UNITED STATES
SCOTUS Makes
Abortion Ruling
For the third time in a month, the majority conservative Supreme Court has yielded a liberal ruling.
In a 5-4 decision in the case of June Medical Services v Russo (formerly Kee), the Court ruled that Louisiana’s state law requiring doctors performing abortions to have admission privileges at a state-authorized hospital within 30 miles of an abortion clinic was unconstitutional.
Chief Justice Roberts broke with his conservative beliefs, siding with liberal Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Stephen Breyer. Conservative Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito dissented.
In making his decision, Roberts cited a previous decision of Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt that had a similar ruling. (In law, there is a saying: “precedent takes precedent” – meaning that courts honor previous rulings in cases of similar consequence.)
In response to the ruling, the White House Press Secretary released this statement: “In an unfortunate ruling today, the Supreme Court devalued both the health of mothers and the lives of unborn children by gutting Louisiana’s policy that required all abortion procedures be performed by individuals with admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.
“States have legitimate interests in regulating any medical procedure – including abortions – to protect patient safety. Instead of valuing fundamental democratic principles, unelected Justices have intruded on the sovereign prerogatives of State governments by imposing their own policy preference in favor of abortion to override legitimate abortion safety regulations.”
Previously, the conservative leaning court has ruled with liberals on matters of DACA and LGBTQ employment rights, dealing defeats to the Trump Administration each time.
EUROPE
Border Closed
to Americans
On June 30, the European Union allowed for travel between 14 countries; however, one particular country was not among them.
Travel within the bloc is being permitted by EU officials, based on those countries meeting certain requirements in regard to COVID-19 containment. However, the United States has not met those metrics, meaning travel to and from the U.S. is not being permitted at this time.
According to data from Johns Hopkins University, of the 10 million plus cases and 500,000 plus deaths, the United States leads all nations in both case and fatality count, with more than 2.5 million cases and 125,000 deaths – 1/4 of the world in either category.
The EU travel list will be reviewed every 14 days for any essential updates. To qualify under the plan, a country must have either stable or declining COVID-19 cases over a 14 day span.
If the traveling person is considered of “essential function or need” then exceptions will be made.
AFRICA
Coronavirus Crushing Economy
As the world does its best to handle one microscopic outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) is celebrating the end of another.
On June 25, WHO marked the end of the 10th outbreak of Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), acknowledging the leadership and commitment of the Government of the DRC, many partners and donors, and the efforts of the communities affected by the virus.
WHO congratulated all those involved in the arduous and often dangerous work required to end the outbreak, but stresses the need for vigilance. Continuing to support survivors and maintaining strong surveillance and response systems in order to contain potential flare-ups is critical in the months to come.
“The outbreak took so much from all of us, especially from the people of DRC, but we came out of it with valuable lessons, and valuable tools. The world is now better-equipped to respond to Ebola. A vaccine has been licensed, and effective treatments identified,” said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“We should celebrate this moment, but we must resist complacency. Viruses do not take breaks. Ultimately, the best defense against any outbreak is investing in a stronger health system as the foundation for universal health coverage.”
The outbreak, declared in North Kivu on August 1, 2018, was the second largest in the world, and was particularly challenging as it took place an active conflict zone. There were 3,470 cases, 2,287 deaths and 1,171 survivors.
Led by the DRC Government and the Ministry of Health and supported by WHO and partners, the more than 22-month-long response involved training thousands of health workers, registering 250,000 contacts, testing 220,000 samples, providing patients with equitable access to advanced therapeutics, vaccinating over 303,000 people with the highly effective rVSV-ZEBOV-GP vaccine, and offering care for all survivors after their recovery.
The response was bolstered by the engagement and leadership of the affected communities. Thanks to their efforts, this outbreak did not spread globally. More than 16 000 local frontline responders worked alongside the more than 1,500 people deployed by WHO. Support from donors was essential, as was the work of UN partner agencies, national and international NGOs, research networks, and partners deployed through the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network. Hard work to build up preparedness capacities in neighboring countries also limited the risk of the outbreak expanding.
Work will continue to build on the gains made in this response to address other health challenges, including measles and COVID-19.
“During the almost two years we fought the Ebola virus, WHO and partners helped strengthen the capacity of local health authorities to manage outbreaks,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.
“The DRC is now better, smarter and faster at responding to Ebola and this is an enduring legacy which is supporting the response to COVID-19 and other outbreaks.”
As countries around the world face the COVID-19 pandemic, the DRC Ebola response provides valuable lessons. Many of the public health measures that have been successful in stopping Ebola are the same measures that are now essential for stopping COVID-19: finding, isolating, testing, and caring for every case and relentless contact tracing.
In DRC, community workers were provided with training and a smartphone data collection app that enabled them to track contacts and report in real time rather than fill in laborious paper reports. Even when violence locked down cities, the community workers, many of them local women, continued to track and trace contacts using the application, something that was crucial for ending this outbreak.
While this 10th outbreak in DRC has ended, the fight against Ebola continues. On 1 June 2020, seven cases of Ebola were reported in Mbandaka city and neighboring Bikoro Health Zone in Equateur Province and an 11th outbreak was declared. WHO is supporting the government-led response with more than 50 staff already deployed and more than 5,000 vaccinations already administered.
WHO salutes the thousands of heroic responders who fought one of the world’s most dangerous viruses in one of the world’s most unstable regions. Some health workers, including WHO experts, paid the ultimate price and sacrificed their lives to the Ebola response.
