The Post that they must begin ordering the doses in the coming weeks for them to be ready for adults in the fall, if they're deemed necessary. | About that coronavirus aid bill … | | Lawmakers approved a long-term government funding bill last week without $15.6 billion in coronavirus aid after an uproar over repurposing $7 billion in state and local aid to offset the cost. The House seemed likely to consider the covid-19 supplemental as a stand-alone measure this week, but it was conspicuously absent from the House majority leader's tentative weekly schedule. | - There are discussions about whether to make changes to the bill, a senior Democratic aide told The Health 202.
| | Democratic Reps. Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.) and Zoe Lofgren (Calif.) tested positive for the coronavirus over the weekend after attending the House Democratic strategy retreat in Philadelphia last week. | - Since the start of the pandemic, more than a quarter of House and Senate lawmakers have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to data analyzed by The Hill.
| | Former president Barack Obama also tweeted yesterday that he tested positive for the coronavirus and was experiencing mild symptoms. | | More from Obama: |  | | | | | |  | In other health news | | - On tap today: Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough is expected to recommend closing hospitals and outpatient clinics across the country in an effort to expand, relocate and modernize one of the nation's largest health care networks serving 9 million veterans, our colleague Lisa Rein reports.
- The Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday that just private citizens — not state licensing officials — have the power to enforce the state's controversial six week abortion ban. The lawsuit was widely viewed as the most favorable path to blocking the law, our colleague Caroline Kitchener reports.
- Also in Texas, a state judge on Friday temporarily blocked Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's directive to treat gender-affirming medical care as child abuse, The Post's Casey Parks writes.
| | |  | Daybook | | | Tuesday: The Senate HELP Committee will mark up its bipartisan bill to overhaul the country's pandemic response. Wednesday: The Senate Finance Committee is meeting to discuss lowering prescription drug prices in Medicare. A Senate Armed Services subcommittee is holding a hearing to learn about the health effects of exposure to airborne hazards like toxic fumes from burn pits. Thursday: A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee is meeting to discuss nearly two dozen bills related to the future of medicine, such as Cures 2.0 and legislation to establish President Biden's proposed new agency to speed medical breakthroughs. Also on Thursday: The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will gather to deliberate on reducing fraud and expanding access to covid-19 relief aid. The House Veterans' Affairs Committee is holding a hearing to consider how to address health-care recruitment and retention challenges within the Department of Veterans Affairs. | | |  | Health reads | | | |  | Sugar rush | | | Thanks for reading! See y'all tomorrow. | |
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