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Today in Health Care, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (DN.Y.) is facing growing pressure to get COVID relief funds to vote.
And tonight a judge blocked the lifting of border restrictions that have been caught up in the COVID funding debate, but it’s unclear if that will help free up the funds.
Welcome to night health care, where we follow the latest developments in policies and news concerning your health. For The Hill, we are Peter Sullivan, Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Subscribe here.
Democrats push Schumer for COVID relief
A growing number of Senate Democrats say they are ready to vote forcefully on an amendment to keep the Title 42 health order in place at the U.S.-Mexico border if that is what is needed to move a COVID relief program -19 blocked.
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (DN.Y.) withheld the bill because Republicans insist on voting on a bipartisan amendment to reverse the Biden administration‘s decision to lift Title 42, an order pandemic that has prevented thousands of immigrants from entering the country on asylum claims.
But a growing number of senior Democrats say they are ready to vote on the amendment to break the impasse over new funds for therapies, vaccines and tests at a time when new coronavirus variants are causing infections to rise. and deaths across the country. .
Without caving in to Republicans’ demand for a vote on the burning issue of securing the border, COVID-19 aid could be stalled until after November’s midterm elections.
The amendment is expected to fail, but it’s a tough vote for vulnerable Senate Democrats.
Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), whose seat is a top Republican target, says Congress needs to do more on COVID-19 relief and isn’t afraid to take a tough vote, though he is not yet saying how he would vote on the Title 42 Amendment.
“I’m concerned about future variations and how much worse it could get, and I think we need to do more to make sure we’re ready,” he said.
Learn more here.
BREAKING TONIGHT: JUDGE BLOCKS BIDEN FROM RETURNING TITLE 42
On Friday, a federal judge in Louisiana temporarily blocked the Biden administration from ending Title 42, the Trump-era border management policy that allowed authorities to quickly deport foreign nationals at the border under conditions of pandemic.
The policy was set to end on Monday as part of the Biden administration’s effort to restructure border and immigration policy after the Trump administration overhauled the system.
U.S. District Court Robert Summerhays granted a nationwide preliminary injunction to a group of GOP state attorneys general challenging the policy change. Summerhays, who was appointed by former President Trump, ruled the Biden administration could not reverse the policy while the broader legal challenge unfolds in court.
Summerhays ruled that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) improperly circumvented a process to allow public input before issuing an order terminating the program.
The White House and CDC did not immediately respond when asked for comment.
Learn more here.
Pelosi excluded from communion for the right to abortion
The Archbishop of San Francisco banned the speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) to receive Communion for her support of abortion rights and access.
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said in a letter Thursday to Pelosi that he asked to speak to him after promising to codify Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion rights case, following Texas’ abortion ban after six weeks last September.
He had warned Pelosi in an April 7 letter, he said, to either repudiate the defense of abortion rights or to refrain from referring to his Catholic faith in public, or he would not have no choice but to forbid him to be admitted to communion.
“As you have not publicly denied your position on abortion and continue to refer to your Catholic faith to justify your position and receive Holy Communion, that time has now come,” Cordileone said in the letter. Thursday.
“Therefore, in light of my responsibility as Archbishop of San Francisco to be ‘concerned for all the faithful Christians entrusted to [my] care” (Code of Canon Law, can. 383, §1), by means of this communication, I hereby notify you that you must not attend Holy Communion and, if you do, you will not be admitted to Holy Communion, until you publicly repudiate your plea for the legitimacy of abortion and confess and receive absolution for this grave sin in the Sacrament of Penance.
Pelosi, who describes herself as a devout Catholic, defended her support for abortion rights despite the Catholic Church’s stance against abortion.
“I believe God has given us agency to honor our responsibilities,” Pelosi said at a news conference last September, noting that she is a mother of five.
Learn more here.
GOP RESOLUTION DEFINES “WOMAN” BASED ON BIOLOGICAL SEX
A resolution introduced Thursday by Republicans in both houses of Congress would define words like “woman,” “man,” “mother” and “father” based on biological sex, a rebuke to transgender and inclusive measures.
Republicans call the measure a “women’s bill of rights,” arguing that defining women on the basis of biological sex is necessary to protect women’s rights in spaces such as domestic violence centers, sports, locker rooms and the bathrooms.
“Democrats are erasing women and spaces that are uniquely ours,” Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Arizona), who leads the House version of the bill, said at a press conference announcing the bill. Thursday with the Republican study. Committee, the largest Conservative caucus in the House.
The resolution, which would not have the force of law, states that the House finds that for purposes of federal law, “sex” refers to biological sex; terms such as “mother” and “father” refer respectively to female and male individuals; and that agencies are required to base reported data on individuals’ biological sex at birth.
The House version of the resolution has 11 co-sponsors and was promoted by the Republican Review Committee. The Senate version was presented by GOP Sens. Cindy Hyde-Smith (Mo.), Cynthia Lummis (Wyo.) and Ted Cruz (Texas).
Learn more here.
PHILADELPHIA SCHOOL DISTRICT RESTORES MASK MANDATE
The Philadelphia School District announced Friday that it is re-implementing a universal mask mandate beginning Monday, May 23, on the recommendation of the Philadelphia Department of Health, due to the current escalation in COVID-19 cases. in the city.
“Until further notice, all students and School District staff will be required to wear their masks during the school and work day and when traveling in school buses and vans,” wrote School District Superintendent William Hite, in the announcement.
Philadelphia County has seen a 58% increase in the average number of daily cases over the past two weeks, and hospitalizations in the city have increased 29% over the same period, according to data from The New York Times.
More than 77% of Philadelphia adults are fully immunized, with more than 34% having received a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 94% of all residents ages 12 and older have received at least one dose, according to city data.
For children ages 5 to 11 in Philadelphia, about 36% have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Learn more here.
CDC: 1 new death due to unexplained pediatric hepatitis
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday confirmed one new possible death among unexplained cases of pediatric hepatitis that have been detected in the United States and Europe.
The latest death, reported Thursday, brings the potential death toll in the United States to six of the five reported by the CDC earlier this month.
During a press briefing, a CDC official said that 7% of the 180 cases reported so far have occurred in the past two weeks. The majority of cases were detected retrospectively and most children found to have hepatitis have since recovered.
A common link that could link all these cases together has not been found so far, according to the agency.
Officials say they still haven’t been able to determine if the cases they’ve detected over the past seven months represent a pre-existing trend that’s only just been noticed, or if they represent a spike in pediatric hepatitis.
During the briefing, officials reiterated that a possible link to adenovirus remains the “main hypothesis” behind the potential cause of these hepatitis cases.
Learn more here.
WHAT WE READ
- Vague “medical emergency” exceptions in abortion laws put pregnant women at risk, doctors say (Statistical)
- African scientists baffled by monkeypox cases in Europe, US (PA)
- Abbott completes recall in India of infant formula imported from the United States (Reuters)
STATE BY STATE
- Former GA insurance commissioner John Oxendine charged with conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud (WSB-TV)
- Less deadly than delta? In some states, omicron caused more deaths (BNC News)
- Possible case of monkeypox reported in New York, according to the health department (WPIX)
That’s all for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hill’s healthcare page for the latest news and coverage. See you next week.
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