| Good morning — it's Friday. Happy Fourth of July weekend, everyone. We'll see you back here on Tuesday. In the meantime, the tip jar is open: rachel.roubein@washpost.com. Today's edition: Courts will block two more abortion restrictions, this time in Kentucky and Florida. Get ready for an omicron-based booster shot campaign in the fall. But first … | Biden's plea to ditch the filibuster for Roe amounts to political messaging |  President Biden threw his support behind suspending the filibuster to enshrine abortion rights into federal law. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post) | | | President Biden struck his most aggressive tone on abortion yesterday, calling for the Senate to suspend its long-standing filibuster rules in order to enshrine abortion rights into federal law. Doing so would be an attempt by Democrats to restore the federal abortion rights that were in place for the last half-century with a simple majority vote. Yet Democrats don't even have enough members within their own caucus to support such an effort. That's where the Democratic messaging comes in. The party will use Biden's new plea to blow up the filibuster for abortion rights to galvanize its base in the midterm elections. "It helps us to, again, make the case of why if we got two more pro-choice Democrats into the Senate, that we could break this logjam," Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told The Health 202. "And we would have the president's backing and support to do so." Biden's remarks were striking since he's previously been wary of changing the chamber's decades-old rules to push Democratic priorities through a narrowly divided Senate. But the president has come under fire in recent days from some Democrats and advocates who want him to push boundaries to protect abortion access. | | More from Biden: |  | | | | | There are two things Democratic leaders would need in order to pass legislation protecting abortion rights. | | First, every Senate Democrat would have to be on board with upending the rule requiring 60 votes to pass legislation. But Biden's call did nothing to sway Sens. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), who have both continued to defend the filibuster after a leaked draft showed a majority of the Supreme Court was willing to overturn Roe v. Wade. They both blocked an effort to get rid of the filibuster for voting rights earlier this year. | - Sinema's office pointed to her previous statements. Back in May, Sinema defended the filibuster, saying Democrats have used it in the past to prevent Republicans from passing restrictions on abortion, The Post's Matt Viser and Ashley Parker write.
- Manchin has also previously been unwilling to change the filibuster. "His position hasn't changed," his spokeswoman, Sam Runyon, told our colleagues.
| | Second, they'd need 50 votes for the party's signature legislation codifying abortion rights into federal law. They don't appear to have that right now. The Senate has twice voted on Democratic legislation to protect Roe this year, and both times the bill failed to muster a simple majority due to opposition from Manchin. | | Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.): |  | | | | | Politico's Andrew Desiderio: |  | | | | | NBC's Ali Vitali: |  | | | | | Any vote to change the filibuster rules for abortion will surely fail this year. So the question is, will Senate Democrats even attempt such a vote in the coming months? Such an effort would be purely symbolic — and some Democrats argue a show vote isn't needed since Americans already know where the party stands on Roe. | - "I see [Biden's remarks] more as rallying people around, look if we can get a few more Senate Democrats in these elections in November, then we could make this change as early as January of 2023," said a Senate Democratic aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to be candid.
- A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) didn't respond to a question on whether Democratic leadership was considering holding such a vote this year.
| | In recent weeks, Democrats have been quietly preparing their messaging for a world without the constitutional right to an abortion. Both the Senate and House held private, caucus-wide meetings last week to plot the path forward. | | In the Senate … Democrats are planning to use the tools at the chamber's disposal, such as procedural requests to draw attention to the issue on the Senate floor, multiple aides and senators said. Both the health and judiciary committees will hold hearings on a post-Roe America later this month. In the House … Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has indicated the chamber will soon take up legislation around abortion access and reproductive health. This includes legislation protecting private reproductive health data and ensuring that women can travel out-of-state for an abortion. | | |  | Reproductive wars | | Florida judge temporarily blocks 15-week abortion ban |  A Florida judge temporarily blocked a 15-week abortion ban signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) from going into effect today. (John Raoux/AP) | | | A Florida judge announced he would block a new law to ban abortions in the state after 15 weeks of pregnancy, saying the measure is unconstitutional because it violates the privacy provision of the state's constitution, The Post's Lori Rozsa reports. The law, championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), was set to take effect today. Leon County Circuit Judge John C. Cooper is expected to sign a temporary injunction against the restriction shortly thereafter, but abortion providers say there's potential for a small gap when the law could be enforced. The state is planning to appeal Cooper's decision to the state Supreme Court, where DeSantis has appointed three out of seven judges. | | Terri Parker, of WPBF 25 News: |  | | | | Meanwhile, abortions can resume in Kentucky — for now | | Kentucky's providers will be able to resume abortions today after a judge approved a restraining order yesterday temporarily suspending the state's "trigger law," which took effect Friday and outlaws the procedure almost entirely. The ruling follows a lawsuit filed earlier this week on behalf of abortion clinic. Jefferson County Circuit Judge Mitch Perry also agreed to temporarily halt enforcement of another Kentucky law prohibiting abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. | | Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron (R): |  | | | | Planned Parenthood of Montana will withhold abortion pills from women from certain states | | Planned Parenthood of Montana will require proof of residency for medication abortions, and won't provide the pills to patients in South Dakota, Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.The head of the clinics attributed the new rules — which don't apply to surgical abortions — to the "rapidly changing" legal landscape, the Daily Beast reports. Journalist Hunter Pauli first reported the news on Twitter. | | |  | Daybook | | | On tap today: Biden will meet virtually with governors whose states moved to protect abortion access in the days following last week's court ruling. Axios was first to report the meeting. | | |  | Coronavirus | | Omicron-based coronavirus booster shots will roll out this fall |  Coronavirus booster shots will be modified to better protect against the omicron subvariants circulating throughout the United States. (Frederic J. Brown /AFP/Getty Images) | | | The Food and Drug Administration advised coronavirus vaccine manufacturers to tailor their booster shots to better fight against BA.4 and BA.5, the omicron subvariants currently gaining ground in the United States, our colleague Carolyn Y. Johnson reports. The announcement comes days after outside experts voted in favor of a new vaccine adapted to protect against omicron. And while it's quite possible that BA.4 and BA.5 will be eclipsed by new variants by the fall, the hope is that a new shot will help broaden immunity, since they are closer to where the virus is today. Looking ahead: The modified shot will be used as a booster, and those still completing their first series of shots will continue to receive the original version of the vaccine. | Supreme Court allows vaccine mandate to stand | | The Supreme Court left in place New York's coronavirus vaccine requirement for health-care workers that doesn't include a religious exemption, The Post's Ann E. Marimow and Robert Barnes write. Three justices — Clarence Thomas, Neil M. Gorsuch and Samuel A. Alito Jr. — objected to the court's refusal to review the requirement that includes a medical exemption but no exception for religious objectors. Lawyers for the state argued that the coronavirus mandate was similar to its requirements for health-care workers to be vaccinated against measles and rubella, which also only contains a medical exemption. | | |  | Industry Rx | | Trauma physicians have become depressingly prepared for mass shootings |  Doctors are prepared to support communities as gun violence remains a facet of American life. (Jordan Vonderhaar/Getty Images) | | | Doctors working on the front lines of gun violence in America have become skillfully adept at responding to mass casualty events, including school shootings like the one at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Tex., in May, our colleague Caroline Anders reports. But in the days since President Biden signed a bipartisan gun safety bill into law, breaking nearly 30 years of congressional inaction on the issue, doctors are demanding lawmakers do more to address what the American Medical Association has deemed a public health crisis. The rise in mass casualties has necessitated mental preparedness training and drills for medical professionals. Hospitals are required to provide such trainings to stay in compliance with federal, state and local emergency preparedness requirements and to receive funding through Medicare or Medicaid. Key quote: "Keeping [children] safe from bacteria and brittle bones I can do. But making sure our children are safe from guns, that's the job of our politicians and leaders," said Roy Guerrero, a pediatrician from Uvalde. | Some medical debt will be wiped from credit reports | | Starting today, three major U.S. credit reporting companies will no longer count paid medical debt on the reports that banks, potential landlords and others use to judge creditworthiness, the Associated Press's Tom Murphy writes. Medical debt is a massive problem in the United States. More than 4 in 10 U.S. adults report having medical or dental debt, according to a recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Currently, that debt can remain on an individual's credit report for seven years after it's been paid. Three things to know about Equifax, Experian and TransUnion's new policy: | - All paid medical debt will be wiped from credit reports.
- Starting next year, credit reports won't include unpaid medical debt under $500.
- Companies will give people a year to resolve delinquent medical debt that has been sent to collections agencies before reporting it.
| | |  | In other health news | | - The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is requesting that Tennessee make major changes to the state's controversial Medicaid plan — which some have referred to as a block grant — approved in the final weeks of the Trump administration.
- The House Appropriations Committee advanced legislation yesterday legislation that funds the nation's health department and excludes a long-standing policy prohibiting federal funds for most abortions.
- Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and a dozen other lawmakers are ramping up pressure on Senate leadership to extend enhanced Obamacare subsidies, as they risk falling out of a broader Democratic economic spending package still being cobbled together.
- Pfizer submitted its coronavirus antiviral treatment Paxlovid for full FDA approval, the drugmaker announced yesterday.
| | |  | Quote of the week | | | Jessica Arons, senior policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union | "This could be a generational project. It could take a lifetime to get back to where we were yesterday," Arons said shortly after the Supreme Court overturned Roe. | | | | | | | |  | Health reads | | | By Omari Daniels and Hau Chu | The Washington Post ● Read more » | | | | | |  | Sugar rush | | | Thanks for reading! See y'all tomorrow. | | | | | | | |
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