public health
GOP senators decline to explain reason for controversial budget provision
Spending bill would bar funding for pregnancy prevention, adolescent services Members of the Senate Appropriations committee got their first look at the $29.7 billion proposed state budget Senate Republican rolled out on Monday. As the budget writers took turns sharing highlights of the massive bill, Sen. Natasha Marcus (D-Mecklenburg Co.) wanted to know why the […]
Weekend reads: Veto rally sets up a legislative showdown, the latest battles in education, and a new face enters the 2024 race for NC governor
In this issue: 1. Crowd cheers Gov. Roy Cooper as he vetoes abortion ban A crowd cheered Gov. Roy Cooper as he vetoed a Republican-authored abortion ban in an unusual rally that capped off a week of attempts to pressure a small group of GOP legislators into letting the veto stand. Some bills are signed […]
Lawyer fees draw scrutiny as Camp Lejeune claims stack up
David and Adair Keller started their married life together in 1977 at Camp Lejeune, a military training base on the Atlantic Coast in Jacksonville, North Carolina. David was a Marine Corps field artillery officer then, and they lived together on the base for about six months. But that sojourn had an outsize impact on their […]
NC fast tracks legislation to ban gender-affirming surgery for minors
Without questions or debate, members of the House Committee on Health advanced legislation Tuesday that would block gender-affirming surgical care for minors in North Carolina. “If you are under the age of 18 in North Carolina, you cannot get a tattoo at all, even with your parents consent. You can’t get a body piercing other […]
Biden administration appeals judge’s ruling ordering abortion pill off U.S. market
This story has been updated WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Justice launched an appeals process Friday that will likely put a landmark decision about access to medication abortion in front of the Supreme Court. The notice of appeal was filed less than three hours after a federal judge in Texas revoked the U.S. Food […]
Infant formula crisis could recur, former FDA official tells Congress
WASHINGTON — U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday debated if enough has changed to prevent a repeat of the infant formula shortage, more than a year after a nationwide crisis began. The U.S. House Oversight and Accountability Committee’s Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services heard from two experts that while the U.S. Food and Drug Administration […]
Watch: Governor Roy Cooper sign Medicaid expansion bill (video)
Republican and Democratic leaders were all smiles Monday at Raleigh’s Executive Mansion for a signing ceremony of House Bill 76, Access to Healthcare Options. The legislation will expand Medicaid to hundreds of thousands of uninsured North Carolinians, once the state budget is finalized. “Medicaid expansion is a once-in-a-generation investment that will strengthen our mental health […]
‘It’s just a prayer answered.’ Cassandra Brooks, a childcare center owner, advocated for Medicaid expansion for years.
Cassandra Brooks wept tears of joy and relief when she received a text from a friend saying Republican legislative leaders were announcing their agreement to expand Medicaid. “I just remember crying so hard,” she said. “Just broke down crying.” Brooks, who owns Little Believer’s Academy childcare centers in Garner and Clayton, for years has spoken […]
Tonight: UNC-Chapel Hill panel discussion on “Faith and Abortion”
On Wednesday evening UNC-Chapel Hill’s Program for Public Discourse will hold a panel discussion on Faith and Abortion as the last event in its Abbey Speaker Series this academic year. The discussion comes as the Republican majority in the North Carolina General Assembly pursues new restrictions on abortion, part of a wave of such legislation […]
NC maternal death rate exceeds national rate
North Carolina’s maternal mortality rate is rising much faster than the national rate reported by the CDC on Thursday. The US maternal mortality rate in 2021 was 32.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, according to the CDC, up from 23.8 per 100,000 in 2020, and 20.1 per 100,000 in 2019. North Carolina’s maternal mortality rate doubled […]
Pentagon to halt use of firefighting foam that contains PFAS as cleanup costs mount
WASHINGTON — Battered by years of criticism from U.S. lawmakers and environmental advocates, the Department of Defense will stop purchasing PFAS-containing firefighting foam later this year and phase it out entirely in 2024. The replacement for Aqueous Film Forming Foam has yet to be determined, and advocates are frustrated it’s taken so long to halt […]
Town Hall on Youth Mental Health to be held in Winston-Salem Thursday
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will hold a town hall Thursday evening on the mental health crisis among children and teens. The discussion will bring together NCDHHS officials and state lawmakers to get input from the public and talk about possible solutions. The most recent data from the federal Centers for […]