Health
As opioids overdose deaths keep rising, report urges lawmakers to develop new approaches
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers should view America’s staggering opioid crisis, including the rise of illicit fentanyl, through an “ecosystems” approach, argues a massive RAND Corporation report published Thursday. That means they should examine the gaps and interconnections among emergency response, data collection, education, treatment, housing and law enforcement, the report advises. The 600-page volume — which the authors […]
Trio of abortion access protection bills clear Senate committees
Three Democrat-led bills to expand access to abortion care in Colorado passed through committee on Wednesday, as lawmakers seek to protect reproductive health care amid efforts by many other states try to limit or outright ban abortion. If passed by the Legislature and signed into law, the bills would shield patients and providers from interstate […]
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 […]
Young people deserve better health care than what anti-abortion centers offer
Don’t let them fool you: Anti-abortion centers don’t give Coloradans the health care they need. It’s past time for our elected leaders to hold anti-abortion centers accountable for the harm they are causing. Senate Bill 23-190, the Deceptive Trade Practice Pregnancy-related Service bill, led by New Era Colorado and Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and […]
Idaho Legislature’s attorneys file appeal over right to intervene in federal abortion case
Attorneys hired to represent the Idaho Legislature in a federal case over Idaho’s abortion ban have appealed their right to intervene in the case to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, according to records. The lawsuit, filed in August by the U.S. Department of Justice against the state of Idaho, argues the state’s near-total ban […]
Pandemic stress, gangs, and utter fear fueled a rise in teen shootings
This story comes to Newsline from KHN. Diego never imagined he’d carry a gun. Not as a child, when shots were fired outside his Chicago-area home. Not at age 12, when one of his friends was gunned down. Diego’s mind changed at 14, when he and his friends were getting ready to walk to midnight […]
Fentanyl prevention is focus of new congressional caucus co-chaired by Colorado’s Neguse
Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse of Lafayette is one of four federal representatives leading the newly formed Bipartisan Fentanyl Prevention Caucus in Congress. The caucus co-chairs — besides Neguse they include Democrat Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania and Republicans Darrell Issa of California and Ken Calvert of California — will work with legislators from both parties […]
Drug distribution on social media discussed in first report of its kind from Colorado AG
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser’s office released the state’s first report detailing how the internet and social media are used for illicit drug activity, as required by the fentanyl accountability law that passed the Colorado Legislature last year. The report focuses mostly on social media, according to a news release from Weiser’s office, because the […]
3 years after pandemic emergency, Colorado normalizes COVID care
Exactly three years after Gov. Jared Polis — on March 10, 2020 — issued a disaster emergency declaration related to the pandemic, Colorado still has one remaining executive order in place to support the state’s efforts to mitigate COVID-19. Polis hasn’t issued any new declarations relating to COVID since he ended the health emergency executive […]
Bills to protect abortion rights, out-of-state patients announced by Colorado Democrats
Colorado Democrats announced Thursday that they will introduce a trio of bills that would build upon last year’s legislation that enshrines the right to abortion into state law. The bills would prohibit deceptive advertising for anti-abortion centers, increase insurance access for abortion coverage, and ensure that patients and providers for abortion and gender-affirming care would […]
EpiPens would cost less under bill that passes Colorado House
The Colorado House passed a bill Wednesday that would cap the cost of epinephrine auto-injector devices, or EpiPens, at $60 for a two-pack. House Bill 23-1002, which passed by a vote of 47-15, was highlighted by House Democrats as one of their key agenda items for the 2023 legislative session. Sponsored by Reps. Javier Mabrey […]
This International Women’s Day, U.S. anti-abortion laws violate human rights, groups say
Ahead of International Women’s Day, hundreds of U.S. and global human rights groups, doctors, and attorneys have asked the United Nations to intervene on behalf of the millions of women in the U.S. who have been left without access to legal abortion and vital forms of reproductive health care in the wake of last summer’s […]