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President Biden marked the 48th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling establishing the right to an abortion by reaffirming his support for enshrining abortion rights in federal law. Biden ran on “codifying” Roe v. Wade, pushed by abortion rights advocates, as a response to the growing number of abortion restrictions passed by state legislatures in recent years and a federal judiciary that has been flooded with Trump nominees, including the Supreme Court. (Hellmann, 1/22)

Anti-abortion leaders across America were elated a year ago when Donald Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to appear in person at their highest-profile annual event, the March for Life held every January.The mood is more sober now — a mix of disappointment over Trump’s defeat and hope that his legacy of judicial appointments will lead to future court victories limiting abortion rights. Organizers of this year’s March for Life in Washington, scheduled for next Friday, have asked their far-flung supporters to stay home, due to political tensions in the city and the coronavirus pandemic. They plan instead to livestream the activities of a few invited participants, a sharp contrast to the tens of thousands of people who usually attend. (Crary, 1/23)

As the nation marks the 48th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and President Trump’s term has come to an end, questions remain about how the former administration had addressed congressional concerns surrounding Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s (PPFA) fetal-tissue practices and its lack of action that ultimately prompted criticism from conservatives. Roughly a week before Trump left office, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed a rule that would purportedly strengthen requirements for informed consent from mothers, as well as prevent fetal-tissue trafficking in federally funded studies -- issues raised after HHS terminated in 2018 its contract with a tissue procurer that worked with PPFA. (Dorman, 1/23)

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is again entering the controversial abortion debate in the country. On Friday afternoon, Lee fired back at a statement from Vice President Kamala Harris committing the Biden/Harris administration to ensuring access to health care, including reproductive health care, for all Americans. The vice president's statement came on the 48th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision by the U.S. Supreme Court legalizing abortion. (Mangrum, 1/22)

The White House is expected to lift restrictions on transgender service members in the U.S. military as soon as Monday, according to people familiar with the matter, reversing a directive by former President Donald Trump. The move was expected after President Biden on his first day in office signed an executive order aimed at preventing discrimination based on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. He directed all agencies to address any policies in place that discriminated against individuals on either basis. (Youssef and Lubold, 1/24)

President Joe Biden seeks to reset the nation’s inconsistent coronavirus testing efforts with a $50 billion plan and more federal oversight. Biden’s plan calls for a newly created Pandemic Testing Board to coordinate a “clear, unified approach” to testing for COVID-19, a marked difference from the Trump administration’s policy of states establishing their own plans with federal support. Laboratories have ramped up production to more than 2 million tests each day, but stubborn problems persist. Some labs struggle to complete timely tests – particularly when demand surges – because of shortages of critical supplies. (Alltucker, 1/24)

Amazon is offering to lend President Joe Biden its operational expertise to shuttle coronavirus vaccines quickly across the country as the government struggles with logistics of the inoculation rollout. But the move could also help the company boost its own ambitions of expanding into the $3.8 trillion health care marketplace. The company made a pitch on Wednesday, just hours after Biden was sworn in, offering few details about how it envisions helping with the struggling vaccine distribution effort. But if it’s accepted, the offer may give Amazon a valuable new trove of health data just as it’s expanding into pharmacy and digital health. That worries critics — including progressives calling on Biden to keep Big Tech firms at arms’ length. (Luthi, 1/23)