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A Kentucky Lantern Q & A with federal health administrator?
LOUISVILLE — Carole Johnson, the administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration for the Biden administration, was in Louisville Thursday to discuss ways Kentucky can improve maternal health outcomes.? After moderating a roundtable on the topic, Johnson discussed maternal health issues facing Kentucky with the Lantern. The conversation has been edited for length and […]
Roundtable explores ways to improve Kentucky maternal health
LOUISVILLE — Maternal health is complicated, and reducing mortality around birth takes a comprehensive approach, advocates from across Kentucky said at a Thursday roundtable moderated by Carole Johnson, the administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration for the Biden administration. During the roundtable, which took place at the Marriott Hotel in downtown Louisville, Johnson […]
COVID-19 on the rise in Kentucky
LOUISVILLE — COVID-19 is “alive and well” in Kentucky, cautions infectious disease expert Dr. Mark Burns, as hospitalizations for the virus rise and students and teachers head back to school. Kentucky’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services data shows an uptick in emergency department visits and hospitalizations from COVID-19 as of Aug. 1.? In July […]
KY abortion rights advocates mark milestone, lament state’s barrier to ballot initiatives
Kentucky Reproductive Freedom Fund members, who in June announced a pro-abortion access messaging campaign, gathered at the Warren County Courthouse in Bowling Green Thursday to say their campaign has reached 1.8 million people through digital ads.? Ona Marshall, who founded KRFF and co-owned one of Kentucky’s last two abortion clinics, also criticized Kentucky’s lack of […]
Kentucky lawmakers hear about efforts to resolve dispute over access to abuse, neglect records
FRANKFORT — Kentucky’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services and the state auditor’s office said Tuesday they are open to entering a memorandum of understanding to ensure the office of the ombudsman has the access it needs to a computer system that stores information about abuse and neglect cases.? The two parties are still hashing […]
Republicans slam administration for not carrying out laws that Beshear says legislature didn’t fund
FRANKFORT — Kentucky Republican lawmakers slammed the Beshear administration Tuesday for “picking and choosing” what laws to implement amid funding disputes that threaten 2024 laws to help kinship care families and create a statewide child abuse reporting system.? Eric Friedlander, the secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, repeatedly told lawmakers during the […]
Kentucky judge dismisses constitutional challenge to anti-vaping law?
Franklin Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wingate has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a 2024 law banning the sale of some vaping products.? In doing so, Wingate sided with the lawsuit’s defendants — Allyson Taylor, commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, and Secretary of State Michael Adams — who filed a […]
‘Between rock, hard place:’ Will anyone ever have standing to challenge Kentucky’s abortion ban?
LOUISVILLE — Lisa Sobel thinks any Kentuckian who has a uterus should have standing to challenge the state’s abortion ban.? The Kentucky Supreme Court and, more recently, a judge in Louisville, disagree.? Meanwhile, Sobel, one of three Jewish women challenging the ban on religious grounds, says she’s left in a “holding pattern.” She is afraid […]
Fired University of Louisville professor claiming free-speech violation argues for jury trial
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is considering whether a case involving former University of Louisville professor Dr. Allan M. Josephson’s comments about how to treat gender dysphoria should go to a jury trial.? Judges heard oral arguments Tuesday morning, the latest in a roughly five-year legal battle to reinstate Josephson as chief of […]
Kim Davis’ legal counsel moves to make her appeal a springboard for overturning marriage rights
A conservative legal group has filed a brief on behalf of a former Kentucky county clerk that it says could lead to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the right of same-sex couples to marry. Kim Davis, then the Rowan County clerk, made national headlines in 2015 for refusing to issue marriage licenses to several same-sex […]
Whooping cough outbreak ‘a stark reminder’ of decline in vaccinations among Kentucky kids
Kentucky’s outbreak of whooping cough comes amid a decline in childhood vaccinations, which a health insurance industry group is looking to combat by funding a messaging campaign to address vaccine hesitancy and increase immunization rates.? “This outbreak is a stark reminder of what can happen when immunization rates fall,” Tom Stevens, the president of the […]
‘She’s ready to lead:’ Kentucky Democrats quickly line up behind Kamala Harris
In the hours after President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign, Brian Clardy, historian and Kentucky delegate to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, worried that a divisive fight for the nomination could spell electoral disaster for Democrats in November. “Democrats cannot afford to go into this thing split. They just cannot afford to do it. […]