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u.s. news Dialuna 11 aPRil 2022

Maryland lawmakers override gov’s veto of abortion expansion

(AP) — Republican Gov. Larry physicians to perform abortions.”
Hogan’s veto of a measure to ex-
pand access to abortion in Mary- The measure comes at a time when
land was overridden on Saturday the conservative majority on the U.S.
by the General Assembly, which Supreme Court is weighing whether
is controlled by Democrats. to overturn Roe v. Wade, the land-
mark 1973 ruling that banned states
The state will end a restriction that from outlawing abortion.
only physicians can provide abor-
tions. The new law will enable nurse If they do, at least 26 states are like-
practitioners, nurse midwives and ly to either ban abortion outright or
physician assistants to provide them severely limit access, according to
with training. It creates an abortion the Guttmacher Institute, a research
care training program and requires and policy organization that supports
$3.5 million in state funding annu- abortion rights.
ally. It also requires most insurance
plans to cover abortions without cost. “In this context, it’s very important
that we keep in mind that the strat-
Del. Emily Shetty said she was sup- egies that this bill is using is ensur-
porting the measure on the House ing that people can access the care
floor as a mother who had experi- that they need, when they need it, no
enced a high-risk pregnancy. She also matter what happens with the rest of
described being a sexual assault survi- the country — no matter what hap-
vor in college and the difficulties she pens with the Supreme Court,” said access to care, particularly people of
experienced “with the weight of what Del. Ariana Kelly, a Democrat who “Madam speaker, this bill is too ex- color, particularly low-income peo-
had happened after that incident.” was the lead sponsor of the bill, said. treme, even for Maryland,” Shoe- ple, particularly rural people,” Kelly
maker, a Republican, said, referring said. “We know that physician-only
“And thankfully, the incident did Republican lawmakers criticized the to House Speaker Adrienne Jones, a restrictions exacerbate health in-
not result in pregnancy but had it, it provision allocating $3.5 million of Democrat. equalities, and we are trying to re-
would have drastically changed my taxpayer money annually to pay for duce health inequalities in the state of
life if I had not been able to access the training. Del. Haven Shoemaker, Kelly said the measure is moderniz- Maryland with this bill.”
the care that I needed at that time,” the House minority whip, described ing the choice the state’s voters made
Shetty, a Democrat, said. the bill as “the most radical expan- in 1992, when they approved the The measure takes effect July 1. The
sion of abortion in Maryland’s his- right to abortion in a statewide vote insurance provisions apply to all poli-
Hogan wrote in his veto letter that tory in a state that already has some of with 62% of voters supporting it. cies, contracts, and health benefit
the legislation “endangers the health the most liberal abortion laws in the plans issued, delivered, or renewed in
and lives of women by allowing non- country.” “It is making sure that people have the state on or after Jan. 1.

Treatment for opioid addiction often brings discrimination

(AP) — Danielle Russell was in sent her to the ER, she said she was for decades: On top of the stigma sur- Ready to Work is paying the woman
the emergency department at an discharged swiftly without being rounding addiction, people who are $7,500. Stan Garnett, a lawyer for the
Arizona hospital last fall, sick treated and given a stack of papers in medical treatment for substance organization, said Thursday that the
with COVID-19, when she made about the hospital’s policies for pre- abuse can face additional discrimina- organization’s staff is being trained to
the mistake of answering com- scribing pain medications — drugs tion — including in medical and legal comply with the law.
pletely when she was asked what she was not asking for. settings that are supposed to help.
medications she was on. “It’s terrifying to be told by some
“It becomes so absurd and the stigma This week, the U.S. Department of authority — whether it’s a judge, or
“I said yes, I was taking methadone,” against methadone especially is so Justice published new guidelines a child welfare official, or a skilled
said Russell, a doctoral student who strong,” she said, noting that other aimed at dealing with the problem: nursing facility — someone who has
also was in recovery from heroin use. people in recovery have had it worse. They assert that it’s illegal under the something you need is telling you
“The smart thing to do, if I wanted to “You’re getting blocked out from Americans with Disabilities Act to you have to get off the medication
be treated like a human, would be to housing resources, employment.” discriminate against people because that is saving your life,” said Sally
say no.” they are using prescribed methadone Friedman, senior vice president of le-
It’s a problem people in the addiction or other medications to treat opioid gal advocacy at the Legal Action Cen-
Even though her primary doctor had recovery community have dealt with use disorder. ter, which uses legal challenges to try
to end punitive measures for people
The guidelines don’t change federal with health conditions, including ad-
government policy, but they do offer diction.
clarification and signal that authori-
ties are watching for discrimination Friedman said advocates and lawyers
in a wide range of settings. The Jus- will cite the new guidelines when
tice Department’s actions this year they’re making discrimination claims.
also show it’s taken an interest in the
issue, reaching multiple legal settle- Dan Haight, president of The LCA-
ments, filing a lawsuit and sending DA Way, which runs addiction treat-
a warning letter alleging other viola- ment programs in the Cleveland area,
tions. said a suburb where they wanted to
put a clinic at one point nixed the idea
One of the government’s recent set- because of a moratorium in place on
tlements was with a Colorado pro- new drug counseling centers.
gram that helps house and employ
people who are homeless. A poten- “We’re not looked at as another med-
tial client filed a complaint claiming ical facility or counseling office,”
she was denied admission because Haight said. “We’re looked at because
she uses buprenorphine to treat her we do addiction.”
addiction. As part of the settlement,