DC to require students 12 and older to be vaccinated against COVID-19 this fall

Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images, FILE

(WASHINGTON) — Students over the age of 12 will be required to receive COVID-19 vaccines this fall in Washington, D.C., the district’s Office of the State Superintendent of Education has announced.

“We want to make sure that all of our students have everything they need for a healthy start to the school year,” State Superintendent of Education Dr. Christina Grant said in a statement on Tuesday. “This means making sure children see their primary medical provider for a well-child visit and receive all needed immunizations.”

Beginning this fall, for the 2022-23 school year, student vaccine requirements will include the COVID-19 vaccine for all students for whom there is a federally, fully approved COVID-19 vaccine.

Unless exempted, children ages 12 to 15 will be required to receive a primary COVID-19 vaccine series, or to have started receiving their shots by Sept. 16, 2022. Similarly, all students 16 or older must have received, or have started receiving, their primary COVID-19 vaccination series by the beginning of the school year.

Students attending all Washington, D.C., schools, including private, parochial and independent schools, need to be up-to-date with all required vaccinations in order to attend school. Schools are also mandated to confirm vaccination for all students, according to district law.

The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine has been fully approved by the FDA for all people 16 years and older since August 2021, and just this month, Pfizer’s vaccine was also fully approved for adolescents ages 12 to 15.

As of July 13, 80% of district residents ages 12 to 15; 76% of residents ages 16 and 17, and 52% of residents ages 18 to 24, have been fully vaccinated with their primary series, according to district data.

The department did not immediately respond to ABC News’ inquiry regarding what type of exemptions would be allowed, or whether remote options may be offered to students who do not comply with the requirement.

Across the country, in California, officials announced last fall that they would implement a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for students.

“The state already requires that students are vaccinated against viruses that cause measles, mumps and rubella — there’s no reason why we wouldn’t do the same for COVID-19,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement in October. “Today’s measure, just like our first-in-the-nation school masking and staff vaccination requirements, is about protecting our children and school staff, and keeping them in the classroom.”

However, in April, the state announced that it would not initiate the regulatory process for its COVID-19 vaccine requirement in schools until after July 1, 2023, to “ensure sufficient time for successful implementation of new vaccine requirements.”

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LGBTQ groups slam government handling of monkeypox

Wesley Lapointe / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

(WASHINGTON) — Protesters in several cities across the country are calling on the Biden administration, as well as local officials, to address the rapid rise in monkeypox cases.

Demonstrators, including many LGBTQ activists, say officials have yet to provide the necessary outreach to vulnerable populations as issues continue to plague the vaccine rollout.

A protest is being planned for Thursday by several organizations in New York City, the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak.

Nearly 60% of those diagnosed with monkeypox in New York City have self-identified as members of the LGBTQ community, according to the New York City Department of Health.

The city has seen more than 600 cases so far, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of July 20, there have been over 2,100 confirmed cases in the U.S. with numbers quickly rising, the CDC says.

Federal and state agencies have been scrambling to supply enough vaccines and treatments for monkeypox as demand grows by the tens of thousands.

Groups, including HIV/AIDs awareness and advocacy organizations Housing Works and ACT UP New York, said they have a list of requests for both state and federal governments.

“There is a shame involved in this,” said Mordechai Levovitz, an organizer of the Thursday protest and clinical director of LGBTQ Jewish youth group JQY. “There is a taboo. This is something that, for people who had [rashes and lesions] on their face, something that they can’t hide.”

On the state level, the group is demanding an expansion of vaccine appointment availability; meaningful community outreach; a stockpile of vaccines; a safety net fund for people who test positive and have to take off of work; as well as providing hotel rooms for quarantining.

On the federal level, protestors are calling for large-scale information campaigns about monkeypox testing from the CDC, and free and accessible testing for un- and underinsured individuals, as well as for the government to provide a demographic breakdown of infected populations.

“The federal government must invest in communication about monkeypox testing, treatment, and vaccine availability now,” according to a statement from Act Up New York.

It continued, “We need meaningful outreach to all communities including vulnerable populations, streamlined communication efforts, mass testing implementation, expedited FDA approval of TPOXX (MPX treatment), and a public plan for the US government to take action on the Bavarian Nordic stockpile (15.2 million vaccines).”

In a press conference Wednesday, New York Department of Health officials said they are working with advocates and activists on outreach efforts.

“We’ve been developing clinical guidance, expanding test capacity – initially from our public health labs, and now to commercial labs – partnering with the federal government, as the Governor has said, and revitalizing our network of local health departments,” said State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett.

She continued, “We’re doing all of this with real attention to the importance of dignity and respect, without stigma, and with equity always at the center of our work.”

The CDC did not immediately respond to ABC News’ requests for comment.

Protests have also taken place in San Francisco where cases are rising. The San Francisco Department of Public Health reported 55 monkeypox cases on July 19 alone, bringing the total number of cases in the city to 141.

LGBTQ groups have been on high alert regarding the rapid spread of cases, saying that the messaging around the circumstances of infection has not been adequately communicated to at-risk communities.

Though demographic data is not yet available for cases across the U.S., nearly 60% of people infected in New York City self-reported as members of the LGBTQIA+ community, though demographic data on sexual orientation was unavailable for 39.6% of the cases. Two individuals — 0.6% of cases — reported that they identify as straight.

At least 34% of those infected in Europe identified as gay or bisexual, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

However, the sexual orientation of 65% of the infected people is unknown or missing in the data, the European agency said.

Officials have emphasized that gay and bisexual men, in particular, are at risk here in the U.S., though they stress that anyone can contract the illness.

The CDC says monkeypox can spread, among other ways, through through direct contact with an infectious rash, scab or bodily fluids or via respiratory secretions during prolonged face-to-face contact or intimate physical contact.

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New York City COVID-19 cases surge as unvaccinated take the brunt

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(NEW YORK) — COVID-19 cases are continuing to surge in New York City and unvaccinated residents are bearing the brunt.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that, as of Wednesday, the Big Apple has a seven-day case rate of 369.8 per 100,000, the second-highest rate in the United States, only behind California.

On July 17, New York City recorded a seven-day average of 4,380 cases, 14% higher than the average of 3,828 cases recorded two weeks ago, according to the city’s Department of Health & Mental Hygiene.

Additionally, the test positivity rate hit 14.46%, the highest seen since January 2022, during the omicron surge.

Doctors say that more than a year-and-a-half into the vaccine rollout, the majority of those getting sick, hospitalized and dying are unvaccinated people.

DOHMH data shows that the average weekly rate of cases among the unvaccinated sits at 764.29 per 100,000.

This is nearly three times higher than the rate among those vaccinated and boosted at 278.93 per 100,000 and 3.5 times higher than the rate among those vaccinated and not boosted at 216.89 per 100,000.

COVID-19-related-hospitalizations are more than five times higher at 36.84 per 100,000 compared to 6.93 per 100,000 and 6.82 per 100,000 for the vaccinated without a booster and the vaccinated with a booster groups, respectively.

Deaths are also more than six times higher for the unvaccinated at 5.27 per 100,000 compared to 0.96 per 100,000 for the vaccinated but not boosted group and 0.77 per 100,000 for those vaccinated and boosted.

Dr. Roy Gulick, chief of the division of infectious diseases at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine, told ABC News that even though the case rate is lower among those vaccinated without a booster compared to those vaccinated with a booster, the real measure of protection is the rate of hospitalizations and deaths, which is lower among the boosted group.

“What’s becoming apparent is that what we really want is to avoid severe disease and we define severe disease as requiring hospitalization or intensive care unit,” he said. “Even if the vaccines don’t prevent infection, if they protect against severe infection, then that’s a big positive.”

Gulick said that rising cases appear to be fueled by the highly infectious BA.5 variant.

BA.5, an offshoot of the original omicron variant, has become the dominant strain in New York City, making up more than 57% of cases as of July 2, according to the DOHMH.

“The BA. 5 variant is accounting for a significant number of infections,” Gulick said. “This almost all certainly due to BA.5.”

Evidence has shown that BA.5 is better at evading protection from both vaccines and previous infection including antibodies from BA.1 — the original omicron variant — and BA.2, the first subvariant.

The COVID situation in the city appears to be reflective of what’s going on in New York State. BA.5 currently accounts for an estimated two-thirds of COVID cases in the New York region as defined by the CDC.

Gov. Kathy Hochul held a press conference Wednesday as the state hit 15% test positivity rate for the first time since January.

“We’ve seen the past and the past can become the present if we don’t take the steps now,” she said of the rising number of cases.

Hochul said the mask mandate on public transit will remain in place until cases are “consistently lower” and issued several preparedness plans.

Among them include sending more than three million tests to schools ahead of the start of the fall semester and distributing at-home kits from the stockpile of 20 million.

Hochul said, at the moment, schools don’t have mask mandates, but she kept open the possibility “if things change.”

“I’m going to reserve the right to change this policy,” she said.

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CDC finds significant increase in opioid overdoses among minority groups

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(ATLANTA) — A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found a significant increase in opioid overdose death rates among Black and American Indian/Alaskan Natives people in the US.

Experts from the CDC said that a lack of education about lethal drugs, as well as limited access to treatment and treatment biases have exacerbated racial and ethnic disparities in drug overdoses.

The latest report found 91,799 recorded opioid overdoses in 2020, which was a 30% increase from 2019.

According to the report, Black Americans saw a 44% increase and American Indian/Alaskan Natives had a 39% increase from 2019 to 2020.

Comparatively, white Americans saw an increase of 22% from 2019 to 2020.

The largest increase was seen among Black individuals aged 15 to 24, whose overdose death rates jumped 86% from 2019 to 2020.

For Black males aged 65 years and older, overdoses were nearly seven times that of non-Hispanic white males aged 65 years and older.

For American Indian/Alaskan Native women aged 25 to 44, overdose death rates were nearly twice of white women in the same age group, the CDC said.

Debra E. Houry, acting principal deputy director of the CDC, said in a Tuesday press conference that the disproportionate increase in overdose death rates within these two groups may be contributed to health inequities, such as unequal access to substance abuse treatment and treatment biases.

The report found that drug overdose death rates increased with higher county-level income inequality, particularly among Black people.

The CDC data showed the rate of overdose deaths to be more than twice as high in areas with the highest income inequality than in areas with the lowest income inequality.

According to the report, increased stigmatization, criminalization and lack of access to evidence-based treatments among minorities with substance use disorder have been “well-documented.”

Houry said by addressing systemic factors, such as a lack of awareness of lethal drugs and the limited access to treatment, recovery services and harm reduction actions that are “known to work,” could help end disparities in drug overdose deaths across the country.

“Health disparities can be prevented and all of society benefits,” Houry said at Tuesday’s conference.

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Strangers rally to offer free mental health help after deadly Fourth of July parade attack

Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

(HIGHLAND PARK, Ill.) — A therapy resource for people affected by the mass shooting during a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois, is going viral, highlighting the widespread mental health impact of mass shootings.

In the days after the shooting that killed seven people and injured dozens more, Alexandra Kaehler, an interior designer in nearby Winnetka, Illinois, took to Instagram to crowdsource a list of available mental health therapists to whom people could reach out.

Kaehler, a mom of three, also offered to pay for mental health services for people who needed help.

“I feel helpless right now,” Kaehler wrote. “But there are people who are traumatized by what they saw, and if there’s one thing I know it’s that therapy is so incredibly important. Hopefully this is one *tiny* thing I can do to help right now.”

Within hours, over 100 therapists reached out to asked to be added to her list, Kaehler told ABC News’ Good Morning America.

To date, there are over 200 therapists on the list, which Kaehler said she shared publicly so anyone could reach out.

“It just gave me so much hope in humanity in how ready and willing people were to help,” said Kaehler. “And I hope that it has an even wider reach than I know.”

Kaehler said she was attending a July Fourth parade with her family in her hometown of Winnetka when she heard about the shooting in Highland Park, which is just 15 minutes away. During the annual parade in a Chicago suburb, a gunman opened fire on parade-goers with a high-powered rifle.

Kaehler recalled receiving frantic calls from family and friends worried about her safety, but said she immediately thought of one of her best friends, whom she knew was at the parade.

Kaehler later learned that her friend, Natalie Lorentz, survived, but was sitting near people who were killed in the shooting.

“When I think about the experience that I’m having watching all of this unfold and thinking about what her experience was, it pales in comparison obviously, but I felt just really incapacitated,” said Kaehler. “It had never happened this close to home for me.”

Lorentz told GMA last week that the mental health recovery for her and her family has been “second by second.”

“I have moments where I feel panic and anxiety and like I’m back there, and then moments of just overwhelming sadness for what us and so many other people had to go through and then just numbness where I’m compartmentalizing and trying to put one foot in front of the other,” said Lorentz, who attended the parade with her husband, mother and three young sons. “It’s really just been a whirlwind of emotions.”

Lorentz added that she is worried about future mental health concerns for her sons, saying, “They’re young and not fully aware really of everything that took place that day. I’m more worried about a month from now, three months from now, what implications that holds for them.”

Jamie Kreiter, a Chicago-based licensed clinical social worker, said her concern about the long-term impact of a mass shooting like the one in Highland Park is the reason she responded when she saw Kaehler’s call for help on Instagram.

“People are forever changed by traumatic experiences,” Kreiter told GMA. “This community will be forever changed by this tragedy, so how do we heal? How do we move forward and mobilize?”

Kreiter, CEO and founder of Nurture Therapy, LLC, said she and her husband were both born and raised in Highland Park and had friends and family who attended this year’s parade.

Though Kreiter and her family and friends were safe, she said she, like so many other people, experienced secondary trauma, a type of trauma that comes from hearing about or seeing a traumatic event without physically being there or even having a direct connection to the event, according to Kreiter.

“What you experience is similar to symptoms of trauma — picturing yourself there, difficulty with concentration or focus, feeling overwhelmed and flooded by those images, difficulty sleeping, being hypervigilant and feeling that your safety has been disrupted,” said Kreiter.

Mass shootings that have made headlines recently in cities from Uvalde, Texas, to Buffalo, New York, each have the power to cause community trauma, especially when shootings happen in common places like schools, as with Uvalde, or grocery stores, as with Buffalo, according to Kreiter.

So far in 2022, more than 300 shootings that have resulted in four or more injuries or deaths have occurred in the U.S.

Factors including how much a person pays attention to the news, or how much time they talk about shootings with friends and family may affect the severity of trauma, according to research analyzed by FiveThirtyEight.

Dr. Sandro Galea, an epidemiologist at the Boston University School of Public Health who studies how mass shootings impact mental health, told FiveThirtyEight that research is still limited on how shootings may impact the mental health of people on a more widespread basis.

“The issue of mental health in community members who are not directly affected… most people in the mental health space think it’s a real issue but there actually has been very little research on it,” he said.

Kreiter said in Highland Park, thousands of people have sought therapy services at the town’s elementary school and high school, where therapists like herself have donated their services for free.

“We’re seeing people who are grieving not just loved ones who have been injured or lost but grieving the disrupted sense of safety,” said Kreiter. “Or they’re feeling overwhelmed with emotion or guilt, either that they were there or one small decision may have prevented them from being there.”

She continued, “I think I speak for many providers and community members that you just feel this loss of control. People no longer feel a sense of safety.”

Kreiter said she has been sharing information about trauma on social media so that people feel comfortable seeking mental health help even if they were not directly impacted by the parade attack.

“There are some people who weren’t there but were deeply impacted and perhaps have some hesitation to seek services,” she said. “Whether you were there or not there, this kind of trauma is very real.”

For people who have felt unsettled or unsafe amid the spate of recent mass shootings, Kreiter said she wants people to know that help is available.

In addition to seeking professional support, Kreiter said there are steps individuals can take as well to improve their mental health.

Her tips include limiting intake of the news and social media, especially before bed; leaning on your support system and community; resuming as much normalcy as possible and practicing grounding and coping skills in your toolbox.

If you are experiencing suicidal, substance use or other mental health crises please call or text the new three digit code at 988. You will reach a trained crisis counselor for free, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can also go to 988lifeline.org or dial the current toll free number 800-273-8255 [TALK].

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‘Aftershock’ explores the high mortality rate among Black expectant mothers

Onyx Collective

(NEW YORK) — Expectant mothers Shamony Gibson and Amber Rose Isaac both died from preventable childbirth complications, their families say, and the women’s deaths have had a devastating effect on their loved ones.

Gibson, 30, died just 13 days after the birth of her son in October 2019, when, according to Gibson’s family, her health concerns were ignored by medical providers. About six months later, in April 2020, Isaac, 26, died following an emergency C-section that the family says stemmed from medical negligence. Now, their partners and families are committed to bringing awareness and change to the alarming Black maternal mortality rate in the United States.

Directors Paula Eiselt and Tonya Lewis Lee explore these two women’s stories, their families’ perseverance and the maternal health care crisis in “Aftershock”, an original documentary from Disney’s Onyx Collective and ABC News Studios, streaming Tuesday, July 19, on Hulu.

Following the deaths of two young women due to childbirth complications, two bereaved families galvanize activists, birth workers, and physicians to reckon with one of the most pressing American crises today: the U.S. maternal health crisis.

The documentary follows Omari Maynard and Bruce McIntyre, Gibson’s and Isaac’s partners who connected shortly after Issac’s death, bonding over their losses while learning to navigate their lives as grieving single fathers. They are joined in their fight for justice along with Shamony Gibson’s mother, Shawnee Benton Gibson, and medical professionals like Dr. Neel Shah, chief medical officer of Maven Clinic, the largest virtual clinic for women’s and family health.

“We are thrilled to partner with Disney’s Onyx Collective and ABC News to honor and uplift the lives of Shamony Gibson and Amber Rose Isaac,” Eiselt and Lewis Lee said. “We hope audiences will be as inspired and empowered as we are by their families’ trailblazing work to ensure the best birthing outcomes for all Americans.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every two in three pregnancy-related deaths is preventable. A 2020 report found that non-Hispanic Black women experienced a higher pregnancy-related mortality rate than other racial and ethnic groups, suffering at a rate nearly three times higher than Hispanic and non-Hispanic white women. For every 100,000 live births, there were 55.3 deaths among non-Hispanic Black women of all ages compared to 18.2 among Hispanic women and 19.1 among non-Hispanic white women. In New York, where Gibson and Isaac both lived, non-Hispanic Black women were 5 times more likely to die of pregnancy-related causes than non-Hispanic white women according to a 2018 report from the New York State Department of Health.

“Aftershock” explores these disparities and the efforts of many to resolve them in a push for medical autonomy, accountability and freedom.

“‘Aftershock’” is an emotional and urgent story that demands our attention,” Tara Duncan, president of Onyx Collective, said. “Paula and Tonya have captured the resilience and will of Black families to ignite a positive impact on this national health crisis for women in America.”

ABC News’ Emma Egan and Eric M. Strauss contributed to this report.

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Dad with rare cancer fights to get lifesaving treatment

Courtesy of Anthony Di Laura and Jackie Cucullo

(NEW YORK) — A New York man is determined not to give up when it comes to fighting the rare disease he’s been living with the last two years.

Anthony Di Laura first noticed something was unusual back in the summer of 2020.

“I was having stomach pain. I thought it was a stomachache. And I realized my belly button was protruding a little bit. No other symptoms,” Di Laura told “Good Morning America.” “It came, it went away after a week. But when it came back, my wife said, ‘Let’s go to the doctor. Let’s go to the gastroenterologist.'”

After visiting a gastroenterologist, Di Laura was referred to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, where he received a diagnosis in August 2020 of pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP), a rare disease where mucus-secreting tumors grow in the abdominal area, according to the National Organization for Rare Disorders.

Since his diagnosis, Di Laura and his family have been on a roller coaster of highs and lows.

The 35-year-old and his wife Jackie Cucullo welcomed their first child, a son named JP, on New Year’s Day in 2021 and daughter Lila Rae just last month — two big life events for the couple, who call their children “miracle babies.”

“We tried for two years to get pregnant. And miraculously I did out of nowhere, right before starting in vitro,” Cucullo told “GMA.” “While Anthony was undergoing chemotherapy, I became pregnant again right before his health declined. And that is extremely rare in itself while someone is undergoing chemotherapy. So we feel blessed for our two children for sure.”

Di Laura had to endure chemotherapy for seven months and elected to undergo cytoreductive surgery with HIPEC — a major surgery with a type of heated chemotherapy — also nicknamed the “mother of all surgeries” or MOAS, three times with different doctors and medical teams, all in an effort to get better.

“It is the most miserable feeling in the world that nobody should ever go through,” Di Laura said of his day-to-day life. “Every day is a battle. Every day is a challenge.”

The chemo and surgeries didn’t yield the results Di Laura was hoping for and doctors began telling him that he was inoperable.

“This gets me every time. I hate talking about it. My last hospital stay … the shift doctor who was in charge came into our room and said, ‘What is your plan?’ I looked at him, I said, ‘What’s my plan? I want to get better.’ He goes, ‘Nobody will operate on you in this hospital … Your best bet is to go on hospice and live a comfortable life until the end.’ That’s what he said,” Di Laura recalled.

Throughout the journey, Di Laura, Cucullo and their family refused to give up hope. In March, the couple received promising news from someone through their PMP Pals support group.

“One of the women heard about another young man whose story was so ironically similar to Anthony’s,” Cucullo said. “They’re even close in age as well. [The woman] immediately called us and she said, ‘I dropped to my knees when I heard his story.'”

According to that support group contact, the other man was “the first person in this country to have a multi-visceral organ transplant” at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, with Dr. Anil Vaidya.

“[Vaidya] is from the U.K. [and] came here to essentially help people like my husband and various other people for other organ transplants,” Cucullo said. “On March 3, I made my first phone call to [the Cleveland Clinic] and that was when the process started for Anthony to be listed as an organ transplant recipient.”

Di Laura and Cucullo have since met the man, Andy Voge, and sought out his doctor, [Vaidya]. After multiple denials and appeals to their insurance company, Di Laura was finally approved to get on the transplant list last week, the first step to getting a modified multi-visceral transplant.

Di Laura’s insurance company, Empire BlueCross BlueShield, confirmed the company had overturned the previous denials for Di Laura to receive treatment at the Cleveland Clinic.

“Together with Mr. Di Laura’s medical team, our clinical team made the decision to cover Mr. Di Laura’s procedure with the surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic,” the company said in a statement to “GMA.” “The transplant surgeon provided additional information to demonstrate this procedure has shown early promise in case reports from the U.K. and could be the only option left that may improve health outcomes for Mr. Di Laura. We will continue to support him and his family as we move forward.”

Cucullo told “GMA” that, as of Monday, her husband had been officially added to the organ transplant list.

“The surgery needs to happen and the entire team [at the Cleveland Clinic] is very confident in Anthony’s success […],” Cucullo said. “Anthony and Andy alike can spread the word and they can be the torch holders to say, ‘This is a new way. We can beat this disease.’ As tough of a surgery it might be and a long recovery, this gives hope to thousands of people.”

No matter what happens, Di Laura said he hopes to impart one message to his children, above all others.

“Always fight. Always keep hope and never give up because somebody says it’s impossible,” he said.

“I’ve never taken no for an answer and I’m not going to start now when it’s going to save my life to live with my family,” he added. “So I want my kids to know that never give up in the face of anything because somebody says no. There will always be a way around it. There are always new ideas or always new inventions. There always will be an answer. You just can’t give up and that goes for everything in life.”

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In-clinic ‘surgical’ abortion procedures: What are they, who needs them?

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(NEW YORK) — When Kate Coleman found out she was pregnant, she was overjoyed, she said. She and her husband shared the happy news with family and friends.

But three months later — a heartbreaking ultrasound. The fetus had a fatal brain malformation called anencephaly, a condition where parts of the brain and skull are missing. Coleman’s doctors told her she had a choice: continue with the pregnancy, or seek an in-clinic abortion.

“There are other people in the world [who] would choose to carry to term. For me, it was not the right choice,” Coleman said. “To know that either I was going to miscarry at some point [or] I was going to give birth to a baby that would immediately die — I couldn’t make that choice.”

Coleman had an in-clinic abortion procedure in January 2021 in her home state of Massachusetts. In the U.S., roughly half of abortions are in-clinic procedures, often referred to as surgical abortions, according to the Guttmacher Institute. The other half are medication abortions, done with what is known as the abortion pill.

Today, in the wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, at least 12 states have banned nearly all abortion services, with more states likely to follow. In the fallout, the Biden administration and abortion advocates alike have rushed to shore up protections for abortion pills, which are legally and practically easier to protect than in-clinic abortions.

The Justice Department, for example, suggested it could take action against states that ban medication abortion because the pills are FDA approved for everyone in the U.S., no matter state of residence.

Meantime, abortion advocates are expanding underground networks to quietly ship the pills to places where abortion is now illegal.

But some doctors and advocates worry that shifting the focus to abortion pills leaves behind people who need or want an in-clinic abortion. For some pregnant people, in-clinic abortions are medically necessary because of an underlying medical condition, or if the pregnancy is more advanced. But for others, it’s simply a more appealing option because it’s nearly 100% effective and can be completed in 10-15 minutes by a trained medical provider.

There are two types of in-clinic abortion options, but both use suction to remove the contents of the uterus. The first and most common is called vacuum aspiration, typically offered up to 13 weeks of pregnancy. If a pregnancy is further along, doctors may opt for a procedure called dilation and evacuation, which uses suction and medical tools to empty the uterus.

Medication abortions, or abortion pills, are typically two medications taken at home that initiate a miscarriage. The process can take two to three days to complete, and most people experience cramping and bleeding heavier than a normal period.

“Medication abortions are FDA approved up until 10 weeks – that’s 70 days,” said Dr. Jennifer Ashton, ABC News’ chief medical correspondent and board-certified OG/GYN. “There are pros and cons to this approach when compared to a surgical abortion. It depends on the situation that the woman is in, both socially, logistically, work-wise, family-wise.”

Some women may also have underlying medication conditions, including clotting and bleeding disorders, that would make a medication abortion risky.

Others simply “want something that’s definitive and over with — so they have a sense of closure,” said Dr. Elizabeth Langen, associate clinical professor of maternal-fetal medicine at the University of Michigan. “The bleeding tends to be a lot less. It’s a little bit more controlled. And for some people, that’s a better either emotional or medical option.”

Coleman says she feels “lucky” that despite the heartbreak of her first pregnancy, she had access to a medical team that helped guide her through the process.

“Everybody was really kind,” she said. She underwent general anesthesia and said she woke up with what felt like “bad period cramps” before taking some Tylenol and going home. Patients who receive abortion procedures earlier in pregnancy typically receive local anesthesia and additional medication to help ease pain and anxiety, Langen said.

Langen who specializes in high-risk pregnancies, says it’s important to have access to both types of abortion — surgical and medication induced — to keep patients safe. While medication abortion is very safe if taken correctly and early on during pregnancy, she said she worries about women who might be too fearful to visit a doctor if something goes wrong.

“Taking away the option and the safety of in-person procedures is unfair and unjust — and potentially unsafe,” Langen said.

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Abortions can resume in West Virginia after judge blocks pre-Roe ban

Marilyn Nieves/Getty Images

(CHARLESTON, W.Va.) — Abortions in West Virginia can — at least temporarily — resume after a judge struck down a pre-Roe ban Monday.

Following the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade last month, the Women’s Health Center of West Virginia said in a statement on Facebook it would not be performing the procedure “until further notice” due to fear of prosecution under an 1882 law on the books.

The law made performing abortions, including administering drugs for medication abortions, a felony punishable by three to 10 years in prison.

However, Kanawha County Circuit Judge Tera Salango issued a preliminary injunction against the ban, meaning the state’s only clinic can perform the procedure again.

The Women’s Health Center told ABC News it is already booking abortion patients for appointments next week.

“The impacts of abortion being pushed out of reach for the last month have been devastating,” Katie Quiñonez, executive director of the clinic, said in a statement. “[The] decision is a sigh of relief and means we can once again serve the people who reach out to us for abortion services.”

“Make no mistake: Essential health care shouldn’t depend on the whims of a court or politicians, it should be based on compassion and what’s best for one’s life and future,” Quiñonez said.

In the lawsuit, attorneys for the clinic argued the statute should be considered void because it has not been enforced in several years and because newer laws have been passed that supersede the old law, such as a 2015 law allowing abortions up until 20 weeks gestation.

“What this decision did is, at least temporarily, provide some clarity around conflicting laws we had,” Loree Stark, legal director of the ACLU of West Virginia, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of the clinic along with other firms, told ABC News. “It’s clear, at least for the moment, that … people seeking abortion care now have some access to it.”

She added, “This gives people some hope. To bring this before a judge and for the judge to really examine all the information in front of her and to choose to enjoin the law should hopefully give people hope.”

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey called the decision a “dark day” and vowed his office will appeal the ruling to the state’s Supreme Court of Appeals.

“As a strong pro-life advocate, I am committed to protecting unborn babies to the fullest extent possible under the law, and I will not rest until this injunction is lifted,” he said in a statement sent to ABC News. “The current law on the books calls for the protection of life.”

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Will the BA.5 COVID strain force new mask mandates?

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(NEW YORK) — The new COVID-19 variant, called BA.5, has been rapidly spreading across the country and is now estimated to make up more than 60% of new cases, according to the CDC. It is highly transmissible, compared to previous variants, and seemingly more resistant to prior vaccinations and immunities.

These factors are making people think differently about wearing masks, which experts say are still an effective way to curb the spread of the virus. Los Angeles County, for example, will likely reinstate an indoor mask mandate at the end of the month due to rising COVID-19 cases.

ABC News’ “Start Here” podcast spoke on Monday with John Brownstein, Chief Innovation Officer at Boston’s Children’s Hospital, professor at Harvard Medical School and ABC News Medical contributor, about best practices for protecting people against this latest variant.

START HERE: John, the mask debate has been with us as long as COVID. Los Angeles County is talking about reinstating mask rules. How effective are masks against this super contagious subvariant BA.5?

BROWNSTEIN: You know, Michelle, there is nothing as contentious as the mask debate of anything that we’ve dealt with with the pandemic. And it’s very surprising as a scientist, because a layer between you and others that protects you from transmission, it seems like very basic science.

But also at the community level, when you take on masks at the community level, you will see transmission go down. And that is why communities like L.A. are deciding to take on masking, because they’re looking at their particular context, seeing a surge and ultimately applying correct interventions to help reduce risk and ultimately not allowing for further transmission. That would ultimately create a surge in our hospitals and a capacity concern.

And so masking makes sense, but in a highly targeted way. That’s why we have to be very specific in the timing of masking. You’re pre-surge in the community. You’re seeing cases go up. That’s when you want to bring in masks to help reduce transmission, help reduce the risk to our health systems.

But these are not broad scale mask mandates across the country for undefined amounts of time. These are very targeted and this is why it’s done at the local public health level. They can look at the data and make these decisions and have people engage in a very important intervention to reduce the risk to the community.

START HERE: In terms of vaccination…we are in a much better place than last year. More Americans are vaccinated, boosted. There are treatments to help with symptoms. But how is this latest subvariant throwing a wrench into all the tools we have at our disposal?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, first, it’s really important to note that the tools that we have still work. If you’re fully up to date with your vaccines, especially if you’re on that booster and that second booster, if eligible, it dramatically reduces your risk of severe illness and death. So that’s point No. 1. Testing still works. Masking still works. So all the tools still work.

The issue is that this new variant is highly transmissible. It’s immune evasive in the sense that if you are exposed to this variant, your previous immunity from vaccination and potentially other variants, likely non-human variants, doesn’t necessarily protect you in the same way as previous infections. And so we’re going to see increased amounts of breakthrough infections.

Many of those will not turn, of course, into severe illness, but they’re turning into infections that ultimately lead to more transmission. And then we’ll see the impact in our most vulnerable communities, those that are elderly, immunocompromised, and we’ll see history repeating itself. And that’s the real concern we have with this new immune evasive variant.

START HERE: And how does testing factor in — should Americans be testing regularly at home?

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah, testing is such an important first line of defense. It’s been the cornerstone of our response. We’ve seen testing dramatically reduce. People are not going to get PCRs and even home testing is declining.

And that’s a problem because if people don’t have awareness of their infection, they are not necessarily isolating and potentially creating risk into the community. And that leads, of course, to these surges that we’re seeing. And so I advocate, you know, the testing. It’s simple. You know, there’s so much availability. There’s free home tests that the Biden administration is offering. Please use those because that really will have such an impact on the course of this BA.5 surge.

START HERE: Health experts say they are focusing on a booster for adults this fall — a new one targeting the latest subvariants? But should the government be expanding access to the second booster we have now for all adults?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, you know, it’s a very complicated answer because the data isn’t absolutely clear about this for young, healthy adults, for older Americans. Those compromised. The risk is significant and getting that second booster is clear. I think we’re still waiting for compelling data at the same time. There should be broad availability. You know, there is plenty of supply out there. So if someone feels, based on their own risk tolerance, that they want that second booster, there’s really no downside.

So it makes sense to expand that availability. But we have to be very careful here because the messaging on boosters has been complicated. We don’t want to create vaccine fatigue, and we especially want to make sure that we have compelling reasons to get people boosters in the fall when we have this new variant specific bivalent vaccine. So I think making sure that we can make it available to as many people [who] will want it without sort of undermining a potential fall vaccination strategy.

START HERE: All right. That is John Brownstein with Boston Children’s Hospital. Thank you.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks, Michelle.

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